Monsoon117
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330 Introductions
🕑 Added 2021-09-28 21:55:47 +0000 UTCI peered back and forth, looking around at the other rulers nearby. No one moved to any specific place, so I created a telepathic link with Shalahora. I murmured, "This probably isn't your first meeting if I had to guess, so are there any pointers you have on where to go?"
Shalahora radiated, "This is my first meeting as well."
My eyes widened, "Woah, really?"
"I've lived a long life...But it was not spent ruling over others. I isolated myself, and only recently have I decided to enact my will onto another species...This is a trial for me, in many ways."
A wave of awareness crashed over me, and I nodded, "Ah...So you're as lost as I am then?"
"We walk in the dark in this."
Schema's voice ushered from the stone nearby, "Five new ruler class members formed since the last meeting. They shall traverse to the panel below and introduce themselves."
The ascendant Overseer lifted an arm, generating a panel of mana. The red guardian manifested energy, forming a crimson disc that crackled out lightning and a dense miasma. I frowned at it. It was enough energy to cause side effects in weaker-willed people. Standing on that platform could cause hallucinations, mana saturation, or worst of all, mana devolution.
Schema tested the new members, and it didn't fall outside my notice.
The Overseer pointed his finger at Shalahora, and the Sovereign beside me shifted out of the Overseer's shadow. Shalahora held two locations simultaneously, one half beside me and the other resting on the mana plate. Shalahora linked to everyone present in a single instance, the chain solid and firm.
I held down a laugh, the poor guy starting off with a poor impression. He mentioned people being put off by his demeanor, and this explained why. The guy wrestled into a person's mind like slamming open a front door. Hell, Shalahora even did so with the Overseer, bypassing the restraints Schema planted with ease.
The ascendant mana was no different. It trickled into Shalahora's body, but the Sovereign battled back with pure, unadulterated dominion mana. The density and thickness of the mana defied reason, like a black blizzard. A contrasting panel of dark dominion crystals formed under Shalahora as it murmured,
"I am Shalahora, the Sun Swallower. I no longer know my age, as I existed in the void for many years...My home planet was destroyed centuries ago...And I have treaded the stars, killing the eldritch...I battle with telepathy and mind magic..."
Its form rippled, "And I aim to create lasting friendships here...To those that serve others aside from themselves. Should you fight me..." Shalahora stared through the crowd, "It will not be a battle. It will be a one-sided slaughter...But I hope it doesn't come to that. It would be a shame."
Schema announced, furthering the information, "Shalahora is a Sovereign who was previously a Fringe Walker. He moved from that class to the Sovereign for personal reasons. He's cleared over 300 planets, wiping them clean. Treat him with respect, as he has killed other sentients many times before."
The weight in Schema's voice pressed from all angles, and I realized the reason for its depth. It didn't come from any source; it manifested in my mind. Like the status screens staying open even with my eyes closed, I could plug my ears and still hear Schema's voice. He skipped the sensory step, relaying information directly into our heads like he did with the system.
That unnerved me, kind of like how the mythical compendiums took our minds away to some far-off place. Shalahora could've been accentuating that disparity with his own strength. The behemoth shifted back towards me, leaving his umbral platform of dark crystals behind. He stayed silent beside me, and he gave off no hostility despite his warning.
The entity came across as casual and composed, not one-sided or menacing. Seconds later, the Overseer pointed towards the individual beside Obolis. A heavily muscled cyclops jumped from beside the Emperor. The cyclops left cracks in the ground, Obolis having to generate a platform, so he wasn't sent stumbling.
The coal-black cyclops landed on the ascendant platform, the energy radiating through him. His eye turned bloodshot, the beast only wearing a loincloth of leather. He wielded a club composed of eldritch parts fused with acid or alchemical potions. As the mana flooded him, the cyclops took a breath.
Cipheric tattoos over his skin flashed with quintessence mana, several spirits coming to life within the cyclops. A single union of many tribes spoke through the cyclops,
"We are the Kalat. We live for the gifts that Baldowah granted us, giving our species an absolute union. Now we serve his will, the urge to battle and..."
