Monsoon117
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302 Prosperity
🕑 Added 2021-03-04 21:44:17 +0000 UTCElysium's vessel landed, its weight leaving a thud even under the ocean. Lifting a hand to the ship, I pulled water from the vessel by generating air and ascending the liquid with gravity. The remnants inside paled as I raised my arm, but they sighed with relief when I made entry easier for them. Moments later, a message from them popped up in my status.
A vessel is asking for permission to enter your city's perimeter. License granted: Y/N?
I selected yes, and a panel slid sideways along the vessel's bottom as they passed into our city limits. Emissaries from Elysium paced out on a fancy space platform that hovered down from the ship's opening. They wore lavender robes with runes glowing under their surface. No matter the enchantments, they exposed themselves to us, any of them death fodder for our guild.
Walking up, I wasn't the only one aware of that fact. Fear laced in the remnants' eyes, each of them having a pinkish purple skin tone with white hair. They gawked at me like I was a demon, a horrific monster made of teeth and claws. Wanting to break the ice, I pointed at the goods shown along the underside of their vessel,
"Do you guys need help moving anything?"
They peered between me and the gear before bowing. One of them spoke with a voice like silk, "We will move it. There's no need to stress yourself or your guild members after such a harrowing battle."
I scoffed, "Thanks for the consideration, but I'll be just fine." I moved my arm in a circle while grabbing a shoulder, "Plus, I've got the strength for it."
I lifted a hand, saturating their gear with antigravity wells. A bit of resistance stopped my magic initially, but I forced through it in a burst. Once cast, the sorcery floated their gear from the ground with a gentle rise. A feather's weight on the heavy boxes would keep them from floating off. I waved a hand over their vessel, casting the same mana saturating spell over their ship, finding the same blip of resistance at first.
Either way, the ship stayed grounded from the crew members inside, but the vessel would be weightless for a few weeks. I gave them a thumbs-up, "There you guys go. That should make this take only a few minutes, tops."
Beads of sweat oozed from the remnants' foreheads as their hearts pounded in their chests. I frowned, "Uh, are you guys ok?"
The talkative remnant spoke up, "I, uhm, yes. We are, of course. We are more than ok. Thank you so much for doing this. We-we appreciate the help."
I raised my brow, "Alrighty then...I don't know if I believe you. Both of you look sick."
The nontalkative one glared at me for a minute, his expression unreadable. Impressed by his grit, I raised a hand to the guy, "My name's Daniel. What's yours?"
The glaring remnant bent over and puked out his guts. I scratched the back of my head, "Huh...yeah, you're sick. Let me take you back to your shi-"
The speaking remnant raised palm as if he were attacked, "No. No. That won't be at all necessary." The remnant emissary glared at his compatriot, "He will walk back himself."
The unspeaking remnant hobbled away while trying to cup his own throw-up. He hacked up his lunch one more time before going back to the vessel, unable to meet my gaze. I blinked at him, "That guy had a nasty breakfast, I'm guessing. Either that, or it was me."
The other remnant's eyes widened in abject terror as I finished speaking. His hands locked up as I looked down at him. He murmured, "No...We're fine. Completely fine."
He might as well have been the Niagra Falls of sweating at this point. Drips formed on his face in realtime, both comical and absurd. I waved my hands, "Look, there's been a misunderstanding here. I have no intention of killing you, your friends, or destroying your ship over there. Don't plant any bugs here. Don't try anything else either. Do that, and you won't have to worry about any consequences for meeting me. Now, what's your name? Mine's Daniel, like I said earlier."
"It's Phalanthorixiatocosadoreauy."
"Damn, that's a mouthful. What about Phalanth?"
"Anything. You can call me anything."
I gave his shoulder a light pat, "It's good to meet you, Phalanth." I gestured to the ship, "What did you guys bring me?"
Phalanth scrambled with his status, the red screen popping up. He coughed into a hand, "Ahem, we have everything you asked for, though we took liberties with what information was, erm, given."
I frowned, "What does that mean?"
"We...we didn't grant high-level access to certain topics, such as our cloning operations or how we plan to enact reforms on Schema's system."
"But you have the general ideas in there, right?"
"Oh, most certainly. There isn't any locational data regarding where Elysium's planets are located or the like, however."
