108 New Hope (1/2)

With that in mind, I kept my experiments tame. I wasn’t about to try and fuse two different existences together like Yawm was. My goals were simple: get stronger, faster, and better. Considering I could generate stats, that wouldn’t be too difficult.

The primary problem with my current strategy was time. Based on how long I’d had the rune on my left arm running, I gained about 8 strength and dex a day. That was an enormous amount over the long run, but it isn’t enough to kill Yawm. I needed a better conversion from mana to stats for that to work.

Considering the stats hadn’t resulted in any side effects, I stuck within my sphere of competence. Until I mastered this part of the cipher, I wasn’t about to jump into splicing dimensions.

With that in mind, I pulled out my grimoire from my dimensional storage. I opened the leather bound book, flipping to a black page. I reformed the armor over my finger, giving me an effective stencil for my work. Before beginning my next rune, I planned out what I would make.

The first priority was increasing different stats other than strength and dexterity. They were nice, but they didn’t help me with my dimensional cipher. Endurance was an obvious candidate since I received a 60% bonus to the attribute. All my stat multipliers from my perks and trees applied to the cipher’s raw stats too.

That wasn’t the only reason to invest in endurance though. As the cipher increased my endurance, I would generate more mana. That mana regen would help me make more endurance with the cipher. The process would repeat, speeding up faster and faster over time.

The ramp up time for that strategy would take a while, so starting early was a good idea. After that, I would try making the runic glyphs for all the attributes. It seemed like a good place to start with the runic glyphs.

With that in mind, I carved into the page. Endurance was a familiar concept for me, so turning it into a glyph wasn’t hard. Endurance wasn’t bearing great hardship. It was choosing to bear great hardship. It was knowing you could stop at any moment, but continuing despite exhaustion, fear, and pain.

For me, that was the best way I would quantify the concept. As I marked the runic glyph onto the page, it came with greater ease than before. Force of Nature gave me a technical proficiency as I wrote, making the process simple. My hand moved in complex patterns with little focus on my part. Instead, I directed my mind at the words meaning.

Each line was flowing, forming the foundation of the letter. Once I etched the basic lines, I engraved the jagged, sharp lines around them. From all sides, the symbols were markings of difficulty, exhaustion, and terror. I injected the meaning of hatred and spite and horror into these outer lines.

These lines cast an oppressive shape around the basic character. Within the basic character, I etched out straight engravings. This gave the basic letter a stability, providing a foundation for the rest of it. This created a contrasting dynamic for the glyph.

It was like glancing at a story. At the surface, the letter’s shape looked as if the outer lines would consume it, tearing it apart. However, upon closer inspection, the letter expressed a deep assurance.

There was no doubt in its ability to withstand the external torment. As I finished the character, the letter’s confidence bloomed further. This was a certainty born and tested through time. The glyph showed suffering, but the glyph showed the rise in spite of that suffering.

Once finished, just looking at the runic glyph imbued a sense of calm. It was like staring at the eye of a storm. As the world ruptured around it, this carving would remain unshaken. As I finished the rune, I pressed my palm into the page of the cipher. I transferred the mana in silence, not wanting to wake up Althea or Hod.

The mana transferred straight from my palm into the text. Minutes passed before the rune finished channelling. It floated from the page, casting a red glow in the room. I turned my right forearm up, letting the glyph float down onto it. The lines of the rune glowed red before dissipating.

I raised both my forearms, comparing the characters on each arm. Compared with my new rune, the strength and precision rune wasn’t as clear or pristine. It was well made, at least in my eyes, but it lacked the same vibrance that the endurance rune carried.

When glancing at the strength rune, power ebbed from it. When I did the same to the endurance rune, there was a crisp sharpness. Endurance didn’t ebb, it poured from the rune. The idea was absolute, as certain in itself as a researcher is in science. To me, it was superior to the other rune.

Without hesitating, I poured more of my mana into another copy of the endurance. After many minutes passed, another copy of the endurance glyph floated into the air. I turned my left forearm up, letting the endurance rune float onto the rune for strength. The new rune engulfed the previous one.

Once it finished the carving, I poured my mana into each of them out of habit. It was something I did without thinking by now. It reminded me of Agony way back in BloodHollow. Learning to siphon the extra health was like falling into an old habit, being both simple and easy.

After finishing those runes, I set in to carving other attributes. I started with constitution, but the concept was far harder to nail down. After a few attempts at it, I swapped over towards willpower instead. Willpower was a much more natural concept. It only took about two hours before I carved and recarved out my second highest attribute.

By the time I took a gander at constitution once more, the sun was rising overhead. I stood up before stretching out my arms and legs. I walked outside, seeing Ajax still fused with a tree outside. As I approached, his eyes opened. He glanced at me, his glowing eyes turning to slits.

He glanced back down at himself, then back to me. It was like he forgot about yesterday. He pulled himself from the tree, his skin forming from the tree’s bark. He stretched his arms out wide, shining streaks snapping onto his chest. He shook his head, the horns on his head whistling in the air like branches.

He looked at one of his hands, “It has been many years since I slept so soundly.”

I glanced above him. His title had changed.

