Chapter 37: Against The Abyss II

Chapter 37: Against The Abyss II

The Ogdenborough Jail was one of the more spacious buildings in his poverty-stricken town. It was a single tower with four floors. Each floor contained four units capable of housing forty offenders, with the basement containing a segregation unit for those who needed a beating and correctional treatment, and assaultive offenders. Like that, the jail was capable of housing nearly seven-hundred prisoners.

The facility was officially under the purview of the Volarbury County Militia, but of course Orodan knew growing up... that the jail was really run by the stooges of House Argon. The jail was seen as a punishment post for incompetent members of the militia who couldn’t hack it during training and were considered too weak to be allowed to patrol the streets. Orodan faced no such issue, being the top of his cohort during training. But many of the people he trained with wound up working here.

“Wainwright? I remember being in training with you!” the girl exclaimed. “It’s me, Ostolon! Bildica Ostolon. I know you were the top of the class, but I always cheered you on during spars and drills.”

A tad bit too skinny, and with dark circles under her eyes. No wonder she was working at the jail, her natural diet and conditioning were abysmal, and her Physical Fitness was rather pitiful for dark circles to form from lack of sleep. Orodan didn’t remember this girl at all, but she must’ve been a slacker during training. Socializing or hiding from the wrath of the instructors while Orodan took every opportunity to work hard and seize opportunities to advance himself.

“Ah yes, hello,” Orodan replied, attempting to remain polite. “I’m here to see some of the prisoners.”

“Er... is this an on-duty assignment? I wasn’t told of anyone from the patrol barracks coming by,” she spoke. “You’re not in uniform either. Let me just contact my sergeant to verify-”

“No need, it won’t take very long, and I won’t need permission,” Orodan said as he walked past her at the front desk and approached the heavy steel doors leading to the secure part of the institution. He left a few perfect healing potions on her desk as he left. “I hope that covers the damages.”

Metal was casually folded under his grip and the door came off its hinges.

“W-Wainwright?! What are you even doing?!” she exclaimed. “B-by the Gods...!”

She was a bit indecisive, so the alarm came fifteen seconds after he entered the facility’s secure area. Took her a bit long to activate the alarm mechanism, a defensive vulnerability, but then again, she must’ve been posted at the front due to her lack of competence in general.

“Code Red, front registration! Code Red, front registration!” came a magically amplified voice.

Men and women of the militia looked at him warily as he walked down the halls towards the offenders’ living units. Finally, a particularly large one, slightly taller than even Orodan himself, spoke up.

“The hells? Aren’t you Wainwright? Are you who caused the alarm?” he asked. “Never did like you during training... making the rest of us look bad.”

The man then nodded to the other five men and women near him, and they all closed in, attempting to take control Orodan’s arms. In response, Orodan simply kept walking, dragging them along like paper birds in the breeze.

“Go for the legs! What the hells Volten!”

“How is he doing that?!”

“Stop! He’s at least an Adept, let’s call for more!” came the voice of reason.

The jail guards got out of his way, thoroughly persuaded of the strength difference. Orodan made his way to the entrance of the living quarters and gently took that door off too.

It was two hours before noon, thus the offenders were all out of their cells for dayroom time. It was the standard system in which jails were run all over Volarbury County, and even in the Republic. Upon seeing the door come off its hinges, many of them began clamoring in confusion. Some called out that the door was open, some looked on warily, and a bold handful made for the path he created and hoped to escape.

Of course, depending on their crimes, Orodan wouldn’t allow any of that. He grabbed the first offender to try and run past him and bound him to the guard station rail with thick rope.

“Alright, what’s he here for?” Orodan asked, and his book companion who was under an invisibility spell got to work. “It’s not harmful, is it?”

Surprisingly, the man didn’t scream at all, nor did he look aware of the fact that his mind was being probed.

“Of course not, do I look like an amateur to you?” she asked. “Unlike you, who has the mental fortitude of a mountain and existing levels in Psionic Resistance, most people won’t ever be aware that their minds are being read. Also, this one got drunk and beat up a militia man.”

“Oi! What’re you talkin’ about?” the man himself protested. “I ain’t done nothing like that.”

Orodan ignored the man and unbound the ropes restraining him. This would take too long, and he didn’t have that much time to spare. So, he went behind the desk of the guard station and began perusing the unit records. The frightened guard could only get out of the way as he’d seen Orodan get past the door casually.

“Nobody on this unit has committed any heinous crimes,” Orodan said. “Do you hold the worst offenders in segregation?”

“Y-yes sir... that and in the protective custody unit for those with sensitive charges,” the guard replied.

A mass of guards was waiting outside the broken doors, not for Orodan as they weren’t his match and knew that. But to handle the mess he’d created by breaking the door. They didn’t want the offenders to escape. Orodan walked past them and allowed them to do their jobs.

Guards in the halls fearfully froze as he walked past them, but he had no quarrel with them, but was simply seeking some acceptable targets to practice on. Finally, he reached the protective custody unit and broke its doors down.

The offenders were locked up due to the alarm, and Orodan went behind the desk, grabbed the unit records, and began going cell to cell.

“It says this one killed his wife and child during a domestic dispute,” Orodan said. “If he did it... then I have no qualms with being experimental during my practice.”

“Hmm... he’s a rather violent man indeed. He angrily killed his family after his wife got mad at him for beating her and told him she would call the militia. His son tried stopping him and paid the price,” his assistant spoke. “Definitely deserves to be our first subject.”

“Good, now hold still. Since you enjoy subjecting those weaker than you to violence, you shouldn’t have a problem if someone stronger comes by and does the same to you, no?” Orodan asked as he bound the man to a rail, kicking and screaming while the other offenders in their cells looked terrified.

