The Power of Ten

Chapter 5-152: One Level and One Stat at a Time...

“I think you’re going to be on a LOT of fanboy lists after that exposé, Helix,” Sir Pellier said gruffly, trying not to laugh at Helix’s antics.

The blue-haired Djinnblood was dancing around, wanting to go into the studio there and make his own alterations to what was going on, but everybody was preventing him from doing so.

Father Bower just nodded gravely. “The Helix Method. Multiple Classes spiraling around one. It’s a great name. Everybody’s going to know what it can do, and using him as an example was inspired. She’s right, he’s not some super-gifted genius Morningflame or something. He’s another free-spirited Sorcerer just trying to do what he can to get stronger.” Father Bower shot Helix a sideways glance. “And if whoever gave you that shit advice about using your Human/2 that way becomes known, he’s going to be shit on by the whole world now. You know that, right?”josei

Helix stopped his dance of irritation, his lips pursed.

“People are going to find out. They always do. That guy has a whole world of comeuppance coming for him,” The Mick mused from where he was standing by and just watching it all in amusement.

Topaz was also just watching all this knowingly, and laughed long and low. “He’s going to disappear. He’ll change his face and his name and just vanish. It’s like being called Benedict here in America, except for the whole world. Nobody likes a malicious asshole who takes advantage of someone. He’s done.”

Helix was trying really hard not to smile, and seemed a bit mollified with how things were turning out the more he thought about it. “I don’t even have to say anything, do I?”

“No. It won’t matter what you say, or even if you forgive him loudly and public-like. He’s going to be going in the Lexipedia as the definition of an arsehole, and that’s all there is to it. Some people can get very overly-righteous about this stuff,” The Mick said wisely. “And the fact you were a fool sells this all the more. Everyone can sympathize with a fool, put themselves in your shoes, following good advice because you wanted to fly. You were wrong, you got put through something nobody wants to,” that picture of his face after he blasted the wraith with his boosted Energy Grasp and lost his Level was sitting off to the side, a stark and agonizing reminder of the cost of doing the wrong thing, “and you paid the price to get back on track. Lessons learned that way stick with everybody.”

“I’m betting that there are going to be a lot of people visiting Walls, trying to set up the same thing so they can get on the right road,” Sir Pellier said softly.

Everyone nodded as they watched the video go into the next step. It would be like a grand, horrible rite of passage. Did they have the will to do it? If not, they were going to be stuck forever...

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“The Forsaken. Ominous term, right? Forsaken by what? Whom? Abandoned? Misjudged? Maltreated?

“Nope, not it at all. They are all Forsaken by choice. This video is for all the Primos humans out there, letting you know that there is hope.

“There is a path for power for you out there. If you’re older, it’s going to be hard, very hard, to take the Path. You can do it, with the Hammer route, if nothing else. It IS possible!

“But this video is all for you. Not for Powered, and people like me, the ones who won the magic lottery. This is for you... for the people who don’t need magic to be awesome.

“This is for the Nulls, Sources, and Voids among you, waiting to be born. This is especially true for you younger people who are still Ones, because you can still make the Choice!

“The Choice happens exactly twice in your Life... when you are a One, and when you hit Seven and take your Human/3 Racial Level.

“That is it! Final, stop! Take it early, commit your life to it, or slave away and somehow reach Seven so you can kick yourself in the posterior for not doing this sooner!

“The souls in the Shroud say there’s an old saying out there... Powered kill armies, and Forsaken kill people. If you think you need magic spellcasty chi-bashing soul-breathing boowah to be powerful, it’s time you learned otherwise.

“There’s going to be some Powered who are going to scream at me for revealing this to you people. You know what? Piss on them! There are at least thirty normal folks for every Powered alive, and you know something else? That ratio doesn’t change! Human Powered are born are roughly one to thirty that Primos are, and what’s more, they are never born to Human Powered!

“Your own people have noticed this, which is why you see a LOT of Human Powered marrying non-humans... they want their kids to be able to Cast, to use chi, to fly. You know, enjoy the fun stuff in life, right?

“Well, here’s what the Primos can become. Sure, you have to give up being a potential Warlock. Given how many of you there are, and the limited number of Warlock Pacts, and the fact you’ll probably be dead shortly from fighting as one... it’s a better road.

“Let’s start out with Nulls.

“I’m not the first person to start teaching Nulls. Sama Rantha set up a school in the upper peninsula of Michigan, and Commander Briggs has been teaching them at the Light of Dawn. You may have heard rumors that they are going to be building a major school to teach Forsaken combatants, and I will be the first to say that is definitely going to happen!”

There was a cut to the two so-mentioned standing by a burning church of Imprus, waving at the camera. It panned left and right, to where a big crowd was watching, several Imprusar were shouting angrily, and the firefighting crews present were all looking on as the building burned, ignoring the Clerics and lay disciples with stony faces.

Then Briggs and Sama slapped their hands in their fists, and headed over.

There were some showy spells Cast, none of which did a thing to the two of them, and they beat the Imprusar bloody without any hesitation, right on camera, and nobody did anything but cheer.