"Well yeah, I didn't want it. Schema can tell me that if I need it. I just want to know what you guys planned on for improving Schema's system. I've seen a few of your worlds already, and you guys have some good ideas."
I stared in disgust at the decaying corpse of a Hybrid in the distance, "Just your methods...They make me sick."
Phalanth gazed up at me, "I, I thought you were a conquerer, some bloodthirsty monster based on the footage and reports. You're more measured than anticipated, I must say. I'm...astonished. I thought you would despise us."
"What? You, individually, no. Not really. You didn't do anything to me or my guild. It's your military I don't like and how it's managed. Your domestic practices seem much more in line with my own way of doing things, outside of the Hybrids and genocide, of course."
Torix paced up, his hands interlocked behind himself. Even our ancient necromancer, who I stood over, dwarfed the emissaries. I never noticed how big we all were, but now it seemed outright strange. Torix peered down at the emissary, "I'll trust there will be no enchantments on the information, nor viral data either?"
Phalanth went right back to trembling, "N-no. Never."
Torix leaned over, an inch or two from Phalanth's face, "We will make you pay if we happen upon them. Perhaps your corpse will dance in a pool of maggots, or I'll make trap your soul in a dying body, over and over. My point being, I'll come up with something that will be quite uncomfortable should you attempt to trick us. Am I clear?"
"Y-yes."
Phalanth seized up as Torix walked past him. Poor guy. More Remnants showed up beyond the diplomats. Two armored ones strode past me with Sentinel-like paneling, their dimensional slicers not as violent as Schema's own spears. It still impressed me that their guards had them at all. Those same bouncers gawked at me while they carried equipment from their vessel.
Their hands trembled as well, both of them anxious as a panic attack. It was probably a strange sensation being beside a mortal enemy so soon. I'd killed many of the Elysian forces, and even the Hybrids exceeded these guards in net power. They were the fodder for the fodder, but that didn't mean I would just murder them in cold blood.
I mean, if someone walks through a person's kitchen, most people aren't worried the owner will rummage through a drawer and draw a knife at their throat. To me, being afraid of me now was akin to that. It mounted unnecessary stress on both of them, along with the six other guards behind them. They might've seen me in action, though, so maybe that analogy didn't hold up.
Either way, I figured we needed people sifting through the incoming stream of new stuff. Sending messages, I collected John McSmitty and several other guildsmen who practiced spyware and the like. They rushed on over, getting ready for some work while I took a portion of untampered land nearby for my own purposes.
Using a spot of sandy stone, I melted the grains into glass while crafting them overhead. Getting the paneling right, I made a sphere of glass for the talks with Elysium, and as I did, my guild chatted away about Blegara and our future plans. It was inspiring stuff, giving me plenty to do in the future. To my surprise, the most excited one of them was Amara.
She arrived earlier, and she already donned the armor I made for her, having grasped intuitively how to wear it. Finishing a curt discussion with Other Hod, Amara walked up to me in metal. The interlocking panels slid without friction, having gravitational augments for them. She stayed light on her feet. Feeling the light rumble beneath her steps, she actually became lighter than before she wore the armor. Perfect.
She even used the wires already, spreading her hair out with a gleeful abandon. With those strands, she menaced those around her like a child just gaining a new toy. Krog glared at her when several of her hairs grazed his wing, and Torix struggled not to pluck the hairs out when she did the same to him.
Amara's fragile image also faded in the dark metal. She lacked eyes, her jawed helm ominous and threatening. It radiated strength, density, and power in a way she'd never had. Amara relished that feeling, standing up taller and straighter compared to her regular clothes. They were just dirty-looking rags by comparison, but it was amazing what a wardrobe change could do for someone.
Those observations washed over me in a moment as she peered at me through a camera without needing to lift her hands,
"Hello, Harbinger. I wish to thank you for granting me your flesh and blood to wear. No eldritch would do the same. It is beyond us."
Oh man, she reacted to the gift oddly like I worried she would. I turned to her, putting my hands up, "It's just payback for helping us get the eldritch here under control. I did the same thing for everyone else in my guild, pretty much."
I lifted a hand and etched with a heated telekinetic point, trying to get the damn glass I worked on to look right, "Anyways, what's up?"
"I would like a few adjustments to the armor you have made me."
"Already?"
"Yes."
