I think Hailey assumed I hit my head too hard.
While we both agreed that I was dead, verified through a status interface, she hesitated to embrace the idea that I had just returned from the heavens.
Was everything that just happened a fugue state? Just a glimpse of an afterlife where I could see everyone… Twisted perversions of my own hopes and desires in an addled brain on the verge of life and death.
No way. I died for real. That actually happened and I'm not about to gaslight myself into thinking otherwise.
I hadn't noticed it right away, but something was definitely off about my wrist-bound rune. Normally it slowly pulsed a soft light when I had a notification—instead it was now rapidly flashing an odd orange color.
Capricorn, what did you do…
Almost absentmindedly I moved my hand to swipe over the runic glyph—but stopped myself, remembering what the Goddess of Aether had told me about adjusting my skills. My OVERSIGHT skill is what allowed me to see the attribute point increases in my interface readouts, among other things like combat logs.
According to her, I would be able to improve the information I had access to by altering the skill through chaos magick.
Locked in place by Hailey's tight embrace, I resigned myself to make my modifications right here. Though it was an unknown, maybe she'd see this as proof that my story was true.
I relaxed my body, relying on Hailey to support me.
Take a deep breath… And let it out slowly.
Focus on a single point.
Hailey's fingers were gently brushing across my skin as she absentmindedly traced hearts across me. I could feel the warmth left behind as each of her hands danced around.
"Oooh!?"
Her gasp pulled me out of my meditative state—initially causing me to be irked, but once I realized what had surprised her I also gasped.
Orange runic symbols danced underneath my skin where she had been tracing her fingers. They shined brightly, illuminating the two of us in a warm glow.
I felt… powerful. Not in a fierce way, like how wielding holy spells makes me feel. This was so much different. This was true power. The power to create. To destroy.
It was intoxicating.
I need to focus. Back to the spell.
Tracing the sigil that OVERSIGHT was based on in the air, I could now add in modifications to the spell's core. A principle of chaos magick was that by believing in myself and what I was doing, I can affect things to become how I wanted.
I drew four new patterns into the core sigil. Knowledge, Status, Unbound, and Limitless.
Unbound was a sigil amplifier typically used in Operation and Tactical Class versions of lesser spells. The difference between casting LIGHTNING BOLT versus LIGHTNING STORM.
Limitless was an amplifier used in the creation of magi-tools. A master artificer could imbue a bottle to become an endless source of water, or a chef's knife to never become dull.
I was using both of these to alter my spell to enhance the first two: Knowledge and Status. By having limitless knowledge which knew no bounds, I would be able to see all of my statuses.
That's what I believe anyway.
I sealed the sigil and poured my own magicka into it. Casting my improved OVERSIGHT spell.
Hailey gasped again, this time with quite a bit more excitement.
Interface panels sprang into life in front of us. They were crystal clear, no longer an illuminated projection on Aethermist. My interface was now made of the Aethermist itself.
Whoa.
On this window, lines of text displayed in rapid succession showing a jumble of information.