This was the protective custody unit. Full of offenders who had all signed in by choice due to the sensitive nature of their charges. The overwhelming majority of those here, were in for crimes of a sickening nature that would get them targeted by those in regular units. Not all criminals were equal. A deviant fiend who harmed children wasn’t the same as a thug who beat people up. Even among the criminal class there were limits and a certain code of conduct.

Weapon Aura wrapped completely around the man, his mana pool drained entirely in an attempt to resist Orodan’s control and then...

...Weapon Aura reached into the very depths of the man’s soul, as far as Orodan could go.

Immediately there was some serious resistance. Wrapping Weapon Aura around the entirety of the outer soul layer wasn’t an issue. Orodan refused to allow any changes in it and had frozen it in place and completely halted the man’s mana generation; an interesting tactic which could be explored further in combat. But, attempting to extend his control into the very core of the soul was proving incredibly difficult, if not outright impossible. Blood leaked from Orodan’s eyes and nose as he tried, thus, he doubled down and summoned all of his ‘clones’. Eight minds worked together, and they all focused on maintaining Weapon Aura’s grip on the man’s soul and extending its influence into the deepest parts.

The air crackled with dangerous amounts of energy. Eternal Soul Reactor and Draconic Mana Channelling worked together and Orodan drew upon a terrifying amount of power, to the point that a minor slip up might obliterate Ogdenborough if his control slacked.

Yet, he was confident in his willpower, which would never falter. So, he continued.

It was as though reality itself refused to allow him into the soul core of another. Even the very Gods that slew him continually never claimed to be capable of destroying souls outright, merely the outer layer. He wasn’t sure what prevented it. Was it the System? Was it the world? Orodan didn’t know, but he persisted all the same.

In front of him, the man was screaming in agony, but Orodan’s focus didn’t deviate. It was painful, but not fatal, and this man had no grounds to complain when he’d abused and then murdered his own family.

[Weapon Aura 85 → Weapon Aura 86]

The skill gained a level, indicative of just how difficult this was. Both in terms of concentration, but also in terms of the skill required. Seeing someone else’s soul as a weapon and then using Weapon Aura to wrap around it, and control it? Madness of the highest order. Just how Orodan liked it.

The soul didn’t exactly consist of particles which could be individually manipulated. Rather, it was a single thing which functioned and had parts, but these parts weren’t exactly separate things. The outer layer of the soul for example, wasn’t a separate object that could be plucked off and put somewhere. Its existence was integrally tied to the core of the soul. In a sense, it was almost a projection of the soul core. Much like how a shadow couldn’t exist without light, so too could the outer soul layer not exist without the soul core.

Orodan knew a lot of this from his forays into his own soul, especially when he performed soul surgery to get rid of the Blessings. But, knowing something from his own soul and then applying to the soul of another, was harder than it seemed. He wouldn’t be manipulating the soul of another or changing its functions yet, but he could use Weapon Aura to freeze the outer layer in place and prevent any sort of change in it.

Orodan had already seized complete control of the outer layer. Soul energy was produced in the core, but many of the conversions from soul energy to mana and vitality occurred in the outer soul layer. At least, for natural mana and vitality generation. Skills which converted soul energy to mana or vitality, such as Orodan’s own Harmony of Vitality and Eternal Soul Reactor, functioned in the soul core, and destruction of the outer soul layer wouldn’t hamper those.

The man would not regenerate any mana, and his senses, emotions and thoughts would be utterly mangled unless Orodan willed otherwise. In fact, freezing the outer layer of the soul while the body went on, had some acutely detrimental effects. The man’s heart continued beating, but it was erratic, as though it lacked purpose. Many bodily functions went awry, and his brain acted very strangely. The body wasn’t meant to function without a soul, even if perfectly healed. It was akin to a doll, and while flesh golems existed, the human body itself wasn’t meant to function without a soul unless additional magical aids were present, or a new soul was deposited.

Barring skills, the outer soul layer was also how the soul connected to the body. For the overwhelming majority of beings, destroying the outer soul layer, or even freezing it, would kill them.

Orodan, was beginning to tread dangerously into the territory of illegal soul magic arts.

Not that anyone would or could arrest him for it. At high levels of power, the only law was might. But it was still something to be aware of. Such arts were illegal due to the painful and violating nature of training them.

Orodan allowed the man’s outer soul layer to begin functioning as normal again, but it mattered not. His eyes were lifeless. The offender’s body was perfectly normal. Skin healthy, blood flowing. But the heart beat was erratic, and the brain had no signs of higher activity.

Orodan still held a grip over the soul, and it was positioned perfectly in the core of the body... but it was desperately seeking escape to a higher realm which Orodan couldn’t sense. He didn’t have a skill meant specifically for detecting souls yet. Vision of Purity could see traces of foul impurities in the man’s soul, perhaps his guilt from sinning, and this was how Orodan indirectly sensed and interacted with people’s souls. But this was the extent of it, and Orodan couldn’t detect the souls of newborns and young children at all due to the lack of impurities within them.

All this was to say, the man was dead. His corpse akin to a flesh golem, but a flawed one which wouldn’t last without magical intervention. And even then, his brain showed no higher thought.

Orodan let Weapon Aura slip, and the soul go.

The offenders who were watching from their cells were either silently praying, madly screaming, and banging on their cell doors in a show of fighting when their turn came or were simply accepting their potential fate.

“You know, you could give me a formal education on the soul arts,” Orodan spoke. “I doubt soul mages start by using Weapon Aura of all things to try and manipulate souls. And how is one meant to breach the soul core?”

