My primal fears apparently not having yet caught up with my logic, I wait in fear for the moment it takes him to answer; to my relief, he simply says "good choice!"
"Well, first the power…" saying this, he withdraws a small orb from somewhere on his person, a swirling mixture of black and white held within, never mixing as they languidly float about, containing each other within their folds without ever conjoining.
Without a word, he holds the orb up towards me; to my surprise, it fades into two streams of its same colors, which then flow uninterrupted and intangibly into me.
"Now, check your stats."
Doing as I am told, I open my stats menu. It is only a moment before I am left in a state of surprise. The skill is there, as promised, but one aspect of its display comes as unexpected.
{Ultimate} Life and Death Lvl. 1.
"Wait, why is it leveled?" I can't help but blurt out. "I thought that special and ultimate skills didn't have levels?"
"Well, evidently, it would seem that some do," he replies matter-of-factly. "Besides, do you really think that I would give you such power as I had described immediately? You would have an extreme advantage against your opponent if I were to do that, how could that be allowed? No, what I described as its powers will come at the skill's max level, level ten. For now, you'll just have to fully utilize its lesser powers."
[You scum! You could have mentioned that before I chose them!] "Ah, yes, I suppose that that makes sense. Now, what were these proficiencies and evolutionary recommendations that you had for me?"
"Ah yes, here."
As he says this a slight, barely noticeable feeling passes over me, like a much less invasive version of being named.
"There. You have been given a greater proficiency in necromancy, as well as moderate proficiencies in elemental manipulation, magic sensory, and magical exhaustion resistance."
"Wait, it was that simple?"
"Yes, if you have the proficiencies just sitting around, ready to be transferred, using them as they have been set to be used is hardly an involved process."
"And you really had all these proficiencies sitting around, with no use to you? These are pretty powerful!"
"Well, I am a rather ancient being, you know. I have been to many planets under the control of this system, and I have gathered the corpses of many who saw fit to pass on their proficiencies to whoever happened across their remains; I am a master of space manipulation, as should be made obvious from the fact that I have no use for this ultimate skill, and as such it was really no issue to pack up these useful corpses and bring them with me. Of course, where it actually benefited me, I absorbed the proficiencies myself. But to consume a lower level or even on-level proficiency is simply to waste it, and to leave being a proficiency inheritance is equally wasteful, thus I brought them with me."
"So, if I may ask, how many extra proficiencies do you have sitting around, of no use to you?"
"A lot. But the real question is, why do you ask?" he answers, his twisted grin seeming unnatural upon his youthful face as it begs me to continue on my current line of questioning.
And, of course, I oblige; how could I not? "By any chance, do you have a proficiency for swordsmanship? And if so, may I have it?"
His grin grows further, and he replies "Yes, and no."
"Oh? And what do you mean by that?"
"Well, you see, I have an extra grandmaster level leveling proficiency for swordsmanship that is of no real use to me. However, that's not for you."
"Then, may I have a lower level proficiency?"
"No, I would rather you use those new powers I have given you, it would be far more interesting."
"Not even a moderate proficiency? Or even a lesser one?"
"No."
Finally, I am forced to give up. With a sigh, I say "Very well. Though if I may ask, then, if so many proficiencies are of no use to you, how many proficiencies do you yourself possess? And how mighty have those allowed you to become?"
"Well, I suppose I could answer, it might give you some perspective. I have at least master proficiencies in nearly all regular skills, with some as high as transcendental in level. With these, I have almost all of my skills at at least greater deitylike, with my more important skills, such as necromancy and elemental manipulation, as high as Godly C and Godly D respectively."
"Godly?"
"Yes, the skill increment above deitylike, would it not naturally be the skills of the deities themselves? Yet, it is this that brings us to what truly separates the greater deities, like Aenae or Zaerae from weaker deities like myself, Karnash, Kairon, and even those gods which had once ruled over man, dwarf, and elf; we lesser deities still rely upon the skill system, whereas those greater gods possess powers all of their own – in some cases because they chose to grow independently of the system, and in others simply because they predate it.
"But back to my powers, and away from my shortcomings. It is not only my skills which are mighty; I am level ten thousand, the maximum for my species, which, as I have mentioned, is that of a lich god. And even with these accounted for, I am one of the greatest champions of sorcery to ever exist, a power which exists beyond the magic of the system, relying instead upon the shortcuts to pure mana manipulation which the god of magic is solely responsible for."
"Ah, yes, I remember hearing of pure mana manipulation from Lector, he had said that only the highest masters of elemental manipulation could use it."
