Infinite Realm: Monsters & Legends - Interlude - To Choose

Interlude – To Choose

Interlude – To Choose

Naha looked in on Zach, saw him sitting in the corner of the room below deck with eyes closed and the collar in his hands. He had devoted every moment of his time to it. She turned around and walked out, the wardens sat on the deck, playing a game of some kind. Okim laughed as he apparently won, while Commander Bera watched from the helm. Vitor sat at the front of the ship, his alchemical gear set up along with a small wind array that pushed the fumes down below them. He had been working non-stop since they left, making enough of his concoctions for the mission. Everyone on the ship was above Immortal, Okim had earned his Class in the Tournament City, and she only knew that it was something related to dome monsters.

Naha found a small corner near the side of the airship and sat down. She was… hesitating. And she knew that she couldn’t afford to. Again, she took a look at her Class choices. She had leveled to the threshold once Hitor had invited them to the war, after the battle in the city. She knew that she needed power. She had improved her skills, had even taken up two new ones from the storage that Bera had at the keep. Simple skills, but things that she could and had improved. Her Ideal, her rewards from Hastur, even what she gained from killing the ancient one. She had a lot of power now.

She pulled out a small mirror out of her storage and glanced at it.

Mirror of Reality

Copy an area of reality in its current state and create a mirror reality. You can enter and walk through the area, but everything is frozen in the state it was when copied. Some powers will interfere with the mirroring of areas.

It had been her reward for the event that Zach caused, that and a lot of essence. And it was useful, she could study an area before infiltrating, learn the lay of the land. Their plan relied a lot on her being able to use it well. And she had been practicing. It was eerie, walking through a muted world filled with frozen people, but it was a supreme tool in information gathering.

She still had her elixirs from Hastur but had been thinking about keeping the attunement improvement one for now. Class wasn’t her main focus, and her attunements were all tied with shape shifting in some way. She could sell the elixir, it would certainly bring a lot of Essence. She sighed, or perhaps she should just use it on the new Class, if she picked it up.

With all the things that she had, there was one way to get even more power. She glanced at her choices for the Immortal Class. There were two choices, one she never considered taking, a Slayer of Hastur Class was not what she wanted. The other was… She felt ashamed of it, even though she knew that she shouldn’t be. And yet… it hurt her to look at it. After everything that she had done, after how much she had failed. She didn’t deserve it. But there it was, taunting her.

CLASS

DESCRIPTION

POWERS

Paragon of Shadow’s Call (Eternal)

You are the paragon of shadow, protector and guardian of the people.

Paragons are guardians, a Paragon of Shadow’s Call is one who protects from the shadows. You fight for those who cannot fight for themselves, protecting the innocents and standing against terrible threats of overwhelming power if that means they will be protected.

Paragon: You are a paragon of shadows. All shadow related powers are 80% more effective. Gain +20% to all stats when standing in the shadows. Anyone you wish to protect has +200% to the durability of their person and equipment while embraced by the shadows under your command. Gain +25% to strength and dexterity.

!Gain one of the following:

–Shadow Embrace defensive ability: Shroud yourself or anyone within range in the shadows, protecting them from harm.

–Shadow Blade offensive ability: Apply an offensive ward on any bladed weapon on your person, increasing its damage for 15 seconds, and making it do increased Shadow Essence damage.

–Might and Agility: gain plus 25% to base strength and dexterity.

A paragon. That is what they had called her back on her homeworld. An exemplar of what her people could be, wanted to be. And then the Infinite Realm happened. She had come a long way, but she still felt like she had no right to a Class like this one. And yet, every time she looked at Zach, at his power and what he wanted to do with it, she felt ashamed for not taking it. She bowed her head, but her mind was wavering. To pick that Class up would mean stepping back into the shoes that she once wore. To try and regain the lofty goals she once held. She had been trying, of course she had. But she just didn’t think that redemption would come so… quickly.

In the end, it was just a Class name, it didn’t mean… But it was still hard. She had spent years with Zach, trying to do good, trying to fix herself. To become a better person, even when it had been hard. When they had no power to change things. When they had to stand by and watch.

That had changed too. They held power now, had influence.

She had to make a decision, and soon. Before she could talk herself out of it, she picked the Class, and it was done. But she didn’t stop there, she pulled out her attunement improvement potion and downed it. She waited for the effects to go through, and then pulled up her improved Attunement.