“But where’s the fun in that? You seem like the type of bull-headed man who would struggle at attempting something impossible and then actually achieve it,” she spoke. “Who knows what you could achieve if I didn’t interfere? Do you really want me to take that away from you? I’ll begin tutoring you in soul magic right now if you want.”

Orodan frowned. This book accurately had the measure of his character.

“No. It’s fine,” Orodan replied. “I’ll do it myself or never succeed. Anyhow, about the soul core?”

“It’s impossible,” she replied. “I have never heard of anyone breaching the soul core of another in all my long years of life. I don’t know if the System forbids it, or that’s simply how souls are... but it cannot be done, and Gods far more powerful than those you’ve seen have tried. The mightiest God couldn’t manage it upon the weakest babe.”

Orodan accepted her explanation but resolved to continue trying to breach the soul core of another. Who knew where it would take him? His experimentations were cut off however, as a group of ten people entered the unit, the familiar heraldry of a flower and shield upon one of them.

These were the Adept-enforcers of House Argon, being commanded by one of their Elites-level retainers.

“Orodan Wainwright! You dare cause trouble at the Ogdenborough Jail after abandoning your shift today?! What has caused such a rapid gain in strength?” the leading Argon retainer asked. The man was a mere retainer, not even a high-level Elite like Lord Aeglos, the heir to the house. “Come with us, and we may overlook this incident. We’ve always seen potential in you from a young age. Did you know we planned to make an offer of recruitment eventually?”

“What nonsense... today is the day you lying scoundrels plan on using the ancient machine to destroy most of Volarbury County,” Orodan replied. “Although I will admit, the beatings your enforcers gave me when I was young helped shape me into the warrior I am today.”

“You speak of things you should not know,” the retainer spoke. “I apologize that it’s had to come to this. Apprehend him, and if that’s not possible... kill him. We need to wrap this up before the militia’s Elite Response unit gets here. House Firesword doesn’t need to be involved, not today of all days.”

An understandable plan. Today was the awakening of the machine. And while House Argon held more power in Ogdenborough, it was House Firesword that held the overwhelming majority of control over the Volarbury County Militia. To have their Elite Response Unit come in at such a critical time would be undesirable for House Argon, hence they wanted to deal with him themselves.

Unfortunately for them, Orodan was a force somewhat beyond noble houses. He walked towards them.

“Here he comes! Grab him!”

“Use the enchanted manacles!” the Elite retainer ordered, and a pair of magical iron cuffs made of a powerful material were slapped around his wrists. “Nicely done! Now then, don’t resist Wainwright! We have you-”

“H-he’s just walking away! Stop him!”

The manacles were casually pried off and Orodan made for the segregation unit where some really vile offenders were undoubtedly held. It was in the basement and looked like a nefarious dungeon. The door leading to solitary was far thicker than the doors leading into the regular living units, but that didn’t matter to him.

The door was gently torn off the wall and Orodan made his way inside.

Unlike a living unit, there were maybe thirty separate cells in segregation, and there were no bunk beds. Each cell was for one offender. The first twenty cells were lined upside-by-side, although offenders were to only be allowed out one at a time. The other ten cells, however, were in a separate section and meant for dangerous captives, Adepts.

The Elite retainer tried hitting him with a powerful melee skill... which shredded Orodan’s shirt and promptly bounced off his skin without doing any damage. He looked back and gave the man a look which had the retainer sweating and gained him a level in Intimidation. The communication amulet glowed, and additional backup was most certainly called. Bulwark Physical Resistance seemed irrelevant when he was fighting quadruple-Grandmasters, but against Elites and even Masters? He was invincible.

He walked behind the guard desk and perused the records. He toured segregation and looked at the records again. There was a discrepancy.

“Why is your unit occupancy board empty, and yet I see seven cells in use?” Orodan asked the Elite retainer nearby.

“T-that is... sir... above my paygrade,” the man stumbled and spoke in a fearful voice. “I’d just like to apologize for all this inconvenience we’ve caused you.”

“Don’t apologize to me, apologize to these people you’ve imprisoned falsely. Republic spies who would uncover your plot? Political enemies? Who are they?” Orodan asked. “I always suspected that the jail’s segregation unit was used to hold captives off the record. Especially since the guards working this post were known to be backed by your house.”

While the justice system was rife with power plays and nepotism which favored the mighty, the Cathedral ensured that even the lowliest victim from the poorest town received some form of representation. Legal specialists from the Cathedral checked in on every offender registered within a county’s jail system. It earned the Prime Five even more goodwill and faith, but also ensured that nobody was forgotten in a dark cell indefinitely.

But if people were locked up off the record? What else could they do but rot?

Orodan approached the first cell.

“Help! Please help! Gods save me! I just want to go home! I’m with the Republic!” came the desperate cries of a man within.

The door was ripped off and the man practically leapt into his arms, bawling like a child. He was dirty, sported multiple bruises and injuries and wore the clear signs of torture. Orodan spent ten minutes cleaning the man’s injuries and gave him a perfect healing potion at the end which resolved the physical injuries. But the mental ones would remain for longer.

His book companion read his mind and confirmed that this man was a Republic spy sent to scout the area many months ago. Of course, the man had been caught and subsequently imprisoned off the record in the Ogdenborough Jail where he was repeatedly beaten and tortured.

“You’re safe now, are the others here also loyal agents of the Republic?” Orodan asked.

“Yes! All except for the one in cell thirty!” the man cried. “Good sir, there’s little time... please tell the Republic, that House Argon are traitors, they plan to turn against us and use the machine to wreak destruction upon this county.”

“I know.”