The ascendant mana oozed into the cyclop's body. The Kalat murmured, "And...And we are grateful to Baldowah and its grace."
Schema added once more, "The Kalat serve Baldowah's will, having killed several powerful (S-) bounties. Being the union of many millions of souls, the mental strength of the Kalat is incredible. When fully focused. They switched from the Breaker class to the Founder class to assist with another unity project from Baldowah."
Schema spoke with a wry note in its voice, "The Kalat have done well, though they would do better serving under me entirely."
The Kalat bowed, "It is not that we serve either more than the other. We simply enact the will of both our masters at once, in unison. We do this in all things."
The Kalat leaped off, and I inspected their title.
The Kalat, an Ancestral Union | Level 38,827 | Guild: The Kalat | Class: Founder...
Shalahora murmured beside me, "Their life is strange."
I raised a brow, "How so?"
Shalahora rippled, "By considering the whole, none of them truly live...They are a fusion of all...And yet, they represent no one that actually exists. All those lives amount to that...I would never do the same."
My many minds jumped into a defense mode. I crossed my arms, "I'd bet they'd be difficult to work mind magic on."
Shalahora cackled and turned to me, "The opposite is true. A union is simple to destroy...You must create clashing conflicts within them, and the division splinters the whole...It falls like a tower of sand thereafter."
I noted that detail, making sure I didn't forget it. It could work in the future if I faced Lehesion or someone else in mental warfare. As I mentally jotted that down, the next member warped in instead of jumping.
A curvaceous woman with a seductive smile stared at everyone. She wore flashy clothing that accentuated her figure, retaining some class from the quality of the materials. Wings wrapped around her, coming out of her shoulders and hips, the lower limbs smaller than the upper ones. A light, green tint shone off of her metallic skin, and she spread out her wings while beaming light.
With confidence, she put her hands on her hips and beamed, "I am Iona Joan. I am a consulate of Schema. I represent his viewpoints in various economic capacities along with organizing newer worlds during the culling process. Over the last two hundred years, I've saved over thirty worlds from falling into fringe status, getting species back on their feet after rocky beginnings. I did all for a moderate price with a lenient interest rate."
Iona smiled at Shalahora and me. She put a hand on her sternum, "I'm not quite as prolific as that Sovereign over there, but I know a thing or two about how to manage an organization. If any of you need help with expanding or getting Speakers under your guild, I'm here to help."
She gave everyone a charming smile, "Just send me a friend request, and we'll keep in contact."
She radiated out with charismatic energy, and I wanted to talk to her for no reason. I silenced those thoughts, knowing she invested heavily into charisma and the related skills to emphasize that route. To my surprise, several other rulers fell victim to her. They opened their statuses, and Iona giggled while smiling, "Thanks for the friend requests, everyone. I won't let you down."
I tilted my head, "Hm, she did a good job advertising, at least. She handled the mana with ease too."
Shalahora peered through her. The miasma cloud murmured, "She 'advertises' because she needs what others offer...To exchange admits weakness and need...I prefer my merits to be my own, not from others."
I raised my brow, thinking about what Shalahora said. On the one hand, I agreed that having your own worth was vital. If a person's value derived entirely from how they worked with others, that individual became the sum of what others did.
At the same time, one person couldn't do what many could. Seeing Torix struggle with the guild's management was a prime example of that. Like with a lot of things, erring to the side of balance worked best. Either way, I checked out Iona's title to see her level.
Iona Joan, Schema's Ambassador | Level 23,102 | Class: Administrator | Guild: The Alliance of Speaker Associates for Schema Centered Goals...
The guild name was a mouthful. Before the next ruler stepped up, I considered talking with her to help out Torix. I sided against it since Torix hadn't exercised his full abilities yet. Our lich needed time to use the credits I handed him. If a few months passed and the guy still struggled with it all, I'd commission him some help. For now, I kept my faith in our lich. He helped us kill Yawm, and he'd kill at managing cities too.
The fourth new ruler walked up. As if writhing in pain, a condensed ball of eyes and teeth walked out. Twitching in pain or discomfort, the monstrous eldritch coursed out of the crowd. It drooled from several orifices, its body making my skin crawl and itch. It was like staring at a fleshy honeycomb.