"Shit. What do you need?"
"The cameras will shatter well before the armor or the runes on it."
"I figured, but I thought you'd just fight like normal then."
Her hair reached out with the wires I gave her, cutting through the rock beneath us. She stared at a slice in the stone,
"That is right, but I wish to wear this armor even after the cameras shatter. This metal skin needs panels for my eyes on the palms should the electronics fail." She raised her hands, showing them from all angles,
"That, or you could perhaps use scrying instead of cameras. That may work better as you are talented in runic magic. If you did so, no new armors would require a helmet or opening for eating."
She poked where her eyes should've been, "Then no one may gouge the eyes and drink deeply from our skulls. With a tongue of some sort...Perhaps an elongated claw."
I nodded, "That's a great idea...But yeah, why didn't I think of that?"
Amara hissed, "An idea is like a delicious meal. It is delectable, but when another tries it, they may easily think of how it could be better. The server of the meal takes pride in it, and that pride blinds them. The eater is without pride, giving them clarity of thought."
She tapped the glass I made, "Others build on ideas like this, seeing the imperfections with ease. This is why many are more mighty than one."
"Huh. Cool. I know I got a lot better at pretty much everything by listening to other people. Well, besides punching people, but that came naturally to me."
Amara wriggled for a second before giving me a deep bow, "I wish for you to know that these imperfections in your design have left me no less satiated. I will treasure the blood and skin you have given me. It will be my most prized possession."
Oh no, there it was again - the odd reverence. I peered at Amara from my work, "Uh, sure thing. Keep on helping the guild, and there's plenty more where that came from."
She cupped her hands together while backing away, "For your flesh and blood, I will work tirelessly. I leave to do so now."
Amara went to a pile of tech lying under the glass overlay I made. She left me hectic, wondering if anything else I made had holes in it too. Taking a deep breath, I took her input with a grain of salt. Aside from that, Amara enjoyed the armor I made a little too much. To be fair, she gained a lot of agency and control of her life recently, no small part because of that plate mail.
That kind of change could leave someone acting weird for a bit. The reverence would probably fade with a bit of time, and I took comfort in those thoughts. It also helped that Torix directed the remnant workers, leaving me with nothing else to worry about. The lich ensured they organized themselves well.
Thinking on it, Torix was essentially made of my blood and skin too. Amara was right about what she said; it was blood armor. No matter the origin, the suit gave Amara some genuine confidence, and her appreciation gave me a sense of pride. Heeding her story, I mentally stomped that out. Even after I did, a lightness kept a small smile on my face. I finished the glass building's steel supports, enjoying the downtime. When finished, the remnants piled up an enormous stock of goods under the glass. They actually carried most of the cargo in a few trips since I asked mostly for information. That reflected in the items given, though plenty of physical equipment made its way here.
The first items lined up were kiosks that detailed different kinds of information. These touchscreen panels acted as upgraded versions of the terminals they used in their secret bases on Giess. Like those terminals, the touch screens offered a wealth of knowledge but on alternate subjects like distant planets, Old Ones, and Elysium's general practices.
Several of our engineers inspected the info-laden kiosks, ensuring they weren't wired or hacked somehow. They kept away from the actual info since it could exile them. As they authorized the goods, I kept peering at other items.
Several chilled tubes lined up in refrigerated, mana-powered cells. Within them, blood from different remnants, eldritch viruses, monstrous bacteria, and undead samples all sat in stasis. Torix eyed these pieces with a particular hunger, the lich ready to dissect and disseminate the knowledge within. Beyond the specimens, cloning tubes and stasis pods made their way under my glass covering.
These vats contained interfaces along with a variety of discs, likely software showcases. A few of the tubes even held the embryos of different creatures, the tanks ripped right out of a lab minutes ago. Following those vats, book after book on magic piled up until I could fill up a library. They held every shade of color, and they came from every age, state-of-the-art to venerable.
Those tomes made several guildsmen nearby salivate at the prospect of learning their contents. In some of the piles of parchment, I even caught glimpses of the cipher. At that, my own curiosity peaked with the best of them. However, as the haul's mass rose, Elysium didn't stop bringing merchandise.
They gave us a variety of unusable but no less fascinating armor and weapons. These plate mails, shields, and blades reflected with a polished sheen, cipheric markings oozing power along their surfaces. Until I understood the engraving's intent, we weren't equipping anything, not that we could; the armor wasn't made for bipedals, to begin with.