“Y-you do?!” the man exclaimed. “Why are you here then? Have you informed the Republic?!”

“Worry not, that machine will not awaken today,” Orodan answered. “As for me, I originally came by to find some scum to experiment on so that I wouldn’t feel too morally conflicted. But now, this has turned into something of an impromptu rescue mission. I don’t suppose you know what that prisoner in cell thirty is here for?”

“I do sir... that beast deserves no mercy,” the prisoner spoke. “He’s a vampire, they caught him feeding in the next town over. But, be warned, some terrifying necromancer comes by at night to experiment on him from time to time. Given your entrance, she’ll undoubtedly arrive soon, please... let us escape sir. Even the Elite retainers look upon her with fear.”

Tales of an entire society vampires ruling from the shadows of the Republic were a bit exaggerated and meant to scare children into behaving. Vampires existed, but were quickly caught, and with extreme prejudice. Hence, they were incredibly rare on the human dominated parts of Inuan.

Mainly because humans hated vampires. They were universally loathed as vile blood-sucking fiends across Novarria, the Republic and the Eastern Kingdoms.

The Cathedral’s demon hunters and diviners were quite good at sniffing out the blood suckers, and they often employed mages specialized in light magic to exterminate them upon discovery. The only place where they existed in any kind of number was the Dokuhan Mountains, where the drow had societies of them. Although, it was rumored that the elves also harbored vampires.

Their existence was a major part of why the Republic and Eastern Kingdoms were quiet on the topic of helping the drow in their losing war against the dwarves, and why Novarria was happily assisting the dwarves in exterminating drow. Virtually all vampires encountered on human territory were converted during travels in and around the Dokuhan Mountains, where vampires were more numerous.

Every book he’d read spoke of vampires as being monstrous beings with no respect for mortal life. But, like the goblins he met in the depths, perhaps not all vampires were murderous?

More importantly though, what was this about a necromancer?

“This necromancer... is it a woman by chance?” Orodan asked.

“Y-yes... they call her Master Fausta, and I saw her summon a dangerous looking skeleton once,” he spoke. “Although, one time... I heard her talk about her ‘favorite demon pet’, and I hope to never see it myself.”

Orodan simply had a smile on his face.

Unfortunately, the score for meeting a friendly vampire was zero for two.

The book had confirmed that the prisoner was a vampire who wantonly slaughtered innocents and was then promptly hunted by a zealous inquisitor of the Cathedral who specialized in light magic. After having his legs turned to dust through beams of light, the vampire was handed over to the Scarmorrow temple. Of course, somebody in the temple was a mole and handed the creature over to House Argon, to be locked up in the Ogdenborough Jail for experimentation.

His companion had also informed him that the vampire was turned nine months ago during a caravan trip to the under-mountain holds of the dwarves. He was converted, and the coven had attempted to teach him how to manage his bloodlust with peaceful methods. But the man’s nature was vile, and he escaped from the coven of vampires who sought to increase their numbers, and now that he was in the Republic, his bloodthirst went unmanaged which led to his rampage. His intrinsically sadistic personality led to some gruesome kills in Scarmorrow.

Orodan had learned that Vampirism might very well be a Bloodline, given the impurities in the man’s blood. He was also beyond Orodan’s ability to cure for now, since eradicating every bit of the Bloodline would be destructive, and he’d need to find a method of leveraging Incorruptible Being to affect others or hone his healing abilities and alchemy further.

Still, Orodan had happily experimented upon the vampire’s soul using Weapon Aura till it would not wake again. No levels were gained, but the skill was at a high level already and the rate of growth was understandably slower through simple brute force. Insights and breakthroughs could take time.

The familiar Master-level necromancer had intruded during his experimentation, and he enjoyed the reunion greatly. Orodan disliked many mages, but he absolutely detested necromancers. Her pets were of no help.

He had drained the machine and gained another Action Increase, and he now stood in a glassed crater, the aftermath of another loop where he killed the Avatar of Ilyatana and caused the Novarrians to escalate to calling for their founder’s aid.

“What I don’t understand, is why the soul core is so unbreachable,” Orodan spoke. “I tried pressing the entirety of my willpower towards breaching it, but it just wouldn’t work. Do I need a higher rarity skill?”

“I’m not a soul specialist, but far as my knowledge goes, the soul core has always been impossible to breach,” Balastion Novar replied. They had spoken and gotten over the time looper bits and were now sharing advice and their experiences. “Not even the elves have managed to crack the secret of delving within the soul core of another. Although, those with a high level of proficiency can enter their own soul core, which you said you had.”

“Yes, it wasn’t exactly planned, but I did perform soul surgery on myself in the middle of battle against three Avatars. I essentially expanded my soul core to envelop my entire body, so that soul energy could be produced from every single cell of my physical form,” Orodan explained. “The second time was when I removed all the Blessings from my soul. It was difficult and I had to allow the outer layer of my soul to explode, but I was confident enough in my willpower than I removed the Blessings and recovered.”

“...truly? I can see you’re telling the truth but allowing your soul’s outer layer to be destroyed... sounds like the definition of insanity to me,” Balastion spoke. “But perhaps that resilience of soul you’ve developed is a part of what allowed you to remove Blessings, and how you acquired Eldritch Resistance.”

“I’m not entirely sure how exactly I gained Eldritch Resistance, but it involved resisting the corrupting influence of the three Eldritch divinities as they attempted to subvert my mind for a full year,” Orodan explained. “But, given your long life are there no other methods of removing Blessings that you know of?”