"Yes, as far as skills are concerned, one can choose to evolve their elemental manipulation abilities once they reach the greater deitylike stage into the lowest and most basic mana manipulation skill. However, again going beyond the system, all gods, even those reliant upon it, have some capacity for mana manipulation that is not found naturally in mortals, or in any way without the system for that matter; some would argue that it is this ability, this natural gift to manipulate the fabric of reality, that truly distinguishes mortal from god; after all, it is the attainment of this ability that allows for beings formally considered the most powerful among mortals to be considered the weakest among gods – it is a barrier that I once crossed, at the same time as my evolution to lich god actually, though most don't have it occur at such a seemingly sensible time."
"Wait, lower undead are still counted among mortals? I thought that they had an unlimited lifespan?"
"Well, in this regard 'immortal' means 'god,' which, as I have just defined, could be best understood simply as 'one capable of manipulating pure mana without the use of skills.' Though, of course, if immortal is taken to mean undying, then the undead obviously count – I can assure you that the name is not a misnomer, even should an undead die, it will eventually reform, consciousness fully intact."
Suddenly, a rather unnatural follow-up question emerges in my mind, but as soon as it does it cannot be ignored. "Wait, if I may ask, why was it that I floated consciously through that darkness without ever being whisked away to Lincaernus, or any other place for that matter?"
"I think that that is probably for you to find out," he answers with a devious smirk, again demonstrating his immense capacity for uselessness. "Now, as much as I enjoy talking with you, I reckon that I shall enjoy watching your quest for revenge even more. So, let's finish things up and get you on your way. I have one last piece of advice as well as a useful item for you.
"Now, the advice first, and listen well, for this will determine your fate. There are three evolutions which you may pursue – the one for dread lord, for magicborn, and for darkkin. The great advantage of dread lord is the easy way in which one may evolve into a lich god from it. Furthermore, it enhances necromantic abilities immensely, which should pair nicely with your mastery over souls and your new proficiencies. Of course, as mentioned earlier, you cannot have anything other than the proficiencies in necromancy and elemental manipulation that I provided you; however, it is not particularly difficult to cast off unwanted proficiencies, certainly not as difficult as obtaining them. I only had to reach level 86 to evolve, but I was already a lich. For you, a standard human, the only difference is that you will have to reach level three hundred and twenty-five – it may sound daunting, but with your new abilities, it really shouldn't be all too impossible. This is by far the most straightforward path, level up to the appropriate point, cast off extra proficiencies, and then evolve.
"However, if you would rather not become one of the undead, or perhaps would rather explore the far reaches of elemental manipulation and how it can be applied to the souls of others, you could instead aim to become a magicborn. A grandmaster proficiency in elemental manipulation, alongside master in both magical sensory and magical exhaustion resistance, are required. Furthermore, deitylike elemental manipulation and magic sensory abilities are also necessary. Though these qualifications are far more difficult than those of the dread lord, they are much looser; proficiencies and skills can be higher, and you can have other proficiencies as well. While difficult, if you find the less obvious application of soul manipulation to be appealing, then this is the evolutionary path for you; though, of course, if you reach this high a level of elemental manipulation, you would be able to manipulate far more than just souls. An interesting path indeed…
"Oh! I almost forgot to mention the benefits. They are quite simple really; one who takes this path will become able to use straight magic for sure, and all magic, whether system based ones like alchemy, necromancy, and elemental manipulation, or external ones, like straight magic and sorcery, will be enhanced. How an evolution obtained through the system can grant powers external to it is not fully known; however, it seems rather likely to me that 'magicborn' are a race that exists independently of the system and that the system merely makes the evolving individual a member of said race. Though, of course, this is just conjecture; I have never encountered such a race. But that hardly means it doesn't exist; it is a big universe after all.
"The last evolution I would recommend is, as previously named, into the darkkin. The darkkin receive absolutely massive proficiencies to both swordspanship and elemental manipulation, this is truly the route of a spellsword and the path I most recommend if you truly refuse to part ways with that sword of yours. Of course, the magic boost is not as significant as the one which is received by the magicborn, but it is still quite large. The requirements for this evolution are particularly strange, I happened across only one long ago and forcefully obtained the information from him, it truly is nothing that anyone would naturally come across.
"So, in order to undergo this evolution, one must kill exactly seventy-seven drow, sixty-six elves, and three hundred and twelve crows. Furthermore, one must be at least at level one hundred, but not below one hundred thirty nine. Lastly, every one of the creatures, including the crows, must be killed by the same sword, and this sword must not be legendary and must be made of an alloy of exactly thirty-nine percent gold and sixty-percent silver, with enough dwarf blood so as to constitute the remaining one percent of the alloy; additionally, the dwarf blood must have been collected consensually, and the dwarf must still be living… ah, isn't the variety and mysticality of this system simply wonderful?"
