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Edge of apocalypse 116
🕑 Added 2023-08-27 12:25:26 +0000 UTC116 – Ice monster
Albert focused inwards. He pictured the process of fortifying his mind, holding the image in his brain as best he could. Mental Fortress was a passive skill back when he still had a system, which meant that he never got to observe how it acted in real time, especially because whenever it kicked in it meant that something else was going on that required his attention. Nonetheless, Jeff helped, and before long the two of them had a working framework upon which to base the Bending process.
With a mental snap, Albert willed himself to better be able to withstand the mental fatigue and backlash from Bending too much.
Reality Bending Power: 3 -> 4
Albert slumped on the floor. His attempt at fortifying his mind had taken a lot out of him, leaving him with a pounding headache and barely any strength to do anything.
I don’t believe we were successful.
What do you mean?
I think we failed. But straining your mind to the point of breaking made it stronger. At least it’s progress.
Albert chuckled. Was this an attempt at cheering me up?
Yes. I felt your disappointment at the single point gained. Need I remind you to reframe your point of view, and that your power grew by 33%?
It’s still low. And I failed.
Neither you nor I possess enough insight into Reality Bending. To consider this failure problematic would be unwise. At the cost of repeating myself: progress was made, and a new path forward was discovered.
Which involves pain, because no matter how strong I am I will always need to push that tiny bit beyond what I can do. Also… Why do I feel like I have a sassy version of myself in my brain?
I do not know. You should ask yourself why you made me this way.
You didn’t use a contraction.
I am an AI. I don’t use contractions.
Albert sighed, but the outline of a smile had touched his lips and he had to admit, he felt a little better. Between the pain, the cold and the sting of betrayal, the loss of everything Albert had worked for ended up being much bigger than the enjoyment and thrill of success at creating a new form of magic.
However, he had to realize that what he had done in the black room, despite not remembering most of it, was nothing short of extraordinary. He created an AI and redid his own system to better suit his needs. He spent literal decades there.
All that happened in the last few days had taken a toll on his mental health, however, making him lose sight of the greater picture. Little things like this helped. He felt less alone, less defeated.
He sank lower, sliding against the smooth ice of the walls. The faint blue light was peaceful and calming now that there was no danger. Albert’s head throbbed from the accumulated mental fatigue, but the pain was receding.
He inhaled deeply. “Damn. I really miss home.”
A request appeared in Albert’s vision. Albert sighed. “What now?”
The request was from Jeff, asking permission to perform a scan. After pressing yes with his mental finger, Albert felt a tug on his mind and the fatigue returned, a fact that made his forehead wrinkle in thought.
I am detecting a steady increase of Alignment Energy in the atmosphere. I postulate that our actions caused a cascade reaction originating somewhere within Sitea’s shield and radiating outwards.
What? But before Albert could even ask, his field of view changed into a false color display that showed some pockets of faint red, like clouds of gas. Keeping the view active consumed mental energy, but not so much that he had to dismiss it immediately. Concentrating on one of them displayed additional information.
Albert blinked. Something moved, perhaps disturbed by the sudden shift in the composition of the energies in the air. Albert saw a prompt from Jeff and mentally clicked it, activating Bullet Time. The rush of mental fatigue that followed turned to vertigo and the world began to spin, but in slow-motion. He did not have access to skills anymore, but the magic was so ingrained into his brain that – with the help of the AI – Bending was almost effortless when copying old skills. Before Albert could argue, a red outline appeared in his vision as his Bending fatigue grew rapidly. Danger. Lines of text completed the picture, hovering close to the outline of the monster.
Unknown monster. Estimated Power: SCAN REQUIRED.
Suggested courses of action:
Flee:
>COPY: Teleportation. Short range Blink
>COPY: Mixed Style Fighting and Strengthening. Body enhancement and time manipulation
>Other (Low power and low mastery: creative approach unadvised)
Fight:
>COPY: Fireball (see firing solutions)
>COPY: Earth Shard (see firing solutions)
>Other (Low power and low mastery: creative approach unadvised)
Albert considered his options, but he didn’t have much time. As the Bending fatigue increased, the efficiency of his Bending lessened, and the world sped up. Unlike skills, Bending worked on a continuous spectrum, and it was losing effectiveness as Albert’s mental resources dwindled.
One of the options became red, no longer possible with what little energy was left.
Can we fight?
Would require a scan.
If I scan, can I fight then?
Probably not. You would faint before I can weave the mana to make a fireball.
Albert’s first idea was to chain a Blink into an MMA move to disable the strangely humanoid monster of ice, into a mad dash with Strengthening and Dash. The moves, all being copies of the old skills he had, meant he could cast them with less personal cost compared to other options.
He quickly discarded the idea, and Jeff’s HUD confirmed soon after that he could not have sustained the costs of so many skills.
The more time he thought, the less energy Albert had. The outline of the monster moved following the thing’s movements, which were a bit faster than before. The thing, a sort of yeti made of ice and snow, was preparing to hurl something at Albert.
Scan it.
Mana-based magic observed. Probability of being a projectile made of ice: 88%
Power buildup: 7
Chance of deflection, blocking or tanking without major wounds: <5%
I suggest you flee immediately. Combat solutions updated.