“It’s possible, if incredibly dangerous. This little reincarnator who serves me, Vespidia I believe her name was... she has a Mythical skill which might allow her to perform it upon herself,” the first emperor explained. “In fact, I believe her last life ended because she attempted such a thing to spite the Gods and died in the process, but she did manage to get rid of the Blessing upon her soul.”

“Oh? Vespidia? I fought her in the Inter-Academy Tournament, she initially assumed I was an Avatar and didn’t hold any positive opinion of them,” Orodan remarked.

“Truly, the grudge from her last life runs deep,” Balastion spoke. “I assume she participated just so she could strike a blow against that elf with the mutated Bloodline? She must want to free Faraine...”

“I do recall her saying she had her little trick saved up for Othorion Evertree,” Orodan said. “But, how do you even have time to keep abreast of all this when you’re sleeping? And to free Faraine? Care to elaborate?”

“I’m meditating, not sleeping... and the eyes and ears of the Empire extend farther than you think,” Balastion remarked cryptically. “As for the elves, I won’t ruin the experience for you, so I’ll leave you to discover that adventure yourself.”

This old man had his eccentricities. But Orodan would let him have that much. The elves and their seemingly captive Goddess weren’t his current concern. The abyssal depths and the first gate were.

The memory was interrupted and all traces of the vampiric taint, were eradicated. But the man’s nature, which was rotten to the core, still remained.

He tried pushing in further to the man’s soul core, but this was where he encountered real resistance which he knew would take a very long time to overcome. Another fourth of the way into the core, and he would reach the area where Blessings were held, but there was an esoteric barrier of strange numbers and symbols blocking it. The symbols and numbers looked very similar to the gibberish message he saw twice now when touching the darkness of death.

It was related to the System. Orodan wouldn’t be crossing it for a while, but behind it laid the space where Blessings and Rewards would be held. He needed to eventually learn how to bypass even this if he wanted to save his mentor Arvayne Firesword.

Still, he had cleaned the foul taint of vampirism from the man’s soul at least.

[Cleaning 76 → Cleaning 77]

The soul was cleansed of the curse. And Orodan understood more about it, that the curse actually originated in the soul and then spread to the blood. And given what he’d seen in the converted man’s memories, perhaps the popular folk tales about vampires spreading their vampirism through bites weren’t true.

Orodan looked closely at it with Vision of Purity and he saw that the taint was slowly receding all throughout. The curse of vampirism was gone.

It wasn’t anything ground-breaking. High level curse breakers of the Cathedral were capable of the same thing, and any vampires who hadn’t committed crimes and sought clemency could be purified and put under watch for a period of time before being released into society. Of course, high level vampires who were in tune with the curse of vampirism also gained benefits from it, such as increased talent for learning certain arts, improved physical abilities and lifespan increases from blood consumption.

Vampirism was one path to immortality, but the Cathedral and all human civilization detested it for rightful reason.

The blood suckers’ curse aside, Orodan willed his new mythical skill to wrap around his arms, legs, and weapon. Weapon Aura was gone from his Status, but this new skill was an improved version of it and none of the old skill’s functionality had been lost. His empowered weapons would be far stronger now.

Rather, he felt that improving Absolute Soul Dominion would also make the ability to manipulate his soul easier, make the soul energy he had denser and more powerful, and also allow for stronger assaults upon the souls of his targets.

As it stood, this new Mythical skill allowed him to essentially reach out with his own soul and seize control of the target’s. At level 57 it was strong, but still needed work if it was to get past the System related barrier he’d seen a fourth of the way into the soul core. But regardless, it was incredibly powerful.

And a familiar necromancer coming by to interrupt would be an excellent test subject.

“Now what’s all this clamor about a Master-level intruder coming by and causing a ruckus? Wait... is that my experiment?” Master Fausta asked. “I still had more work to do with it, you’re not-”

Of all the mage professions out there, Orodan hated necromancers the most. He didn’t let her finish as his Absolute Soul Dominion shot out and took control. The range wasn’t fantastic, being limited to only fifty metres, but such was an acceptable limitation when he was basically extending his soul core towards hers. That it could extend fifty metres now with a skill combination instead of requiring direct contact, was a fantastic gain.

Suddenly, he was within the memory of a woman, surrounded by holy warriors of the Cathedral, light magic at the ready as they stood before a summoning circle. Within, a Demonic Berserker.

“An offering from us to you m’lady Fausta, for all the services you’ve rendered to us and our Lady Ilyatana,” one of the priests spoke. “This Demonic Berserker shall make a fine minion for you since you sacrificed your last one in battle on our behalf.”

He already disliked this necromancer scum, but to hear she also worked for the Goddess of Fate? Orodan had enough.

Her consciousness was severed with a glowing blade and her soul kept under strict control. But this was a Master-level necromancer, a mage with a large mana pool. In the real world, even though she was unconscious, her body crackled with necromantic power as her mind and soul both attempted to resist Orodan’s mythical skill.

Within two minutes, her mana pool was drained entirely dry, however he had to spend at least ten times the amount of his own soul energy relative to her mana pool. His mythical skill was meant to be costly, as even a dual-Grandmaster couldn’t pay such a hefty price simply to hold control over another person’s mind and soul. If anything, if energy cost was factored in, this would reasonably be used on a defeated enemy whose mana pool was drained.

Of course, energy wasn’t an issue for Orodan, so he turned a Mythical skill into an unfair weapon.

The first thing he did, was halt her mana regeneration. Immediately, in the real world three artifacts on her person shattered with a ringing boom, likely the items which tracked the status of her minions. Without mana, they were no more than inert corpses.

And the second and final act, was to destroy the outer soul layer and rip the soul straight out of her body.