Shadow Paragon of Virtue

Perk Improvement, Ability Improvement. You are a Shadow Paragon of Virtue. All shadow related powers are 120% more effective. Gain +50% to all stats when standing in the shadows. Anyone you wish to protect has +500% to the durability of their person and equipment while embraced by the shadows under your command. When acting in service of protecting the innocent any powers seeking to disrupt your being are 20% less effective, and you gain +100% mental and stamina regeneration. Gain +50% to strength and dexterity.

Her perks had improved too, and a few of her abilities. She didn’t know if she was worthy of it all, but she would do her best to be. Then, she settled in to read and get familiar with all the changes.

“What is it?” Tali asked. Ryun had taken her aside; they still had a few things to do before the march started in less than a day.

“I have something for you,” Ryun said slowly. “I… I think that I would want you to have it.”

“What is it?” Tali tilted her head.

As a response he pulled out a weapon out of his storage. It was a white-gray spear, clearly an awakened weapon.

“This belonged to… Melody,” Ryun said.

Tali raised her eyebrows but didn’t comment. She knew about his past and everything that happened back on Earth.

“It took me a long time just to be able to hold it like this,” Ryun said with a sad smile on his face. “It brings too many memories. But… it is also a reminder of the price of failure… No, it is also a reminder of what I used to have. I’ve held on to it for… a long time. But I think that I am ready to give it away now. I know that you said that you are searching for a perfect match. And I don’t know what this awakened spear can do, it was never bonded. What I remember is that the more it was used, the more it would turn into a cloud like substance. And clouds are part of the sky,” Ryun smiled as he looked at the spear.

He was right, the sky encompassed all that was above ground.

“I don’t know Ryun,” Tali said. It was a great gift, and he could see how much it meant to him. But she had stayed away from bonding an awakened object because she was looking for a perfect match.

“I know what you are seeking, but… I don’t think that you can ever find that, perfection is not always the best. Overcoming, adapting, this is what lets us climb higher. It is why we are where we are.”

It was what he had been telling her for a long time. She had seen the evidence that his ideology worked, for him, and somewhat for her as well.

“Are you sure? That is something very precious to you,” Tali started. “Isn’t there someone better? Selia? Kri even?”

“Selia has her own, and I don’t know how much it would fit her. Call it… intuition. And Kri, she is young and good with a spear, but I don’t think that her future lies in this direction.”

“And mine does?” Tali smiled. “I know how to use a spear, but my entire build is focused on keeping people away from me.”

Ryun nodded. “Which is why you are lacking in the close-range defense department. I don’t know what the spear will be able to do, but… it was given to Melody as her perfect match at a time when she was focused on speed and avoidance. I think that it will be useful to you.”

“Are you sure?”

“You are my friend. I want you to have it,” he told her.

It moved her; she couldn’t deny it. They had become quite close friends, him and her. Kindred spirits, two people who enjoyed Cultivation above all else. There were very few things that she could deny him, even though she liked to pretend otherwise.

She sighed; she couldn’t refuse. Tali reached out and took the spear in her hands.

Anrosh sat at her desk, the sect never stopped. Reports and notes on various matters cluttered everything. The sect had gone to war, or many had, at least. That didn’t mean that there weren’t things to do here. She was just as busy, more so perhaps. She paused in her reading about a harvest report—they’d been forced to harvest early to have enough supplies to send with the warriors, which left them with a deficit. But it seemed like Ender Ornn-Dagda would be able to increase his production.

She sighed and stood up, stretching. She walked over to the window and looked out at the moon shining down on the city of Consequence. A part of her wished that she could’ve gone with them, but she had come to understand and accept her place here. Making sure that the sect continued running.

She was worried about Kri, of course, terrified even. But… her daughter was a grown woman, not many in the sect saw her as that, so Anrosh felt the need to do so. She was old enough to make her own decisions, no matter the danger that they brought with them.

She worried about Nayra too, they’d barely had any time to just themselves since she came back. So many things had been required of them both.

And Ryun… She worried about him the least, he had always been doing crazy things and somehow surviving them.

But that was her choice, to stay behind and keep their home safe. To keep it growing and improving. To make it what they all knew it could be. She shook her head and turned around, walked back to the desk and sat down. This was her choice, and she had made it fully understanding that this was in her future. Sitting and waiting, while others fought in her stead. Her job wasn’t to fight, well, not always. She was to protect the sect, to make sure that they always had a home to come back to. To be the steward of their peace and deal with things that would bother them and interrupt their advancement. It was hard having to wait while they could be getting hurt, but she knew that she was an important piece of their lives.

She shook her head and turned back to the papers on her desk, she had work to do. She always did.