It moved in a flash, the stony ruins under the beast smashing apart. It landed on the ascendant mana plate, and the beast went berserk. A restrained berserk, but berserk nonetheless. It frothed at the mouth and hissed out in rage and anger. Something within its body controlled the monster.
With its ironclad grip, it extended a telepathic pool out to everyone here. Unlike with Shalahora, this served as an invitation. Shalahora murmured,
"Ah...This is how it's done. To extend such a gentle hand is difficult."
I smiled, "Eh, you struggle because it's so easy to just rush over people. Everyone's so different in what they can handle, mind magic wise."
Shalahora considered himself, "Perhaps, but perhaps not. I believe the golemites were made to be symbiotic, and that gentles their mind magic. My species...Where not made to be so kind."
A bit of pain lingered in Shalahora's last words, but I didn't ask for more details despite my curiosity. The Sovereign would say more if he wanted to. Instead of prying, I linked up to the telepathic construct, and a neutral voice spoke out,
"Hello. I am M-901. I am a golemite Seeker who has recently transitioned to the Founder class after finding a species without any true guidance. I am offering them an upheaval in exchange for small amounts of mental space in gifted individuals of their species."
I frowned. It sounded like he took advantage of some desperate race far off in the cosmos. The golemite rattled off, "And they are such a gifted people! The golemites, being as generous as we are, see their potential. In fact, I'm currently eradicating the mind of this eldritch-infested member."
The eldritch devolved under the ascendant plate. The mana ruined its mind, its nervous system, and its body. The beast bubbled and frothed, melting at the seams while the golemite spoke in a casual, unconcerned voice,
"And to my surprise, this Overseer has given me such a great opportunity here to dismiss this useless thing. Just look at this! This eldritch doesn't stand a chance. Truly, Schema is mighty and deserving of recognition."
A chill ran up my spine, the golemite talking like an advertisement. The golemite pulled itself out of the eldritch mass, the monster letting out exhausted groans in a heaping slop. The golemite, on the other hand, manifested as an ethereal blot of mana condensed into a series of glowing, compact cubes.
These squares moved about and shifted like someone solving a Rubik's cube. It ebbed out, "Anyone willing to partner up with a golemite is a friend, so please, talk with me after if you wish to share your mind with us. You may one-day host multiple golemites and rise to the status of an abyssal if you do. You'll never know if you don't try."
A murmur rang out through the crowd of rulers. I leaned towards Shalahora, "What's an abyssal?"
The misty mass beside me writhed while it said, "The golemites extend a person's mana pool and mind by hosting their form in a person's body. They...Are exceptionally strong-willed and determined...Eerily so."
Shalahora shivered, fear racing through the Sovereign, "The golemites are an odd group of sentients...The Abyssals they speak of are legendary, rivaling Avatars in power...Many open themselves to the golemites in pursuit of that status."
Shalahora's pale blue eyes bore on the golemite. Shalahora murmured, "But the golemites...They are like a dogma given life. They exist to pursue a strange religion that is incomprehensible...I have seen many fall to their cause...Few have risen, yet they are spoken of throughout the cosmos."
I raised a brow, "Ah, so the golemites are like Elysium and Lehesion then."
Shalahora tilted his head at me, "How are they similar?"
I peered off, "The Adairs used a...A colossal telepathic tether to control Lehesion. They also imbued Lehesion with some kind of psionic fluid, probably based on the Old ones. I think that because the fluid is resilient stuff. Even after being disintegrated multiple times, that tether's lock never even so much as waned."
I blinked, "That being said, Lehesion leaned into the remnants as a new identity." I frowned, remembering Lehesion's eclipse attack. I simmered, "If you ask me, Lehesion was escaping all the mistakes he made in his second and first lives. He ended up killing his previous lover and committing many atrocities. He wasted his opportunity. I aim not to do the same."
Shalahora condensed and dispersed, his body turning more real or intangible as he did. It murmured, "A lesson, surely...You're next to announce yourself...Luck be given to you."
I smiled, "Eh, I'll try."