[Absolute Soul Dominion 57 → Absolute Soul Dominion 58]

As the lifeless body of the necromancer lay before him, Orodan could only wonder how effective this might be against some of the foes in the abyss.

Unfortunately, his Action Increases were still capped at 13. He’d have to gain more levels with Absolute Soul Dominion in order to make room. It was a problem he considered, that on the loop he managed to finally defeat the Eldritch Avatar he’d have to ensure he saved some space for whatever Quest Reward came his way. According to Cyvrosdyr, it should be powerful, so it’d be a waste to have it aborted.

Still, the loop in which he completed the second Quest would be a six month long one, so he would have enough time to gain levels and make space.

Before him, stood the Avatars of Eximus and Ilyatana, leading the Novarrian forces. This was his usual battle against them after disabling the machine, but this time, Orodan was certain he could kill both. His abilities were already powerful enough to overwhelm either Avatar in direct combat now, and he no longer functioned as a reforming but ever-approaching death, but now had the strength to actively overpower them.

“Focus fire on him! Where are the dragons?! Where is Demosthenos?!” roared Eximus as Orodan’s Endless Blitz combined with All-Strikes overwhelmed the Avatar. Ilyatana, cowardly Goddess as she was, attempted to sparingly help but shied away from the melee combat she was rather pathetic at.

Within five minutes, Eximus was near death and Ilyatana looked on in fear.

“Stop! We surrender! If we let you go, will you leave us be?!” Eximus pleaded.

“No. You can either die fighting, or die begging,” Orodan replied. “Then again, there’s no real consequence for you is there? If your Avatar dies you merely lose a host. So, how about we see if the consequences can be made a bit more dire?”

The Avatar of Eximus was on his last legs, the divine energy within not as powerful as it was at the beginning of the fight. And now, Orodan used his new Mythical skill upon it.

Absolute Soul Dominion surged forth, and a divine wail of agony rang out.

It wasn’t the soul of the God himself, but the soul of his host Cruxamar Aetholion that Orodan had seized control of. But, there was a reason Gods could only possess one Avatar at a time. It was because their consciousness was within the Avatar, and this was what the first emperor had preyed upon when bullying Agathor with the power of the Eldritch crown.

This too, was what Orodan was seeking to exploit.

He entered the memory of a Cathedral. This was the Cathedral of the Prime Five at Novar’s Peak, and it was a ceremony of Blessing bestowal, where a God would grant their power to a loyal follower of theirs. Usually, these were momentous occasions recorded in history books, such as when a Favored was ascended to Chosen through acquiring a third Blessing, or a regular Blessed becoming a Favored.

This memory then, was when Cruxamar Aetholion had become the Chosen of Eximus.

And upon Orodan’s entry into the memory, Cruxamar Aetholion immediately turned around and looked right at him.

“Invader! Get out of my mind! My Lord, he’s here!” Cruxamar shouted, and soon, a divine beam of chronomantic light landed within the memory.

Ten feet tall, clad in an ever-shifting robe of silver and grey, and with the divine radiance of divine chronomantic power around him, was Eximus. He looked like a young man, and it was the first time Orodan had ever seen a God’s true face.

“You’re uglier than I thought you’d be,” Orodan insulted. “I thought Gods would be prettier.”

“If you wanted vain appearances, you should’ve attacked Ilyatana,” Eximus spoke. “But you are now trapped here mortal fool. Your arrogant belief in your superiority extends only so far as the physical world. Here, in my Chosen’s mindscape, not only will you face us both, but divine willpower will never lose to a mere mortal. Surrender, and I may have further use for you.”

After his conversation with Balastion, he could understand why Eximus felt so confident in defeating him in mental and soul combat. Mortals had limits to their willpower according to the first emperor. But Orodan Wainwright was the anomaly who defied these conventions.

And Eximus had picked the worst person to assume this basic fact for.

Divine energy collided with Orodan’s own soul power, all while Cruxamar Aetholion continually modified the environment and memories in an attempt to give his God an advantage in the mental battle. Unlike the vampire and the necromancer, the Chosen was seasoned in mental defense and immediately reacted to Orodan entering his memory. Eximus too, was also incredibly powerful in this metaphysical battleground.

Orodan was chopped, crushed, burned, and sent flying dozens of times. His Divine Resistance helped, but Eximus also used actual soul energy in this mental landscape, something he didn’t do or wasn’t able to in the actual world. Which complicated matters as the God’s attacks hit very hard when empowered by soul energy.

But this wasn’t the real world where he had to worry about physical injuries and his body dying...

...this was a battle of mind and soul, where Orodan’s willpower mattered.

And Orodan Wainwright, had an endless supply of it.

Two minutes of mental combat later, Cruxamar had perished in the mindscape, leading to his unconsciousness in the real world, and Eximus, was about to fall as well.

“Impossible! How... how?! What are you?! No mortal should be capable of defying the willpower of the divine! How does your mental strength and determination have no limit?! Your soul should have naturally submitted long ago!”

The God of Time roared in fury and disbelief as Orodan simply ignored him and moved to press the tip of a glowing blade of pure soul energy into his head.

“No! Stop! Killing me here will put me in a slumber for long enough that the world will be lacking in defences when the foul force from beyond arrives!”

“You needn’t worry about that, for I shall deal with the Eldritch,” Orodan replied. “For now, I’m putting you in a time-out.”

The glowing blade stabbed down, and a horrifying wail rang out.

Orodan’s consciousness snapped back to the real world, and before him was the corpse of Eximus’s Chosen, bereft of any divine energy. To the side, the Avatar of Ilyatana looked on in horror.

