Kevin Sinclair

Chapter 41

Added 2023-12-11 19:59:12 +0000 UTC

En route to the administration headquarters, I spoke to Ali and explained what was going on. It was pointless as she already knew, having listened to everything I’d spoken about, but I wanted to prod her on skills I might be able to copy from the Alo-im archives now that I was a Stage Ten.

The answer was the same as last time I asked.

“There are no documented powers that I can find for you Clive. I cannot tell if they have been hidden or deleted, but I can do nothing for you in this regard.

“If you need incentive, then know that without a Divine core, even as weak as Hakanilaris will be when he returns, you cannot hope to beat him, as you are.”

“Tell me something I don’t already know, Aly. And if your pep talks are like that, keep them to yourself in the future. Now let’s sort out the Mortal Neuma for Inez so I can get on with all the shit I’ve got to do.”

I opened my void Storage and let Peace out just as I finished my rant. She walked out looking relieved to find herself in the Administrator Headquarters. I said nothing about the expression, but the distrust hurt.

“Hey, what was Inez’s level when she died?”

“319,” she replied quickly. “How much EN will that require?”

“Aly?”

As a Losalfar, she requires a level of 450 to evolve. That will require 50,435 Mortal Core Neuma. You will need to exchange 100,870 Ethereal Neuma to push the Core up to this level.

“You got that much?” I asked.

She nodded awkwardly. “Do I just invest it into you?”

“’Fraid so. I'm currently the only one able to use the machines.”

She looked worried as she focused on pushing the EN into me. I found my irritation growing again at the lack of trust. “Seriously Peace, I’m not gonna run off with your EN. I’m genuinely trying to help you here.”

Her eyes widened with surprise. “Oh, I know, I trust you, Clive. Her core is so delicate… I’m just waiting for something to go wrong. But not from you.” She quickly added. I really appreciate you doing this.

“It’s no problem, Peace. I’m glad to see you care so much about your followers. I thought all you god’s were heartless assholes when I first got here.”

“Oh, we generally are.” She chuckled, though the laughter didn’t reach her eyes. “Inez and Arabel are… I mean Dawnsinger as you know her, they are my descendants. They are very great granddaughters.”

“Ah! Nepotism strikes again, but that actually explains a lot. Is that common among you all?”

“It is. Aslin and Andalar are certainly related to Death. Jurien with Light. Not so with Devotion or Destruction but for different reasons.”

“Why? Does Destruction eat her children?”

“Her mates, but never her children,” Peace replied seriously. So seriously in fact I believed her until she let a hint of a smile crack her face.

“You bastard. You had me going there,” I grumbled. “The MN is ready, do you want to bring Inez out now or do you want to keep her stored until we’re at the regeneration chamber so we’re not over handling her?”

“Yes, let’s go there first.

We made it over to the Imperator Sanctum quickly, with Peace’s flying speed faster than my own. But not by that much.

Once inside the regeneration chamber, I had Peace carefully place Inez into the receptacle. Inez’s core was covered in Peace’s power to keep it contained, but I could see why she was so concerned. It was visibly weak and flickering dangerously as if it could just dissipate at any moment.

I hoped adding the Mortal Neuma I had for her would stabilize her at least, and got to work feeding it through Peace’s containment.

It went in slowly at first, the core seeming to refuse the power offered. But soon it began to accept the power until it was steadily absorbing what was offered. As the last remaining MN entered the core, it blossomed to a larger size. Inez would be a Seralfar with a lot more powerful once she awoke.

“Aly? Can you set this thing off?”

Affirmative… Initiating Regeneration Chamber… Regeneration Chamber is now active. Time to completion. 14 hours.

As I stepped back, I caught Peace facing the machine but giving me a side-long look.

“Thank you for doing this, Clive. I know how stressed out you must be right now.”

“Honestly, I’m happy to do it. I’d never let Inez die if there was a chance I could save her. And as for Hakan? We’ll find away. I have to believe that.”

“We will,” she said firmly. “And I will help you in any way that I can. It took me a while to see it, but you are truly a good man, and that is a rarity for someone who possesses as much power as you. That is why I have decided to risk telling you of a legendary skill that to my knowledge only I possess among the gods, though Hakan will most likely have it.”

“Ooh, go on,” I replied intrigued.