That final question could only have been prompted by a truly stupified expression upon my face as I struggle to comprehend the exceedingly random nature of the information just shared with me.
"Did you rehearse that?" is all I can manage in the end; and, despite how an observer may choose to interpret such a line, it was spoken with utmost sincerity with intention to be understood as such – after all, it seems like quite a stretch that such an exceedingly random series of qualifications could be rattled off so smoothly by any being, even should that being be in possession of that divine nature which so pervades the gods.
"Heh heh, I'll have you know that I did! In fact, much of this presentation was rehearsed in advance, all in the hopes that I would someday encounter someone interesting enough to pass my power along to; and, if you are not interesting enough, a mad otherworlder on a quest of revenge against the whole of the world-"
"Justice," I interject. "A quest of justice, not a quest of revenge – justice sounds much more valiant, while revenge has dirty connotations, and if I am not valiant, what am I?"
"Fair enough; and, as I was saying, you are without a doubt interesting enough to receive these powers; do with them as you please, so long as it is not to kill me, and I'm sure many amusing occurrences will naturally follow."
Before I can interject again, he continues "Now, a gift of a physical nature which you may find to be of some use, and you may be off."
[Ah, goody! I had been wondering what it is, no matter how useful the information or mighty the powers that one receives, nothing can compete with the joy of a physical present!]
Rahvert materializes a disk of some sort on his palm; from my angle, I cannot make out its details. Then, with no ceremony attached, he hands it over to me. It would seem that a ribbon was bunched up between the small disk and his palm; one the disk comes into my sight and the ribbon is displayed, that he has just given me a medallion is clear.
I take a close look, and find the metal to be engraved rather intricately; a skull in the center, with a horned demon to its left and the visage of a dragon to its right. The medallion is painted, and the paint is rather vivid; the skull is a clean white, while the dragon and demon are both red, with the dragon taking on a much darker hue.
Displayed in small, yet intricate, detail, beneath these three heads, is a tiny scene of destruction – or, perhaps, three; a mountain beneath the dragon, overflowing with corpses too small to determine details upon (not that they don't exist; rather my eyes are simply incapable); an endless army below the skull, with a tiny black dragon as their leader; and a scene of battle between two armies, one black and one green, beneath the demon, in a manner none too different from that seen on the door to this very chamber.
I need not any explanation to know that this is a depiction of those three great evil gods, with a selected atrocity beneath each; the slaughter of the dwarves by Karnash, the formation of the dead armies by Rahvert, and the corruption and instigation to war of the elves by Kairon.
"This is really beautiful craftsmanship and all, but how does this help me? Does it have a special ability or something?" I can't help but ask.
"Perhaps, if only in the minds of the forces of darkness. Just flash that in the direction of any demon, undead, or dragon – those high monsters which compete with humanity – and see if they dare touch you. That is my mark upon it, only differing slightly from that of my allies, to attack you would be to pit oneself against the three of us; none of these creatures would dare do such a thing. Well, I guess you could be unlucky enough to bump into some upstart of immense foolishness, but then you'd have to fend for yourself. Of course, such an item won't work on the lesser monsters, for they lack intellect; it may be able to scare other intelligent beasts, like orcs and ogres, into submission or at least into leaving you alone; however, in the case of humans, and this is rather obvious, it would be best to keep such an item hidden unless you desire to be declared an enemy of mankind… well, it might fly in Aren due to their regard for the dragons – they do still regard the dragons, right? I haven't heard about such a thing in some time, you see – but it would still be best to keep it to yourself around humans. Still, even with such a limitation, you may find such an item to be my greatest gift to you here today – who can say? Now, I'm ready to see you off, to see the start of you grand adventure. The only question is, are you?"
After taking some time to comprehend just how truly useful this last, physical gift may prove to be, I think through our conversation. And, while this may well become an object of regret in the future, I can only come up with one question to ask.
"You said that the darkkin evolution requires the deaths of drow and elves, as well as the blood of living dwarves; yet, I thought all dwarves were wiped out."
Understanding my question, Rahvert replies, "yes, well, I can assure you that the recipe is still possible. But my lips are sealed, you shall receive no further hints!"
Sighing, I reply "Well in that case, it is best time I leave."
[Now, for the moment of truth: was this all just an evil being toying with me, or have I managed to chance across the greatest fortuitous encounter of any man in history?]
"Very well, good, good! Best of luck and all that, come and visit again sometime, bring some nice stories! Heh heh, Reishvart is slated to visit in a few years, I expect to hear of you then! Now, goodbye!"
And like that, the greatest fortuitous encounter of the history of the world comes to a close!