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Chapter 351: Ambition
🕑 Added 2024-09-13 14:00:06 +0000 UTC[Dreamwalk success. Mental Influence success. Hidden objective complete: Assist Annie O’Donnell. Experience gained.]
[You have earned enough experience for level 14. Please select a power to enhance within the hour, or a power will be selected for you.]
Blake's brow raised as he left Annie's room. It wasn't uncommon to be given experience for useful Mental Influences or Dreamwalks, but the experience had always seemed low. Either he got quite a bit more this time, or else closing that demon portal the way he had gave a truly ridiculous amount.
He expected it was a bit of both (due to the 'hidden objective', which was certainly interesting), but a bit more of the latter. They'd completed an almost impossible set of 'optional' puzzles to lock that giant demon away for more time. Blake had leveled to thirteen, and apparently most of the way to the next.
Thirteen had been a new power, and a very difficult decision. Blake still considered being a 'generalist' the best path in life, and war. It was always best to have plenty of tools in your toolbox, because you never knew what might become useful. And what might become obsolete.
His constructs were amazing, and single-handedly solved a huge number of problems. But sometimes they were almost useless. Of course, True Making gave Blake far more options than just making war-bots, and allowed him to change reality in ways he was only beginning to understand.
Between his mind powers, Telekinesis, and the often neglected Arcane Blast, he had several offensive weapons now. Though none were awe-inspiringly powerful. He expected the path he'd chosen meant he would never really light up whole battlefields with fire and death like some kind of battle-mage. His strength was more...subtle. Not counting the constructs, of course.
So his current main flaws, or so he'd figured, were: 1) a weakness against magic, and 2) his mana pool was never big enough. The first problem was because his Psionic Shield really only stopped physical threats, which seemed to stop or at least resist some kinds of magic but not nearly enough. The second was because maintaining his constructs put a constant hold on a per cent of his mana.
In the end he'd chosen another shield, this time 'Psionic Barrier', which had promised to shield against magic as long as its mana held. It also got bonuses to strength and efficiency if Blake was aware of the magic used against him, particularly if he identified exactly what it was. It had a kind of focus as well, designed specifically with each cast to be particularly effective against a certain kind of affinity, but less effective against everything else.
Blake hadn't really tested it yet, but he was sure that day would come soon.
He walked into his workshop, currently quiet except for the sounds of Pliny tinkering in his corner. The half-dead goblin rarely slept, and when he did it was more like he just 'rested' for a few hours.
Seul-ki was in her own room, the door closed. Blake knew he could likely join her. But for now he was happy to maintain a little distance—to leave any companionship to single invitations. His relationship status with Ilya was getting clearer. They had already let the new Stoneblood orc lord know, and intended to make it public eventually.
First Blake wanted to close another demon portal or two. To build a bit more good will before they took tradition and kicked it in the nuts. It was something of a risk, and a part of Blake's brain knew it was maybe entirely unnecessary. It told him he could keep things secret for much longer, and maybe forever. That it only hurt his efforts with the orcs, and that worst case he should end the relationship entirely.
But he wouldn't. He cared about Ilya. Maybe even loved her. And he had no intention of treating her like a pawn in his games, or hurting her. In fact a piece of him wanted to shout their relationship from the rooftop. To the orcs. To Mason and the players of Nassau.
But the orc lords might try to kill them both. He knew that. And he was also still sleeping with Seul-ki—which Ilya didn't disapprove of, but Blake still found slightly awkward. Especially since he didn't truly know how Seul-ki felt...about much of anything.
Life was getting a little complicated.
He sat down for his nightly workout, actually adding a bit more weight than the few days before. The system still hadn't rewarded him with any kind of stat boost, but it sure as hell helped with his mental state. He'd never tell Mason, of course, but the more he engaged in the simple act of straining his body, the more he regretted not doing it far sooner.
And he needed to think, because he needed to pick a power to enhance.
The obvious choice was Duality of Ambition. It was his prestige class power and thus far seemed basically just to enhance whatever he used it on without repercussion. Though he knew in his gut that wasn't right. The description implied a kind of over-reaching that might cost him if he went too far. So he tried to use it sparingly. But it would certainly be even better enhanced...
He still hadn't enhanced Meditation, which was definitely option 2. He could boost his shields, but the idea didn't excite him. Mental Partition might not be bad. Even Arcane Blast might get more use with a boost.
He sighed, and lifted some weight over his chest. He wanted to talk to his brother but knew he couldn't. Thinking of Mason made him think of the Nexus and the imminent 'beacon activation'. Humanity was about to invent the telephone again, and who knew what they'd all have to say.
Blake expected fear and chaos. They would all assume Mason was a tyrannical killer, looking to hunt them down one by one and 'win' the game through dominance. RoboGod wasn't very clear in his messaging, but Blake had to assume one way to end things was just to slaughter everyone, or turn them into servants.
It didn't help that Mason had killed the first patron, and earned himself a title that made him glow like a red light with 'player killer aura' to any civilian who turned on their inspection power.
Blake supposed that was his fault. But he mostly blamed that lunatic Sebastian, who had been the first patron of Nassau and tried to murder and enslave everyone in sight.
Blake wished he could be there to help. But Mason needed to deal with mankind for now, because Blake intended to win the game in a very different way. And his way didn't involve slaughtering the remnants, or ignoring them as his brother might.
He was going to unite every interested living thing on this new world in a kind of new global order. He was going to make peace, end the fighting, and stop whatever else the game threw at him until he'd made a mockery of it.
But he cut the thought off and buried it behind thoughts of nonsense, locking it away as best he could. One never knew when roboGod might be listening.
He had a lot of work to do, and didn't like the idea of his plans being known, especially by his mind-reading, synthetic overlord. Though he realized it might be impossible to hide anything. Trying still made him feel better.
Snorting at his own ambitions, and the corresponding name of his prestige power, he eventually enhanced his Duality.
[Duality of Ambition enhanced. Please select from one of two options: a) Decreased risk of catastrophic consequence. b) Improved effect of power enhancement]
Blake stared, knowing what he should choose. Knowing what Mason would certainly choose.
But then Blake and Mason had always been different. And Blake Nimitz, formerly just Blake the Orphan boy, whose last name he'd long forgotten, was never the type for half measures. He took option b without hesitation, grinning as the power flared.
The description at least confirmed what he'd basically already known—that sooner or later, Duality of Ambition would cause some major issue. Blake didn't look forward to that moment. But he also had complete confidence that he could handle the fallout.
As he was finishing up he heard a soft feminine voice call his name, and he set the weight down and sat up to see Seul-ki at her door wearing nothing but a t-shirt. She rubbed at sleepy eyes and gestured for him to come closer, then disappeared back behind the open door.
That same, possibly Mason-trained part of Blake's brain gave him a disapproving frown. It was ambitious—maintaining a relationship with both Ilya and Seul-ki, even if it seemed perfectly fine for now. And just as the system seemed to recognize, sometimes ambition ended in unmitigated disaster. But Blake knew he wasn't going to stop.
He walked towards Seul-ki's door, one half of his recovering Partitioned mind already working on new constructs with the assumption of a push in power from his improved Duality.
He'd spend what was left of the night with his Korean lover. Then tomorrow he'd check on Annie and keep her progress moving, and make himself some new 'legionnaires'.
Then maybe, after a night with Ilya, it was time to close demon portal number two, hopefully before the beacons activated.
It was pushing things, no doubt, but that was what Blake did. And he had no intention of stopping.