“I must warn you, it is a horrid skill that I’ve hidden from the others. I’m still not sure how I ended up with it. Yet, it is mine and I will give it to you on the proviso that you tell no one I have it. Should you choose to copy what I show you, I would strongly advise you to tell no one that you have it, either.”

“Now you’ve really got me worried. What the hell kind of power is it that you’ve concealed it for so long?”

“Do you promise not to share this information with anyone?”

I opened my mouth to promise, then faltered. I wanted to be a man of my word, so I voiced the one potential pitfall of such a promise. “If there is a situation I have to use this power to save myself or a loved one and Sania asks about it, I will have to tell her. I won’t tell her where I learned the power, but I already have a promise in place with her that there will be no secrets between us. But it would only be her and she would never tell anyone else if I asked her not to.”

With an almost imperceptible nod and a visible wince, she spoke. “That is acceptable, and thank you again for your honesty in the matter. This power is one of mind control. I can push thoughts and actions into anyone’s mind and have them do what I wish.”

I found myself eyeing her sceptically. “That’s terrifying. But if you could do that, then why did you never do it to Light or any of the other gods when they were attacking you?”

“I do not use it. I don’t know how a light-based god would end up with such a power, but despite the moral implications, can you imagine what would happen if I was caught using it? Can you imagine what the punishment would have been for me? The only one I was ever tempted to use it on was Light, and she is the one who the attempt is most likely to fail against. She’s also the one who essentially ran the council, certainly for the members of the Light Pantheon.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I get why you didn’t. I’m sure Light would have tried to copy the skill from you before she rallied the council to kill you.”

“Exactly,” Peace said. “It is a terrifying skill.”

“Damn straight it is. And it’s one I want nothing to do with.”

She looked shocked. “But you must, Clive. What choice is there?”

I smiled back sadly. “Oh, I know. I’m definitely taking it. That doesn’t mean I want anything to do with it.” I paused and let out a long sigh. “Show me, and thank you for the trust, Peace.”

“You’ve earned it, and more.” She took a deep breath and centred herself before continuing. “I can’t really explain how I do it, but I can show you. Unfortunately, you will have to be the target. I promise I will use only the lightest of touches. I would suggest only that you raise your right hand.”

My stomach roiled at the thought of it. My paranoia told me it was a trap, but the repercussions of not taking it were too great. Even so, I stalled.

“Did Hakan know that you had this power?” I asked.

“I honestly have no idea. I never told him, although I did once quiz him on the origin of our powers.”

“And what did he say?”

“Merely that they had been predetermined according to each of our natures. That was all he would ever say on the matter.”

“And there’s definitely no brain damage that can be done from this?”

“I’ve barely used it, but the few times I have, there’s never been any lasting damage. Again, I promise I’ll be gentle, and I understand why you’re nervous. In fact, to prove my intent, I submit myself to Ali’s judgment should anything untoward happen to you.”

“You get that, Aly?” I shouted with mock joviality.

I did. And rest assured I will act upon any attack against you with an appropriate response.

Thank you for submitting yourself to my judgment, Peace. It wouldn’t have mattered should you attempt to do harm, Clive, but the offer is noted and respected.

Clive, however, I must warn you that this is not a power I can condone you using, should you be able to gain it. Corrupting the mind of a free entity is against all of the values that I have gained whilst sentient.

“I don’t even want the fucking power, Aly. I dislike it as much as you and Peace, but you can bet your ass Hakan is going to have this skill. So even if all it provides is a defense against that shithead controlling my mind, then it’s worth having. Beyond that, I’m in it for the Experience points.”

That is a very valid argument, and in that case, you have my approval.

“Thanks,” I muttered, then finally resolved to proceed, I beckoned for Peace to mind fiddle me.

As she set herself to begin, I watched her closely smothered a surprised gasp as delicate tendrils of both Light and Reflection Neuma curled around a solid central column of Neutral Neuma. The whole ensemble sprang from her mind rather than a hand or directly from her core.

I knew she couldn’t see the tendril and her focus was fully on me rather than controlling the flow of power, which sped up again and struck my forehead.

A surge of panic threatened to overwhelm me as it hit, which I swallowed, trying not to react, pull back, or just straight up slice the tendril. Instead I put my hand up to get her attention. She dropped the power suddenly and my arm dropped back down.

“What the actual fuck?” I said, holding my head. “I saw everything you did, but I swear to God, I thought I was trying to get your attention when I raised my arm, even though you told me that’s what you would do. That was freaky!”