Ajax Volan, the Void Eater(lvl 5693)

I raised an eyebrow at him, “How did your level increase so much?”

Ajax raised his hand, “As you may imagine, the infection beneath my skin crippled me. After healing myself, I’m now I’m much closer to my original strength.”

He pointed at my forearm, “I see that your intention is on gaining power as well.”

I peered at the dimensional cipher on my forearms, “Well, I have to gain whatever advantages that I can.” I glanced back at Ajax, “What I want to know is how you healed exactly?”

Ajax pointed at the world tree off in the distance. The top of the tree’s branches were visible over the house behind us.

“The same way that Yawm did. We can ask for the help of nature, often times molding with it. In my case, I asked this tree for shelter and any spare energy it carried. It was a generous soul, giving helping me heal in exchange for conversation.”

I tilted my head, “Wait a second...you aren’t stealing from the life force of the planet or anything like that?”

Ajax opened one eye and narrowed the other, as if he was raising an eyebrow at me, “What? Of course not. Would you walk up and steal food from another’s home? Of course you wouldn’t.”

Ajax walked back, pressing a palm against the tree, “You see this structure, it’s more than the container for this plant’s soul. It’s a home, built through countless cold winters and many warm summers. Through rain and drought, this being took its stand against the elements around it. It shared many of the long days it spent here with me.”

Ajax pressed his forehead against the tree, “Thank you.”

With a surprising gravity in his movements, he held himself there for a few seconds. It was like watching a preacher pray at an alter. After Ajax finished, he turned back to me,

“Yawm, as corrupt as he is, still knows where he came from. He remembers his past. He would never, no matter how little of his mind was left, steal from this bountiful earth.”

I glanced at the world tree, “Are you telling me that Yawm’s world tree is just him asking plants for energy? Seriously?”

Ajax nodded, “Yes. Over time, he persuaded more of our brethren towards our cause. He aided them in their growth, trading nutrients for their raw energy. Overtime, he strengthens himself within his domain. With that and the cipher on his skin, Yawm empowered himself beyond the limitations of Schema’s system.”

Ajax stared at the world tree with me, “As much as I hate Yawm, I can say he’s no fool. He threatens god like entities like Schema with good reason.”

I frowned. If what Ajax said was true, the overseer lied to us about Yawm. I was told that Yawm devoured a planets life force with the damn world tree. I glanced around, noticing that the wildlife around Springfield was alive and well, at least for winter. There wasn’t any leaves on the trees, but they weren’t dead either.

Ajax pointed at the room Althea and Hod slept in, “Will we wait for them to rise? Time isn’t on our side, as you may have noticed.”

I sighed, “That’s true. I’ll go get them up.”

Ajax turned back towards the tree before sitting beside it. He placed a hand on it,

“I will warn you now. Yawm will ally himself with the life on this planet.”

He turned his head towards me, “You would be surprised what Yawm may discover within the whispers of the wind and in the voices of trees.”

I grimaced as I jogged towards Althea and Hod. Ajax’s warning was like an omen. They could listen to trees, grass, pretty much any living plants. If that was the case, we were surrounded by spies at all times. It was a humbling thought as I reached up the stairs.

The whole time, I bent and ducked under doorways and low ceilings. At this point, I sort of just walked through any parts of the house that wouldn’t let me fit. Without my unique skill, Overwhelming Pressure, walking on wood and other soft materials wouldn’t be possible.

It felt kind of like being in the middle of an ocean, but being able to walk on water. I silenced those thoughts as I reached upstairs. Hod was stretched out over a twin sized bed, his beak open as he snored. Althea slept on her side, her long hair spread over the sheets like a deep, purple silk.

I walked over and nudged her. She turned towards me, her eyes cracking open.

“Good morning sunshine.”

She turned away from me before pulling the sheets over her head. They muffled her voice,

“Can I just lay in bed for a while longer...Please?”

I rolled my eyes and lifted a hand up. A gravity well formed above her, floating her off the bed with the sheets in tow. She glanced at me,

“Oh come on. How is this fair?”

I shrugged, “All's fair in love and war.”

She grinned, “Really, is this love then?”

I lowered my hand, the gravity warp ending. She flopped against the bed before I leaned over her,

“Nope. It’s war.”

She swiped towards me, the motion playful as she giggled, “Way to shut me down.”

I ducked and dodged her hands,

“Wait till after we handle Yawm before you start professing your undying love to me.”

It was Althea’s turn to roll her eyes. After a short laugh, she frowned.

“What if there isn’t an after though?”

I frowned, “You mean we die? That’s not happening.”

She sat up on the bed, pressing her hands against her thighs, “You saw his level. I’m not saying we can’t do this, but I am saying it’s not that likely anymore. I wouldn’t want to leave things unfinished...you know, between us.”

I glanced away, thinking about what she said. I turned my gaze towards her, meeting her eye,

“Here’s the thing. If we try rushing everything before we kill Yawm, we’ll be fighting him while expecting to die. It’s like a self fulfilling prophecy. I’d rather put stuff like that until after we’ve killed Yawm.”

I leaned towards her, “That way we fight that much harder to live instead of making it easier to die.”

She pursed her lips, “You sure?”

With a knowing grin, I brushed her hair over her face,