19 Screams of Chaos Part 1 (1/2)
In Arcadia, spells were traditionally divided into six circles and two ranks. Minor Spells and Greater Spells. But thanks to the first chapter of the Compendium of Spellcrafting, Kilian knew that more lay ahead.
A Third Circle Spell, Profane Allure enabled its caster to become the very embodiment of desire, glory, and perfection—making all those that glanced at them entranced and inflamed with a mixture of maddening passion and zealous devotions. The caster controlled the spell's scope. But at full power, if used before a group, the members would tear one another into pieces for the right to kneel before their living dream.
As one of her favorite spells, Jezebel often used it in conjunction with her natural charms to cause the downfall of countries throughout various worlds. Although she possessed some selfish motives, the spell's toll on the caster's will was relatively low for its category, and would undoubtedly help Kilian familiarize himself with fehl magic.
Since he already possessed significant destructive means, Kilian naturally welcomed this utility spell. One of the many perks of fehl magic was how little time it took to master spells. Since there was no incantation to digest, fehl magi could directly move on to forming the spell's pattern through their will—a hazardous process for the unprepared.
”I still have about four hours before the backlash strikes. I will use them to conduct some transactions in the Hellforge, produce my first set of nano-spiders, and get acquainted with the spell.” Kilian stated and again closed his eyes to retreat into his soul and the Hellforge lying therein. Across those 68 hours, when they came to seek Kilian's assistance, Jezebel used some minor tricks to prevent Bjorn and Lena from figuring out what truly went on in the former bandit den.
Deceived by her illusions, the two discussed the slums' billowing issues with a brick, got some fictitious answers, and returned from whence they came. Meanwhile, as the slums faced a tide of catastrophes, Kilian spent 300 kp on a nano-spider blueprint and another 500 for 50 sets of parts. Now, only 443 remained.
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[Name: Kilian]
[Race: Human Fehl Mutant]
[Age: 18]
[Magus Rank: top-level Lesser Emissary]
[Battle Prowess: top-level High Emissary]
[Dra Reserves: 11,000]
[Knowledge Points: 443]
[Implants: 0]
[Mutation: Eye of Fehl]
[Innate Abilities: Dimensional Rift]
[Unique Disciplines: Lv. 3 Fleshcrafting\u003c\u003eLv. 3 Transmutation]
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A technomancer-only ability, just like fleshcrafting, transmutation magic scaled on dra level and control. The higher those two stats were, the more Kilian could accomplish with the disciplines. At the third level, he could already match a High Emissary.
Relying on Overdrive's double-edged boons and his dra control, Kilian split his focus in two, putting the first half into the construction task, and the other half in familiarizing himself with Profane Allure's mental pattern.
Four hours thus passed, and after draining himself of 750 dra, Kilian produced 50 nano-spiders. To the onlookers, well, there was not much to look at. The platinum spiders all appeared less than 0.1 mm wide, making ants look like giants. Kilian's eyes, however, could perfectly see the 49 spiders circling the 50th.
Those nano-spiders could release nanobots in their targets' organ systems to either examine, heal, or take control of them. Of course, the scope of their effectiveness depended on who they targeted. As Lv. 1 nano-spiders, they could control anything from Lesser to High Emissaries. Beyond, failure was the best outcome.
Pulling the 50th nano-spider, Kilian pressed it against his forehead, making it dive into his brain. As the mother spider, this little thing would enable him to flawlessly control the behavior of the other 49 - and remain in communication with their host - regardless of distance.
In less than three minutes, the fourth hour would reach the end. But as Kilian readied to exit, a thought flashed within his mind, and he halted his steps.
”Hellforge, I've been meaning to ask. How did you take me into this world?” Kilian inquired, speaking the words that'd been troubling him since his execution. If not for the Eye of Fehl, Kilian didn't doubt his life would have ended right there. For the artifact that'd supposedly saved his life, the Hellforge's performance left him unimpressed.
”Master, you are mistaken. The Hellforge does not have such an ability. All it did was preserve your memories and knowledge of your previous incarnation. You died on Earth, drifted through the reincarnation circle for 78 years, and reincarnated in this world as part of the natural process of life and death. When you turned one, your past memories awoke.” The Hellforge explained, making Kilian's eyes contort into a frown.