She nodded solemnly. “That was the thought I wanted to plant in your mind. I imagined what I wanted you to do and think and then pushed it into your head.”

I took a deep breath, held my palms forward. “Okay. I kinda understood what you did. I’m going to give it a go. Are you ready?” I asked her.

“Not at all.” She tittered, shifting uncomfortably on the spot.

“Good. You never should be ready for this bullshit.” Then I pushed out the tendril of the exact same mix of Neuma that I’d watched her use. As I sent it out, I felt its function. The central, Neutral part was a conduit for my thought and the Light worked to penetrate her mind and allow my thoughts to access deep within. Reflection was there as a form of containment to hold the thought within a mind. Otherwise I could see clearly that it wouldn’t hold in place long enough to be acted upon.

As I landed the tendril a few inches past her forehead, I thought about waving at her as if we were long parted friends. She waved at almost the same time I had the thought, then beamed a wide smile at me.

“Clive, it’s been so very long!” I dropped the bond immediately. Fuck, I’d gone too far. A notification sprang up in front of my vision, but I swiped it aside to speak with Peace.

“I’m so sorry. I don’t know why I thought about the old friends meeting. My bloody mind just ran off with itself.”

Peace just smiled weakly back after a little shudder. “Don’t worry about it, Clive. I get it. It’s hard to control this skill and you did very well. I can hardly believe you were able to pick it up so quickly.”

“I can’t believe it made you speak.” I said, shaking my head in utter shock. “I never thought for you to speak.”

“Yes, it’s strange how it works. It’s a powerful and dangerous tool.”

“Absolutely. And you were right. Let’s never, ever tell anyone we know how to do that. It is creepy as hell.”

With a firm nod, I had her agreement before she pushed for the result. “Did you receive a legendary skill?”

“I pushed it away to apologize to you,” I replied. “Give me one second.”

I quickly pulled the notification back up and rejoiced:

< Congratulations >

You have developed a Legendary Skill.

Imparted Perspective

Due to the high level at which you have used this skill

You have reached level 8

800 XP

Bonus 100,000 XP

As soon as I read it, I was hit with another notification:

< Congratulations >

You have leveled to 671

You have 30 stat points available to distribute.

They all went into speed again as I’d decided to follow my instincts and push that to max before looking at Intelligence again.

Then I returned my focus to Peace. “Legendary Skill and three more levels. Thank you for that Peace.”

“It was my pleasure, Clive. I believe I shall head back to Onnekus now as I have much to do. Will you be okay returning Inez back to Falritas once she is reborn?”

“Of course I will, Peace. I’ll probably head back myself until Aly gives the call, but she’s probably safer here than anywhere else in the universe.”

Peace seemed content with my answer, then a cloud of something I couldn’t read passed over her face. “Before I go, I would like to offer both the anchor for your Teleportation and…” she paused and took another moment as she gathered herself. The pause had me nervous over what she was about to say.

“I would like to form a Soul Mate bond with you as the others have. We are truly tied together in this now, though, should I ask I would expect you to break the bond immediately.”

“Of course,” I replied seriously. “But there’s no pressure on you to do this Peace. Just because Destruction and Devotion have.”

“I am aware that you have never pushed nor, to my knowledge even suggested it, yet the ability the bond provides to communicate directly will be integral with the coming threat of Hakan. In reality, this is something we should have done some time ago.”

“I couldn’t agree more, and we can totally scrap all the bonds later once we’re through this little rough patch. And honestly, apart from the communication and being able to sense each other’s emotional state, or if we’re lying, there’s nothing much else to it. Certainly no control aspects. And we both get Experience Points.”

“Then let us do it.” As she spoke a thick tendril of power left her core, moving sluggishly toward me, I returned the act so that our Neuma connected. From there, Peace’s power moved steadily into through mine and into my core, just as mine did to hers, then I quickly took the small parcel of her core to create an anchor before mooning over my notifications:

< Congratulations >

You have forged a Soul Mate bond with the Goddess of Peace.

Ultra-rare achievement.

You have received 100,000 Experience Points.

< Congratulations >

You have leveled to 674

You have 30 stat points available to distribute.

< Level 674 >

Physical Statistics:

Strength: 504

The capacity to exert and resist force.

Dexterity: 402