Mixed in with those armors, familiar arrangements of the cipher stuck out. Some nearly mirrored the elemental furnace engrained in my chest, but there was no way Elysium just gave us elemental furnaces. Leaning over them, I contained my surprise when I found several in a pile. I stared down at the single one pocketed in the armor of my chest. Maybe they weren't as rare as I thought, and despite that, Obolis only gave us one.
Huh...That was bad.
That thought fell to the back of my mind as I stared at other treasures. I almost felt like I'd accepted a bribe, but you know how it is. We needed to know what was in these containers, so I perused closer, taking on the absolutely essential duty. I found obelisks of all different kinds. They rested along translucent shelving designed for them. The stylish lineup included a few golden obelisks like what the Emperor gave Torix, but other types dotted the mix.
Obsidian obelisks glowed with red details, portentous and evil-looking. Other ruby obelisks opened red statuses instead of blue ones. Legal or not, they gave them to us. Several of these electronic interfaces wiggled in a jelly matrix, having all of their contents suspended within the clear gelatin. Amidst those jellies, a few showed eyes and cute features along with cooing noises to match.
One of them snuggled up to my finger, being downright adorable. Dawww.
Outside of those ones, most of these obelisks had to be illegal. In fact, a lot of this stuff could be forbidden to us. I spotted different metal drives with the words 'portaling skills' over them. Next to those metal monstrosities, a series of discs held skill names under them. They were compendiums, a few of them even carrying mythical tier skills based on their gray coloring.
One caught my eye, in particular.
Primordial Mana - The Magic of Shaping
At this point, I narrowed my eyes as a worm of suspicion formed in my chest. Elysium vastly exceeded any payload we'd ever received from Schema. So much so, I peered at the goods with apprehension. I picked up a compendium, staring at it from all angles. Like, there had to be a bomb stuffed in here, maybe some destructive spirits or something. I couldn't see them giving me this many furnishings otherwise.
It would take weeks to sort this stuff out and get it to the right people, let alone actually derive the useful intelligence stored within. And the piles kept coming while my guild experienced the same rush of bewilderment as I did. Joining the crowd, Kessiah paced up with Althea, both of them talking about the battle.
I sighed in relief, watching Althea step with her usual grace. Kessiah already read a guild-wide message Torix sent, so she paced up while propping her weight on one hip, "What's up, big guy?"
"Eh, nothing much. I'm trying to figure out all the stuff we got."
Kessiah squinted at the tubes of blood, "Wait...What are those?"
I waved at them while staring at the compendium, "Go find out. I have no idea."
She shuffled past items before inspecting several of the chilled cisterns. The tanks were from remnants, and I'm sure Kessiah doted on them, wanting to know more about herself and her heritage. On the other hand, Torix oozed over everything present as if he wished his mind was a hungry beast that could devour all before him in an instant. He darted back and forth from oddity to oddity, his curiosity overwhelming him.
Althea's curiosity got the better of her as well. She skimmed through cleared kiosks, finding data logs on Old Ones. Considering her experiences with Etorhma, her interest made a lot of sense. She might cure her transformations one day, gain better control, or just learn something she didn't know about herself. Hell, there could be some info on my whole being-a-dimension-thing. We couldn't say until we searched.
Either way, my guild poured over the cleared cargo with abandon while others checked the incoming merchandise for enchantments, spyware, and conduits. These members fused into a growing group of my guild's elite, each staying diligent in ensuring an item's validity and safety. In that ruckus, a pair of thudding footsteps sounded in the distance.
They walked up to me, carrying no hesitation or fear in them. It made me glance up, finding Spear trotting up to me with his dimensional slicers lining his back. He glared at the stock for a moment before shaking his helmed head. Spear turned and pressed a speartip to my chest,
"What is this? What have you done?"
I set the compendium back in its rack, "We agreed to a ceasefire."
Spear pushed the slicer against me,
"No, you betrayed us."
Comments
Bum-Sama
I also see at a classic overreaction by schema. It would take anything less than openly hostile to Elysium as a betrayal. By contrast Daniel is more laid back as seen here with his conversation with the revenants. I do think that “blip of resistance” was the remnants control over the ship and he just overpowers them without thought
Omega
Mistake: Perhaps your corpse will dance in a pool of maggots, or I'll make trap your soul in a dying body, over and over.