» YOU HAVE GAINED IN POWER, YOUR ATTRIBUTES HAVE INCREASED:
» STRENGTH HAS INCREASED TO 38
» TOUGHNESS HAS INCREASED TO 30
» FORTITUDE HAS INCREASED TO 31
» COURAGE HAS INCREASED TO 47
» AGILITY HAS INCREASED TO 27
» SWIFTNESS HAS INCREASED TO 28
» PERCEPTION HAS INCREASED TO 22
» REFLEX HAS INCREASED TO 27
» AETHER HAS INCREASED TO 47
» INTELLIGENCE HAS INCREASED TO 50
» YOU CAN NOW LEARN OPERATION CLASS MAGICK
» WISDOM HAS INCREASED TO 33
» SANITY HAS INCREASED TO 45
» VITALITY HAS INCREASED TO 35
» ENDURANCE HAS INCREASED TO 27
» STAMINA HAS INCREASED TO 36
» RESOLVE HAS INCREASED TO 43
» DEXTERITY HAS INCREASED TO 41
» CLEVERNESS HAS INCREASED TO 38
» FINESSE HAS INCREASED TO 37
» INGENUITY HAS INCREASED TO 46
» YOUR AFFINITIES HAVE INCREASED, A NEW ATTRIBUTE HAS BEEN UNLOCKED:
» CHAOS HAS INCREASED TO 37
» WILLPOWER HAS INCREASED TO 20
» LUCK HAS INCREASED TO 67
» DIVINITY HAS INCREASED TO 25
» YOU HAVE GAINED IN POWER, YOU HAVE LEARNED NEW SPELLS:
» NEW OPERATION CLASS SPELL, RESURRECTION
» NEW TACTICAL CLASS SPELL, MASS RESURRECTION
» OVERSIGHT HAS BEEN MODIFIED, AND IS NOW INCORPORATED INTO OMNISIGHT
» YOU HAVE GAINED IN KNOWLEDGE, NEW AFFINITIES HAVE BEEN UNLOCKED:
» ABSOLUTE ℵ0
» DIVINE FAVOR
» HOLY MASTERY
» AETHERIAL MASTERY
» ELEMENTAL MASTERY
» ARCANE MASTERY
» UNYIELDING
» IMMORTAL
» SOUL BOUND
» CHAOTIC IMBUEMENT
» YOU HAVE BEEN GRANTED A NEW TITLE:
» HARBINGER OF THE IMMORTALS
So the Celestials had kept their end of our deal. There would be no mistaking what those two new spells were the real thing. And the alteration of OVERSIGHT to OMNISIGHT makes it undeniable.
Good news. I'm not crazy.
"What did you do!?"
I pointed at the lines that read out the resurrect spells.
"Believe I met the Goddesses now?"
"But… that's impossible!" She grabbed my face in both hands, "So you can bring them back?"
"That's what I've been telling you, Hails."
"Can you do it right now? How long does it take?"
I shrugged and smirked, "I don't know. I was just dead, like an hour ago. Remember?"
She shrunk down, "I know… sorry. I've just been so…"
"Hey, I was just teasing you. This is all new to me, but we'll figure it out together. I'm hoping we can find more answers on these status pages."
I couldn't resist navigating to my personal status interface and grimoire to review them. Dragging what looked like my old status page over, I noticed that not only did it contain a massive amount of new information, it also had another panel attached to it…
- - - - - -{STATUS}- - - - - -
NAME: AIRIS VANIXI
RACE: ALTAERIAN
HEALTH: [270]
STAMINA: [410]
MAGICKA: [600]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - -{ATTRIBUTES}- - - - - -
{CLASS SPECIALIZATION: (Paladin)}
[STRENGTH](ℵ₀): [38]
Toughness: 38 (30+8)
Fortitude: 31
Courage: 47
- - -
[VITALITY](ℵ₀): [35]
Endurance: 27
Stamina: 26
Resolve: 43
- - -
[AGILITY](ℵ₀): [27]
Swiftness: 29 (28+1)
Perception: 22
Reflex: 31 (27+4)
- - -
[DEXTERITY](ℵ₀): [41]
Cleverness: 38
Finesse: 40 (37+3)
Ingenuity: 46
- - -
[AETHER](ℵ₀): [47]
Intelligence: 55 (50+5)
Wisdom: 33
Sanity: 55 (45+10)
- - -
[CHAOS](ℵ₀): [37]
Willpower: 20
Luck: 67
Divinity: 25
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - -AFFINITIES- - - - - -
ABSOLUTE ℵ0
Your attribute affinities are undefinable.
- - -
DIVINE FAVOR
You have been bestowed with a blessing from the Celestial Goddess, Virgo.
- - -
HOLY MASTERY
You are able to control Holy based Magick.
- - -
AETHERIAL MASTERY
You are able to control Aether based Magick.
- - -
ELEMENTAL MASTERY
Mastery over all forms of Elemental Magick.
You are able to control Fire, Frost, Lightning, and Nature based Magick.
- - -
ARCANE MASTERY
You are able to control Arcane based Magick.
- - -
UNYIELDING
You are immune to Fear effects.
- - -
IMMORTAL
You have been granted eternal life and are no longer susceptible to death.
- - -
SOUL BOUND
Your soul has been bound to the Essence of Capricorn.
- - -
CHAOTIC IMBUEMENT
You are able to invoke Chaos based Magick.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - -TITLES- - - - - -
[Ruler]
Title bearer has the authority to rule over a faction.
