For the first time, Lucius was able to see exactly how the Abyss was invading his world. Anomalies like the one in front of him were portals into the Abyssal realm; they would apparently get more and more dangerous the longer they stayed open. In order to prevent that, humans like him were tasked by the system with sealing them—the sooner, the better. It made sense that the system wanted these things closed, but what Lucius didn't understand was how it expected him to do that. He was good at fighting and not exactly well-versed in interdimensional gateway magic.
"These things are bad news I understand that, but I don't know what you think I can do about it."
Anomalies are conjured and maintained magically by a group of sentient Abyss denizens known as rift summoners. The simplest way to close an anomaly is to travel through it into the Abyssal realm, search the area for the rift summoner that is maintaining the anomaly, and slay them. The anomaly will begin to collapse once the summoner is slain. You must return swiftly to avoid becoming trapped in the Abyss, failure to do so will result in almost certain death at the hands of the summoner's allies.
"Sounds simple—just go into hell and fight the magic-wielding demon that lives there…" Lucius responded sarcastically. "How do you know that is even something I'm capable of? What if this rift summoner is way out of my league?"
Rift summoners conjure anomalies in order to siphon the magical energy of our realm. They use this stolen energy to empower themselves over time. The more powerful a summoner becomes, the larger an anomaly they are capable of conjuring. Therefore, an anomaly's size can be used to indicate the power of its summoner.
"Small portal means weak summoner, got it. Even if I can kill it though, there are probably anomalies like this all over the world—me closing one is like trying to put out a forest fire with a bottle of eye drops! It won't stop the Abyss creatures from coming, so why shouldn't I just take my friends and hide?"
Sentient beings of this realm inherit the sacred duty of resisting the Abyss. Every member of your race shares in this responsibility.
"That sounds noble and everything, but my only responsibility right now is to survive. Sacred duty doesn't help my blood stay inside my body."
Extensive rewards are bestowed upon those that take part in the successful sealing of an anomaly.
"What kind of rewards are we talking about exactly?"
Insufficient data.
"Right…" Lucius had a lot to think about. He hadn't even started his scouting mission and had already spotted a ticking time bomb right outside their new home. It would be impossibly dangerous for them to stay here if that anomaly remained open. But Lucius had no idea what he would face on the other side of the swirling portal. He needed more information before he could make a decision. "Well, I wanted to go scouting. I guess it's all the same if I scout around the farm or go scout out the evil nightmare dimension that's slowly consuming our reality,"
Lucius climbed down from the grain tower and made his way toward the portal. Making sure to keep his aspect fully activated every step of the way since he couldn't be sure that some eldritch horror wouldn't suddenly spawn from the portal ahead of him. It took around 20 minutes to reach the location of the anomaly while moving so cautiously, but the time passed quickly, and Lucius finally came face-to-face with the thing that had been used to cause so much destruction and death in his world. He found it depressing but ironic that something so beautiful as the watery, floating curtain of spiraling magic was in fact a portal to the deadly Abyss realm.
"Now that I think about it, I don't actually know anything about the environment on the other side of this thing. Maybe it isn't all fire and death like I'm thinking, but it also feels unlikely that I will find some rainbow-covered fantasy land on the other side."
The portal emitted a strong magical energy. It was reminded him of the first Abyss creature that he had witnessed—the monstrous, shadowy being that had fought Twixy's master in the vision shared with all of humanity. It was hard to describe exactly what made it feel that way, but it was as if the magical energy of the anomaly possessed a similar rotten flavor as the monster, only much weaker.
Lucius tried to gauge how dangerous it would be to move through the portal, but Sense Danger wasn't giving him any warnings to go by. He guessed that the distance between him and the world on the other side—or maybe even the boundary itself—was interfering with the talent's detection ability.
"I guess I just have to hold my nose and dive in," he lamented. Lucius debated whether to head back to the farm first and discuss his decision to scout the anomaly with his companions before choosing to leap into danger, but nothing they could say would change the fact that the anomaly needed to be closed. He could also guess that Jack might insist on coming with him. "It's safer if I scout it out alone first. Besides, the longer I wait the more dangerous the anomaly will become."
Taking a deep breath to settle his nerves, Lucius proceeded with tightening his backpack straps and ensuring his sheath was securely fastened to his waist. He stepped up to the edge of the anomaly, peering into the glasslike, swirling surface and gathering his courage. As he summoned his willpower and reached out his hand toward the portal a set of kitchen knife sized teeth suddenly materialized out of the surrounding air, just a few inches from his exposed fingers. The sudden change caused him to jump in fright as he swiftly pulled back his hand.
Losing his balance from experiencing the worst jump-scare of his life, Lucius fell to the ground and hastily rolled his body between two large rocks in a clumsy attempt to hide. Gazing up from his hiding spot Lucius watched as a massive reptile fully materialized and descended from the portal—the horrid creature looked like some mad scientist's unnatural creation, like someone had spliced the DNA from a gorilla and a velociraptor. It had a classic reptilian head, jaws, and teeth, but its body was humanoid with two heavily muscled arms and legs. Worst of all, it was enormous, towering at least ten feet above Lucius. The monster could almost certainly reach up it's arms and touch the canopy of the trees if it wanted. Dark red scales that appeared almost black in low light, covered its body, and a thick, powerful spiked tail extended behind its reverse-jointed legs. It was the very definition of a nightmare.
A powerful blast of warning from Sense Danger rose up inside his body, but even without the warning Lucius had no intention of fighting the monster. Remaining perfectly still to avoid detection, he watched in relief as the creature slowly lumbered away from him in the opposite direction of the farm. Only after it disappeared from sight and Sense Danger's warning faded did Lucius climb out from his hiding spot.
"Now I'm angry, get ready to get sealed so hard!" Lucius felt a lingering embarrassment from falling so clumsily out of fear, he covered the feeling up with a stern expression as he rushed toward the portal. This time he didn't let himself hesitate when it came time to take the final step, leaping forward and sending his body soaring into the anomaly.
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Jack's upgraded strength was a tremendous aid in the task he had been absorbed in for the past few days. He had never realized how important power and endurance were in the art of blacksmithing. Holding the red-hot metal before him with large tongs, he struck down heavily again and again, folding it over repeatedly and beating the impurities out of it, just as Paul had shown him. Unlike Paul, though, something special happened the first time Jack wielded the smith's hammer.
He had always loved working with his hands, especially when he had the freedom to create something exactly the way he wanted. The prospect of forging his own weapons and armor excited him so much that he spontaneously drifted into a meditative trance from his intense focus as he hammered the metal. Fantasizing about pouring his heart and soul into the crafting process, Jack envisioned himself creating something powerful and beautiful that would make him and his friends much stronger. He was so lost in the tantalizing vision of creation that he failed to notice the golden specks of light materializing in the air around him.
Jack was startled when he finally saw the lights as they began moving toward the metal on the anvil in front of him. Jack paused for a moment in wonder. He had seen a similar phenomenon happen when Patrick created his inscriptions, so he had a suspicion that something comparable was happening now. He noticed that the golden lights began dimming as soon as he stopped focusing his thoughts, so Jack quickly regained his concentration. As the young man refocused his mind on the process of creation, the lights regained their bright glow, and even more began to appear around him, slowly moving toward the metal.
Jack carefully maintained his focus, working the metal with steady precision for what felt like a long time. Gradually, the metal was completely consumed by the magical lights. With one last, powerful blow, the lights fused with the material and disappeared. At the same time, a system message flashed across Jack's field of vision:
Congratulations! You have developed a unique aspect, Hammer of Creation.