Schema spoke up through the crowd, "All of you know the golemites and their powers, so there's no need to elaborate further. The final and newest ruler class may step up."
The Overseer pointed at me. Unlike the other rulers, the ascendant Overseer snapped its fingers, sending over some kind of dimensional ripple. A chunk of the ruins and the air around me appeared on the ascendant plate of mana. I raised an eyebrow, remaining unaffected by Schema trying to jerk me around.
The other ruler class members whispered.
I hovered myself over to the ascendant plate of mana. As my feet made contact, the ascendant mana flooded into my body. It overflowed with the umbral crystal that Shalahora left behind. Through my feet, the energy flowed into my body. It left my skin glowing from its radiance, about three cipher's worth of power here.
My armor grinned as the energy writhed inside my blood and bones. The ascendant mana shouted out with madness, wishing for death and destruction. I tilted my head at the noise before quashing the lunacy of the tiny mana blot. I raised a hand, the ascendant mana flooding into my palm. I smashed it in my hand, arcs of lightning streaking out.
I took a breath, mana flooding into my body. I pulled my helmet off my face, breathing out the red mist. I smiled at everyone, a glint in my eye,
"I'm Daniel Hillside, the Harbinger of Cataclysm, but you can all just call me Daniel for short."
Comments
Titaniumtac
The club the cyclops has my first thought was Daniel could make him a better one, then sell it to him for a few billion credits.
Call_Me_Prophet_
I agree. This is as good as it has been in my memory and is why I am here. I am not criticising on whether the chapter comes out, that is secondary to keeping a statement true. I want the chapter to come out on time. But what I really want is consistent communication so that I don't get frustrated and the author does not become alienated/ guilt ridden.
Monsoon117
@Dragonreborn, I have given up on listening to people in regards to the path of the story. At this point, I understand my writing style, how to make it all flow, and how to present a compelling narrative. The communication strategy is diffferent, as I don't really know what works yet. I think people expect it to be really natural or something. And you're definitely right. That last post felt like a lot of people yelling at me. It's why I've went silent in the past. I didn't want to deal with it all. The writing itself has never been a problem by comparison.
Monsoon117
Off the top of my head, I think it was 172. Let me check. It's 192. I reference that chapter a lot, actually.
MrSmile
Aww yes, ty for the chapter
drag0nreb0rn
Dude. You really need to stop giving a fuck about what everyone thinks. This is your story, you do you. If you take days off, awesome. People are just worried you will drop off for months as you have in the past. Maybe update us if you are taking a long hiatus. Just remember you can't please everyone and trying to seems to bog you down.
MAJmuffin
dope chapter man, im curios for the new chapter soon.
FlawlessMovement
I’ve went back and read my comment and realized it could have sounded aggressive. Not what I meant at all, in my defense I was smoking when I made it lol but I really literally meant what I said. If you want to take 3 months off I won’t cancel my Patreon i just kinda like updates because I refresh this story a lot because I love it. With love and run on sentences, your biggest fan
Conor McGroarty
I’m gonna need to reread that chapter where Daniel meets those various species (Wrath being one of them) before the interview with Chrona. Namely because when I recall there was that Seeker race called golemites that wanted Daniel to speak on mana pollution (and was going to yeet him in space as it misunderstood his mana as environmental mana) and I mix them up with that glowing ball thing (ethereal?Aethereal?) that wanted to push its religion that involved cohabitation, never speaking or eating food (as food issues is solved with “cohabitation”) and such (need a reread as there may be edits and such). There was also that alligator/crocodile thing that Daniel said would help with something (like an eldritch lair near a city that requires magic) and Daniel never really got to it as all this war stuff happened. I wonder if gator guy got someone else and isn’t annoyed at being snubbed/forgotten?
Titaniumtac
Least daniel has someone to have a real mental spar with now
Corwin Amber
'Where not made to be so kind' Where -> Were
s476
Thanks :)
zalex
here is the real question, are you paying for a chapter and not getting it before you have to pay for it again? He did say he was taking some time off. It just out to be more than anticipated. Should he have left a notice about taking the extra time? Probably! Could it have easily slipped his mind? More than likely! At least he gave a reason for the extra delay. He already admits he has communication problems and it is a great thing he left the previous message as it is. He is trying and that is a lot better than before when we had months of no communication but random popping up chapters.