And behind the Avatar, one of the triple-Grandmasters of Novarria spoke up. His voice subdued and trembling, but in the dead silence it was all too loud for everyone to hear.

“I... I can’t access my Blessing... I can’t slow down my perception of time... it says, ‘The God empowering your Blessing is no longer present’. W-what does that mean?!”

Orodan’s smile grew manic as he heard the words. His predatory gaze shifted to the Avatar of Ilyatana.

In that moment, the divine glow left the host’s eyes. Ilyatana ran, like the coward she was. Her Chosen abandoned; his Avatar state lost.

Eldramir, the patriarch of the Soaring Flame dragon flight arrived shortly after, but upon seeing Orodan’s lack of combat and hearing of the loss of one of the Prime Five, he too simply waited quietly.

Finally, Demosthenos Albathrax arrived through the portal alongside the Chosen of Malzim, and the first emperor, and Orodan had much to discuss with the man.

Their conversation had lasted two hours and went over the time loops. It was only now that they were returning to the topic of Eximus.

“He’s not dead but slumbering for a decent amount of time. At least a year, if the last time I did the same to Agathor a few thousand years ago is any indication,” Balastion spoke. “I used the Eldritch power of the crown against that idiot, and he stupidly insisted on remaining to fight against it. The Prime Five have been rather wary of me ever since.”

“Nicely done, but Agathor remains obstinate and still enjoys meddling in the affairs of the world,” Orodan replied. “If only there was a way to permanently slay them.”

“If what you tell me about the Eldritch Avatar is any indication, it’s capable of corrupting Gods, so mayhap that’s one way of slaying them, although an undesirable one as it simply adds reinforcements to the side of a greater enemy of ours,” the first emperor spoke. “But I’ll have to keep in mind the advice you gave me about potentially damaging my own outer soul layer to become further attuned to my true self.”

“You know... I never asked you what your plan is for dealing with the Eldritch threat? Did you plan to fight it in Novarria? Or engage it after it killed every other being that wanted to fight it upon landing?” Orodan asked. He’d never seen the first emperor arrive in the fight against the Eldritch Avatar, and while the man was incredibly powerful, Orodan wasn’t too sure if he matched up against the Eldritch Avatar one-on-one.

“Ah, yes. Fighting it upon its descent would be quite foolish. You do realize that it will be at its most powerful upon landing in the Valley of Spires, yes? That place is saturated with Eldritch energies which have been festering for over a hundred-thousand years,” Balastion explained. “Rather, the elves have the right idea, fortifying their continent and preparing countermeasures to face it.”

“So, you intend to face it here? But how? Don’t tell me you plan to use the crown against the Eldritch,” Orodan remarked. “That thing is possessed by three Eldritch divinities; I don’t think using the Eldritch against it will work.”

“You’re correct. The crown isn’t meant for use against the foe, it’s meant to train me in developing Eldritch Resistance,” Balastion replied. “Just as you’re getting close to acquiring resistance skills for many of the spells that Fallen Void Archon hits you with, so too am I on the cusp of understanding the Eldritch. Hence why I’ve been asking you for advice in how you acquired the skill. When the battle comes, I’m confident I’ll have an epiphany.”

“That makes sense. But surely there are more plans in place? Even with Eldritch Resistance, it’s beyond monstrously powerful,” Orodan explained. “I only killed it while empowered by three Gods, flaring my soul to levels I could never manage otherwise, and returning its most powerful attack almost fourfold.”

“Once again, you speak true,” Balastion replied. “Which is why I won’t be fighting fair. Once you’re done dying against the abyssal depths and investigating the first gate, come find me in Novar’s Peak in the next loop. You’ll find that the architecture of my city itself has been prepared over a very long period of time for such an occurrence.”

The first emperor spoke cryptically, but Orodan didn’t push the matter. He was planning on exploring Novarria for his next long loop anyhow. But for now, as Balastion said, the abyssal depths awaited him. Hopefully for the last loop.

“Foul predator! You are no prey!” the dark slime roared in fear and anger as it attempted to flee.

Orodan’s Endless Blitz, All-Strikes and Vitality Black Hole made short work of it after. It was too much to hope to acquire Dark Resistance, but this triple-Grandmaster dark slime just wasn’t strong enough to push him enough for that.

He went down the left tunnel and gave the Sorrow of Magic another beating, although with no level gained in Mana Black Hole. And he then doubled back and went down the right tunnel to engage in a battle against the dual-Grandmaster time ant hordes, none of whom he killed as he made sure to simply give them a thorough beating.

Finally, he passed through and arrived at the chamber with the Eldritch Minotaur, a quadruple-Grandmaster with a Mythical skill, a rage that made it stronger and stronger as the battle drew on.

His own Death Rage activated, and his Physical Fitness of 86 alongside all his empowerment skills actually made him stronger than the Minotaur... for the first split second of contact anyways.

Its rage then kicked in and Orodan was pushed back in the next second and began getting ragdolled three seconds later as its power began ramping up. Eternal Soul Reactor began churning with incredible power, and it all fed into Harmony of Vitality.

What was rage? His own Death Rage was just inadequate nowadays, he felt it too weak, he needed to go further, but how?

Ten more seconds of battle passed as the titanic blows of Orodan and Eldritch Minotaur rang throughout the chamber. Its stone walls reinforced with incredible amounts of world energy and soaked for many millennia, were strong enough to take the impacts and shockwaves.

Despite fourteen of himself fighting at once, the Eldritch Minotaur was still on the winning end of the exchanges, but Orodan was surviving. Its flesh tore and its muscles were destroyed as its rage picked up, and Orodan was somewhat confident that he could survive long enough to have its own Mythical rage skill burn its body out.