Albert’s eyes immediately flicked to the new combat solutions. Based on the estimated cast location of the magic, several possible trajectories for the magic missile were drawn in red. The highest chance of survival, should the predictions turn out correct, was to run forward, jerk to the side at the last possible moment to avoid contact, and then teleport right behind the monster and flee deeper into the cave system. Running back towards the exit had a higher than fifty percent chance of being hit in the back with an icicle.
What if the monster is not casting ice magic?
Analysis of magic is ongoing.
Probability of being a projectile made of ice: 94%
Well then. I trust you.
Not a moment too soon, Albert thought to himself, although it was hard to tell whether it was his own thought or something Jeff sent over but refused to claim ownership about. It didn’t matter. With almost unnatural ease, Albert followed the instructions to the letter.
He ran forward, watching his own body move with grace and precision that he didn’t think he could have for a long time until he regained his old buffs. It didn’t take long to realize that he was Bending, twisting fate ever so slightly so that he could move like he wanted. Whether it was Jeff doing it for him or himself didn’t matter. The monster’s magic materialized, an icicle that followed the trajectory Jeff had deemed the second most probable. With a slight pull on his mind, Albert Bent reality according to Jeff’s instructions and dodged, then with a considerably higher effort, teleported.
He swayed, but did not fall. Behind him, the world had lost a portion of its ambient mana. Albert’s mind raced, but he forced it to still.
You need to run.
Albert fought the urge to puke. Easy for you to say.
Swallowing a hard clump that was making its way up his throat, Albert dashed down the narrow tunnel, into the depths of the mountain. The headache slowly passed, leaving a seared mind in its wake. It took a while for this new sensation to subside, and the feeling went from that of raw, pink flesh that had just grown to something else.
It was like Albert’s mind was more elastic now, better accustomed to power coursing thought it. It felt, at least, like he could stretch a bit more than before.
Reality Bending Power: 4 -> 5
Interesting.
You have grown yet again. Your odds of survival have increased.
You know? Strange as it sounds, I don’t want to know the odds. Albert studied a small stalactite of ice before continuing on, walking down the tunnel. Back there… You said: ‘weave mana to make a fireball’, what does it mean?
I don’t know.
Albert stopped. You don’t know?
Jeff was silent for a few seconds. I do not. It’s strange.
Let me guess, not even you know how you do it.
Jeff didn’t answer.
Albert walked for several minutes in silence, the only sound being dripping water and the echo of his footsteps. In the distance, he saw that there was another monster blocking the path forward, but with a power of five, and elemental advantage, he was sure he could defeat it. After all, Jeff had put the other monster’s power at seven, but the monster’s attacks seemed limited to lobbing icicles that were not too hard to dodge if you had an AI and reality bending magic to aid you.
Despite neither Albert nor his AI seemed to know how such magic worked.
Albert squared off against the monster. The thing, whatever it was, looked slightly more humanoid than the last, despite still being made entirely of ice. It shouted something, the sound like ice cracking and grinding together. Quite unpleasant.
Enemy is preparing to attack. Mana pattern consistent with icicle of ice. Power buildup: 4.5 and increasing.
Between the two options: fight and flee, Albert chose to fight. Several new options appeared.
Of the various options that Jeff listed for him, he chose Fireball. As soon as he did, before even the mental effort to manifest the fireball was expended, several firing solutions were presented to him in his vision.
The fireball appeared, looking exactly like the old level-8 skill from when he still had a system. The effort to manifest it was enough to send Albert’s head spinning, and he wondered how many he could spawn before he fainted or, even worse, suffered an aneurysm and died.
He threw the fireball with practiced ease. The early days of the system came to mind, and all the training the daily quests had forced on him paid off. He had come a long way from the naïve child being thrown in the middle of a desert by a strange system, forced to lob fireballs in the distance until he learned how to throw. Even with his power severely diminished for the moment, Albert was much stronger than he was back then, wielding the magic competently.
He hadn’t even needed to use the firing solutions from Jeff, although they were very handy and he appreciated his construct’s efforts. The fireball flew true and accurately hit the monster in its chest, vaporizing the ice on contact.
I didn’t feel any mana moving inside me. Albert switched to magic vision. Yeah, switching didn’t use any magic, but the headache is here. Is Bending actually not magic?
A small box appeared in Albert’s vision, highlighting an area.
There is a small volume of lessened ambient magic. It corresponds to the location where the fireball was constructed.
Albert hummed, and walked towards the monster. His throw had been as accurate as one of the AI’s firing solutions, which made Albert proud of his skill and, for a moment, smothered the burning sensation of loss and weakness. Another thing captured his attention, and he walked up to the monster and knelt.
The ice that was the monster’s flesh had melted where the fireball had hit it, but the water had solidified again due to the low temperature.
That’s new. Is it… sizzling?
The magic holding the monster together is failing.Jeff said. However, there is a deviation from the model that warrants investigation. Jeff requested the use of Bending to activate some sort of magic vision. Albert complied, ignoring the pounding headache as best he could. At the same time, he noticed that switching to magic vision disturbed the ambient magic around him, as if he had sucked some of it away to power the copied version of his old skill.
It seems that the mana holding the creature together is dissipating slower than normal.
It never happened before. Albert said in his head. A thought occurred to him a moment later. The only change is the increase in Alignment Energy. Is it preventing magic from reabsorbing wherever it used to go before?
It is likely.
If that’s the case, then the magical saturation of the environment will increase along with the increase of Alignment Energy. It could be catastrophic. We need to speed up here, I’m turning around.