“You see her? That’s the Golden Hag. She’s the toughest Null on the whole planet. She could walk through a cavalcade of spells, ignore them all, come out the other side, and feed you your teeth.

“That’s Sama Rantha, Null bitch and the best swordswoman on the planet. Those Imprusar should be so, so happy she didn’t draw on them!

“Let me tell you what Nulls can do and become. Most of you Primos? You’re gonna be Nulls, just like her, tough as nails...”

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“Commander Briggs there is a Source. He’s a leader by example. It’s dumb but true that Nulls follow Sources. Sources pave the road to the future, and lead the way. I’m not about to get in the way of that, right? And what he can’t do, hah, he’s got Sama with him. Whatever he can’t do, she most certainly can. Not getting in the way of her, either...

“So, here’s what Sources can do...”

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“Lastly, we’re coming to Voids. Unlike most Forsaken, Voids can be Awakened without making a choice. That’s because the Land loves her Voids, and the mortal races need them.

“Voids are the ones who scout ahead and find the problems. The rest of us? We just fix the things going wrong.

“Let me tell you about the Voids, and what they are in a world of magic...

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“Aaaand I’m back and onto the next video. This is going to be short and sweet, and it’s for all you shooters out there.

“Well, it’s for all you hack-and-slashers and head-thumpers, too, as you were the originals.

“I’m going to throw out some Names here. Excalibur. Isagari. Mjolnir. Durandel. You should recognize most of them... they are Weapons of legend, straight out of the tales and myths of our Ancestors.

“They were great and storied Weapons in those tales. Arthur’s foes feared Excalibur. The enemies of Thor trembled before his Hammer, and at mention of his father’s Spear Gungnir...

“Famous warriors bore famous Weapons.

“That... is a warrior’s magic. It is called Naming a Weapon.

“You think you have to shell out a fortune to have a great and powerful Weapon? Burn goldweight after goldweight to make it greater?

“No. You take a fine Weapon, of high enough Quality to grow... a minimum of 26, and hopefully over 30.

“You Name that Weapon, and you feed it victory!

“Take your Weapon, Name it, and go out, and use it to vanquish your foe!

“Yes, it means you are limited to one Weapon, be it a Gun, Bow, Sword, or Staff. But your Weapon will believe in you, if you believe in it, and together you can grow to power... without having to pay goldweight to do so!

“Let me show you how this process works... because Named Weapons is how true Warriors make themselves and their Arms into legends.”

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The Mick stood there thinking as the final video shoot ended. He heard the techs talking about quick editing, how much of a natural speaker she was, but his focus was on the content.

Vivus. Just that alone, signifying the eventual annihilation of the undead on this world. They would beat the Shroudzones in the end, eventually.

The Helix Method of Leveling. The Nog Mastery. Naming Weapons. The existence of the Forsaken.

She was giving the knowledge away, to the whole world. That was akin to giving away the keys to the highest racial abilities of the Blooded, secrets the Elders held onto with their bony hands, extracting pledges of loyalty and duty and sacrifice and obedience in return for parting with them, welcoming those who received them into ever-rarified circles of power as they let each step unlock in series.

Each step dependent on blood... be it that of older, stronger Blooded, or the vampires that had once ruled all the Clans, and had been believed to be the only way to reach the highest Levels of the race.

All lies, of course. Heavenbound Hall had long ago revealed that the Racial Classes of the Tomb Clans did not actually rely on their undead progenitors at all, and that knowledge had torn apart the static, frozen world of the ancient undead. Their minions, shackled to them by blood and knowledge only their elders had held, had broken their chains, and the ancients had begun to die... and die quickly.

Their power had been static, and had not been able to grow and adapt fast enough to face the explosion of Powered that had appeared among humanity.

The places where vampires actually ruled their clans were places no human actually wanted to live... and every time the vampires exploded out and converted humans to spawn in numbers, the Shroudzones had formed and taken those vampires and their minions, making them powerful and trapped, so very trapped, by each and every dawn...

Smior hummed at his side, able to sense his emotions as he thought about all that, and the Amulet around his throat that had made him immune to the soul-draining of the undead of the daemonic Shrine, specifically the final wight and wraith guardians in the escape tunnel he had entered through.

Having nothing to fear from them, he had ripped through them as he had always imagined doing, their touches nothing more than chilling damage he could heal away. They were nothing, and always would be.

There was going to be another explosion, another Renaissance...

He wondered what would happen to the Ghoul Sages once vivus scattered across the world, and their consumption services were no longer required. Would they retreat into the depths of the world in time? Would there still be agreements in place with pragmatic forces and powers, still ready and eager to make use of them... although the power in the relationship would indeed change...

Tomorrow the group would be leaving, heading north and west, into the Firezone, there to secure untold amounts of riches... of which he would be getting a share.

She had also told him that tonight she would be able to Raise someone from the Dead, and turn crap gemstones into shining things worth fortunes.

Pointy-eared moon goddess-blessed undead-slaughtering Jesus girl. He wondered what his parents would have thought of the whole idea, and laughed to himself.

Tonight, when those videos posted, the whole world was going to rock.

And he had been here to see them being made. Always good to be at the site of history in the making!

Then he thought about the Owl Woman, and considered maybe that was highly conditional...