But as usual there was a third wheel in their fight.

His soul was burning at a high enough level that the familiar Fallen Void Archon arrived, its six arms glowing with spells of various elements, and this time, soon as it arrived, Orodan decided to try his new skill upon it.

Its first teleportation into the chamber was the one which put it closest to him, and this would be Orodan’s only chance to have it within range of his new skill.

Absolute Soul Dominion shot out, and all fourteen minds of his worked at full capacity to seize control of the Fallen Void Archon’s mind and soul.

Immediately, he entered a mindscape of the void between stars. The memory of a being cast out from its own species for committing foul crimes and floating amid the void between stars with strange chains wrapped around its body. It floated for a time till it ran into a strange wormhole, surrounded by familiar System symbols around the edges. This wormhole took it somewhere foreign, and the memory then only felt the warmth and salvation of a motherly being, its chains were unbound, it was transformed as it allowed its soul to be altered willingly, and soon it gratefully served its saviour, its only purpose, to do the bidding of... Alastaia.

Its yellow eyes turned towards Orodan with utter fury as it discovered his presence within its mind. Soon, a furious mental and soul battle erupted.

The Fallen Void Archon was incredibly proficient in soul combat, being an entire three tiers above the Soul Adept Orodan. But, Orodan had two Mythical skills working concurrently. Absolute Soul Dominion for the assault, and Eternal Soul Reactor for the endless power. The battle seemed incredibly long, but in reality, only five seconds of combat passed, and Orodan successfully seized control of its outer soul layer, halting its energy generation entirely.

He couldn’t kill its consciousness, as it was too slippery and kept evading and fleeing once it realized Orodan was a juggernaut of infinite willpower. Thus, it still kept slinging spells in the real world, although with reduced power and frequency.

Which finally bought Orodan the time he needed to familiarize himself with the elements it was hitting him with.

The first, was ice. Best resisted by altering the very temperature of his own body and altering the cells to become adaptive to sudden temperature drops and retaining vitality and cellular functions even as temperatures went below sub-zero.

[New Skill (Exquisite) → Ice Resistance 3]

The second, was water. In fact, he had extra practice and inspiration in learning to counter liquids and amorphous substances from fighting the dark slime. Learning to seal off the pores in his own skin and make his body liquid repellent, was the first step, and the second was demanding the very flow and direction of the liquid change as it hit him.

[New Skill (Exquisite) → Water Resistance 4]

And finally, came earth, which he didn’t gain a skill for, but which he could more than easily survive now that the other two elements were accounted for.

The Fallen Void Archon’s eyes widened as Orodan gained the two resistance skills, and finally, he could ignore it as he focused on the foe that really mattered. The Eldritch Minotaur.

What was rage? It couldn’t merely be the rage a creature felt when struggling against death. There were superior forms of rage out there. The rage a parent felt when their child was threatened. A cold rage, a hot rage. Rages which ignited not only the vitality, but also the mana, the very soul.

What Orodan needed then, was a rage which began from the very soul and involved all pools of his energy. One that raged with all his emotions. One that wasn’t merely one-directional but all-encompassing.

He needed his Death Rage to evolve.

The struggle of death, the rage felt against it, and the reserves of mana and vitality he had built up, it all came together. And he took inspiration from his offensive All-Strike to combine it all together with soul energy.

But that wasn’t enough. His would be a rage that drew in everything around him and used it to fuel his ferocity. A rage against all around him fuelled by his enemies. An... All-Consuming Rage

[Skill Combination - Death Rage 86 + Dying Struggle 84 + Mana Black Hole 81 + Vitality Black Hole 82 → All-Consuming Rage 83 (Mythical)]

And as its ever growing rage came towards him, Orodan’s new skill pulled all its fury, all its momentum, towards his own. Immediately, he realized that the new skill had functionality beyond just what the combining skills had possessed. Skill combinations could go beyond the combining skills provided one had enough comprehensions and willpower of what they wanted of the resulting skill.

And in Orodan’s case, All-Consuming Rage stole not only his enemy’s vitality and mana, but also the very momentum and force of their attacks, to fuel his own rage. The Eldritch Minotaur became slower, its attacks having less force as the very rage empowered madness seemed to drain from it, towards Orodan.

The stronger his foe, the greater his own rage would now become.

His physical abilities were now titanic, this was almost three times stronger than Death Rage to begin with, and then more could be added depending on how much he stole from his foes. And this Eldritch Minotaur, had a lot to steal.

But the Eldritch Minotaur wasn’t the bearer of a Mythical skill without reason. Orodan’s draining also helped it by allowing it to last longer since its rage wasn’t ravaging its own body as much. Like this, the battle was extended.

Thirty minutes passed, and the Fallen Void Archon, whose soul wasn’t allowed to generate energy for its skills, stopped casting spells altogether and simply left the battlefield. Either realizing it wouldn’t win, or to gather strength and reinforcements, it retreated and went beyond the range of Orodan’s Absolute Soul Dominion.

Leaving just him and the ever growing Minotaur who he was draining.

The battle continued for another two hours, and alongside his ability to drain it, Orodan was now able to indefinitely survive its fury. However, the outcome was always certain.

Orodan’s energy was endless, its power was not.

His new Absolute Soul Dominion empowered sword cleaved its head from its shoulders. His sword and shield could now survive battles alongside him. And the Eldritch Minotaur’s remaining body was obliterated with an All-Strike.

Orodan had won.

He didn’t know how much further he had left to go, but there was still more work to be done.

To delve further into the abyss and investigate the first gate. And maybe run into more of its denizens alongside whatever reinforcements that retreating Fallen Void Archon might bring.