Monsoon117
It's good to hear from you again, and you see things clearly connor. Nice thoughts.
Conor McGroarty
Finally figured out that my VPN was messing with my ability to log onto Patreon. In any case, this is a race/Cold War for Daniel and Elysium. Whichever one is able to become stronger and in a better position by the time one of them decides to lift the ceasefire will determine the winner. In terms of individual mighty force, Daniel will likely be able to grow immensely with a Sovereign skill, primordial mana, entropy and other things. This gives him some breathing room to work on his basic accumulation and foundation. On the other hand, Elysium is free from bashing their heads against Daniel (who is very hard) and can focus on Schema and such. They likely cannot increase Lehesion’s basic specs but they can use their new influx of resources and such to devise buffs like that sacrificial ritual thing they used that time. In any case, it isn’t like Schema‘s trump cards are only the spatial fortresses, they are only the trump cards that are exclusively its own and it can deploy without negotiation. Other champions should be Rulers like Obolis and Daniel (Overseer mentioned that olders ones with millennia of accumulation can beat Daniel but Daniel’s rate of growth would change that). So since they can beat Daniel they should be able to stop Lehesion (stopping him is ripping out the heart of Elysium) but they are old and lazy sleepy-heads that Schema has a difficult time sending out unless they damn well feel like it. Likely they are waiting for Schema to get desperate enough to offer more incentive while Daniel is the more frugal choice for Schema, one that will no longer move until he at least manages to get Sovereign skill (primordial mana) and entropy mana plus beef up his golem forces, guild and earth. So Schema will likely be “annoyed” that the discount option is tied up at the moment.
Conor McGroarty
Pretty sure anything Elysium has Schema likely already has or could have if it applied itself (it is inflexible one certain aspects and set in its ways). That being said, it does have millennia of accumulation of resources, knowledge and other things so there is a good chance Schema has everything that doesn’t offend its sensibilities. Plus things that do offend it may have research or something just in case.
It does not actually mean Daniel has to betray Schema. If Schema is a very sophisticated artificial intelligence, then it obviously has one or more serious bugs in its code. Daniel could fix one or more of those bugs. While that might possibly seem like a betrayal to Schema's damaged "mind", it would actually be helping Schema.
Titaniumtac
Ya to the very least he needs to use his once per yr meeting to straighten things out.
Qrystof
This was a fun chapter. I'm betting schema took the opportunity during this fight to attack elysium's locations and is now pissed that they didn't drag it out. If anything, I'm hoping that schema assigns an AI to Daniel and they start really communicating. That seems to be the only way for them to move forward without completely fucking up the guild and their progression. I bet even schema could be bribed with the amount of stuff Daniel just picked up.
Herald
Indeed. As mentioned Daniel made a choice with the information he had and was never really an agent of schema. The sad thing for this discussion thread, Asura, is you thinking I'm calling schema "Evil" not once was that mentioned. It simply is, and it is broken or incomplete if you prefer. Daniel only even got involved in the war because he stumbled into Elysium and knee jerk reaction into full hostility. If news of this conflict reached him over the schema network he would not have gone charging into the fray. In short Daniel isn't a traitor (although easy to see why spear would think so, he's a schema zealot) Schema is flawed and not some great hero and Elysium is very gray.
Monsoon117
If Schema gives Daniel nothing yet demands he fights Elysium to the death, what does that say about Daniel's worth as a person? It's an implied message that Daniel, his guild, and his goals are worth nothing beyond Daniel's fighting ability. That's a humiliating, awful implication. I know it would be for me. I also think Daniel does have some respect for Schema. They just butt heads a lot because of how Schema does things. They would be friends if not for the circumstances, because both are pragmatic and speak their mind. As is, I don't think Daniel's betraying Schema here. Daniel's frustrated with the lack of communication and resources he's been given despite Daniel's impressive efforts to help Schema.
kyle
Awesome! Thanks for the reply! Yeah that way it's like oh a notification for learning "x" finally the mind I had working on that finished!