- - -
[Harbinger of the Immortals]
Bestowed by Virgo. This title identifies the bearer as a herald of things to come. Lesser demons and monsters fear your presence.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - -{GRIMOIRE}- - - - - -
{MAGICKAL SPECIALIZATION: (Divine Light)}
[HEAL (MAJOR)]:
[School: Holy][Class: Action]
Heals a major wound. Requires touch range
- - -
[HEAL (MINOR)]:
[School: Holy][Class: Action]
Heals a minor wound. Requires touch range
- - -
[AURA OF LIGHT]:
[School: Holy][Class: Combat]
Increases the effectiveness of healing magicks.
- - -
[BRILLIANCE (MINOR)]:
[School: Arcane][Class: Action]
Increases the power of spells and their chance to critical cast.
- - -
[HOLY BOLT]:
[School: Holy][Class: Action]
Inflicts minor damage. Inflicts moderate damage to Undead and Demons.
- - -
[OMNISIGHT]:
[School: Chaos][Class: Action]
Allows the caster to visualize a detailed appraisal of any target.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[BATTLE STANCE]
[School: Physical][Class: Action]
A balanced combat stance that allows the use of Standard physical abilities.
- - -
[BLADE SLASH]
[School: Physical][Class: Action]
A standard physical ability. A slashing attack that deals moderate damage. Reduced damage to armored targets.
- - -
[WILD STRIKE]
[School: Physical][Class: Combat]
A strong lunging, slashing attack. Deals extreme damage. Increased damage to weak spots and wounds.
- - -
[RESURRECTION]
[School: Chaos][Class: Operation]
Returns a soul back to its body. Revives the target to a state before their death.
Inflicts SOULBIND.
- - -
[MASS RESURRECTION]
[School: Chaos][Class: Tactical]
Returns nearby souls back to their bodies. Revives the targets to a state before their death
Inflicts SOULBIND.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Look at those attributes, by the Aether…"
"What do you think that absolute affinity thing means?"
"Divine favor, so the Gods do really like you."
"That's a lot of masteries!"
"You have a title!? Two of them even."
Hailey's commentary as we reviewed the pages was one outburst of surprise after another.
We were now both looking over the resurrect spells, which I had isolated into single panes for each.
"Are you going to be able to use the mass resurrect spell?"
"I think so?"
"But it's a Tactical Class spell."
"I know I've never cast one before, but I think I have the power to do it."
"Your INTELLIGENCE attribute is only high enough to learn Operation Class spells though."
"Yeah, but I've already learned it, right?"
She pursed her lips together and started lightly tapping her leg with her thumb.
I swiped across the panels, willing them away. The glowing light faded, dispersing the mists that made them.
"Only one way to find out. Guess I'm just gonna have to cast it."
The bodies of everyone who had agreed to be brought back had been arranged in a circle.
Their wounds healed, as best they could be, by Hailey's area effect healing spells.
I sat in the center.
My breathing was slow, but rhythmic. I focused on my inner self, tapping into the power of my will.
There it is.
That same warm feeling from before flowed through my body. When I opened my eyes I was met with the soft glow of runic symbols twinkling under my skin.
Tracing the set of sigils taught by Vita, I began to pour my magicka into the spell.
A shiver ran down my spine as I watched my MAGICKA hit zero on my status display—but power continued to surge out from deep within me.
Capricorn's Essence. Alright soul binding, lets see what you're made of.
The incantation for this spell wasn't something that was immutable, rather it was whatever words I felt within my very will.
"Goddesses of Divinity, hear my call and instill your power into me. I, the Harbinger of Immortality, declare that these souls have not yet completed their journey. Soldiers of the Light, I open a pathway to return here. Come past the veil, seek me in a sea of mist. Endless Empire!"
As my words reached their crescendo I began to feel their connections to me. Aetherial strings extended from my soul, out to each body. I felt each tug as they made their way through the alien planes of the afterlife.
First to make it was Julius. His fingers twitched as life flooded back into his body.
The spell casting was not without incident, however. As soon as remaining souls started returning to their bodies, pressure rushed to my head. Sharp needle pains of magicka feedback stung my mind.
Instinctively my hands raced to brace my head as the oppressive wave assaulted my senses.
My jaw clenched and I shut my eyes tight—Then I passed out.