Call_Me_Prophet_
Of course we do. It is only when he does not keep the schedule that is communicated to us that I bring criticism or condemnation to the table. I like to inform the person I am sponsoring why I am leaving or if I am thinking of leaving not as some axe to hang over their head, but as a foil for others to voice their opinion like you have done so. In this way I can express my opinion on a forum of people who are also invested in this story (been reading since chapter 34) and the author can get a litmus test from those who financially support him.
zalex
As an author myself, here is the advice I use when I hear another author hearing complaints about the release schedule. Write the story first, or in this case an arc, to completion. Do not release any chapters. Then, set a schedule for all the chapters. If the fans love the story, they will wait for regularity, especially if you tell them you are going to take a month or two to write your story and get ahead. If they complain, ignore them. You are the author, this is YOUR story, you are the ultimate master of the universe. Those of us who pay you in patreon agree to the schedule you have when we decide to give you our money. It is better to have quality work that is less common than lots of crap.
Michael Moore
so true!
zoli bassoff
Thank you for the chapter. I am happy that you are working on a schedule that works for you. Thank you for giving us a heads up. People just need to be more understanding. I am sorry that people are giving you a hard time
Monsoon117
Because the cliff hanger is pretty solid imo.
Tyicius
I've come back to this page refreshing more times than I care to admit, and I wasn't disappointed.
Joshua Little
Thanks for the chapter. Was expecting him to just absorb the platform.
the void
I do not care if you ignore or belittle us. I just request that you keep writing the book how you imagine it. If you try to write everything we want your book will lose track of everything we started reading it for! keep up the good work, we look forward to the next chapter.
Blake Richardson
Thanks for the chapter
LeWorms
Absolutely worth the wait. Thank you for the fantastic chapter :D
SquidTheJim
From my perspective the improved communication is a huge plus. Not sure if you've already done so or not but it may be worthwhile to look at how other authors handle their posting schedules on patreon? I know hardly anyone ever whines about it when puddles posts a status update or plotting day. Saying "I'll begin posting again on Sunday" and then waiting until Tuesday might have been a bit of an oops, but the effort was there and we're still getting chapters regularly so I can't really complain.
Professional_industrial_man
Like the communication
Xepen
It’s just the hype of the chapters that’s making people heat up. Which I’d bet is probably both encouraging and frustrating as the author. Good to know that you were productive on your time off, can’t wait for more.
kyle
Our man didn't just withstand being in the presence of the mana.....he ate the the shit 😂 love it!
kyle
Yessss I'm excited 😊
Idan tal
More!!! Pretty pls
TheFoud3er12
Why do I feel like this chapter was cut in half? 🤔
Monsoon117
So, I'll adress the comments in the other post here. I went ahead and gave them some thought before replying so I didn't say anything I didn't mean either, as there's some heat in those comments for sure. That being said, no one's being outright mean or anything. I'm fine with the directness, and I understand what you guys are trying to say. For starters, I'm not trying to belittle you guys or anything like that. I'm working on my tactics for communication, which are definitely lacking. Thank you all for taking the time to let me know if what I'm doing is working. It's good you guys are sending me feed back. I'll aim for daily updates whenever I plan on not posting, and I'll keep every schedule as a tentative guideline as others pointed out. If that induces further frustration, let me know and I'll make more iterative changes. So what was I doing exactly? I spent two days off before spending another set of days assessing the story and its direction. I planned out the next arcs, character developments, world-building elements, etc. It was a lot of work, but fun and rejuvenating. That's basically it. Some of you, if not the majority, are frustrated with my attempts at communication. In a way, it felt that by trying to communicate more, I induced the opposite effect I intended on having. It's disheartening, but it's not the first time I've recieved negative feedback. I intend on pushing through and trying to do better. So I hope you guys are ok with the delay, and I'll tentatively be posting for the next four days before taking a 2 day break.
rizen
I'm really excited for the intro here.