Steven Vollmert
I know where you are coming from. Schema took a risk. But for me, I see it different. If I am in a situation where I don't get what everyone else gets, through no fault of my own, I would be mad. It would feal unfair to me. To then get the same chance as everyone else is good, but in no way would I feel greatfull to the person letting me in, as I would perceive this as my right, even tho objektively it may not be so. Also we can't forget that daniel is still very young and has been fighting ever since the system came to earth. I think he is very weary of war and wants it to end. But thats just my opinion on daniels charakter
Mink
thats actually a really good idea, unless he needs that brainpower, it can always be used for something
Monsoon117
Thanks for the help.
Monsoon117
Interesting points on both sides. Something worthy of mention, Asura, is that by posting on a forum, you're opening up your opinion to being responded to. Not trying to be mean here, just letting you know that people WILL respond no matter how much you want them not to. Either way, you've got great points on your side of the discussion, but I think Yuway does as well. Daniel wasn't allowed to leave Earth until Yawm was killed, remember that as well. Not just Baldag-Ruhl. That put Daniel in a very precarious position for months, and they barely pulled through alive with some luck. Daniel may not have reached out to Schema, but how could he? He has his monthly meeting with the Overseer and yearly meeting with Schema, but to use that just to ask for reinforcements would be crippling for Daniel. It's a distinct privilege he needs for other stuff, like getting information elsewhere. The lines of communication are essentially one way for Schema - he speaks and people listen. Generally speaking though, Daniel was given extra allowances when compared to other people because of his potential. Those allowances came with steep costs - mainly having to exceed any reasonable expectations of growth or die. Whether that's evil or not is up for debate, but it's definitely a reality. As for 90% of Daniel's power coming from Schema, this is both true and false. 99.9% of his flat health regen comes from his armor. Daniel wouldn't have been able to keep that armor without Schema's help, however. Honestly, I could discuss these topics for days on end. Either way, great discussion guys. Both of you have great points and valid perspectives. Just try to keep it civil despite disgreements.
Monsoon117
Woah Asura, I love seeing how invested you are in the story, but let's keep insults minimul. To be fair, numbskull isn't exactly a scathing comment, but you get what I mean.
Monsoon117
Let's not throw anyone under the bus here. It's just alternating opinions. To be honest, I think both of you are right. For real, you both have excellent points in your favor, and I don't thing either is fully correct. I actually really enjoyed reading this. It shows two different perspectives on different factions, both of them with good points, yet neither is wrong. Man, it's great to see as the author. For me, I think you could take either direction here, but also understand that Daniel isn't joining Elysium. He's just choosing not to wage war with them right now.
Monsoon117
I'll make a mention of it. Good idea.
Monsoon117
He honestly doesn't know, but Daniel does understand lots of that knowledge is being hidden or simply not told to him and others. It would level the playing field for Daniel, knowing where he could attack to retaliate against Elysium, for instance. As is, it's like a cold war where only one side knows where the other is.
Monsoon117
Oh yeah, I took a footnote. If there's a good idea, I'm by no means to haughty to listen to it. I think of it as a strength of mine, but it's also great to get thoughts from my readers that are just...good. It means less falls through the cracks while I'm focusing on the greater narrative.
Steven Vollmert
You have to remember that daniel never really experienced schemas good sides. When he was desperate he mostly survived because of his armour. Most of the help he got was from people who were banished from the system (as was he, when he just tried to survive) Hood (his people) and the gialgathens were abandoned by schema. Schema only started helping him, when he didn't need it anymore. Sure, he can get stronger faster with schema but his chypher and constitution mean, that as time goes on, he will only become stronger. He doesn't need schema. He never really got help from him and so did the people around him. So is it any wonder that he is willing to abandon schema? I don't think so.
Herald
But it was the doctor that put you in a position to need saving...
Titaniumtac
dawned the armor ------> donned
Herald
S.m.h. You admit that we don't know enough about schemas motivations and limitations but seems to guarantee that it's given Daniel favorable treatment when it could. It seems like you're being biased in favor of Schema, what you say could be true but it could also be actively challenging him to grow or is neglecting him ect... You argument that Schema is really helping him is baseless. Daniel made a decision with the information he had and that's all he can do, He CAN'T betray schema because he was never on it's side, he says it often and the people who hear it are confused he's not exiled or punished in some way. And Respect is earned and schema has not earned Daniels respect. You say Daniel owes schema but if schema didn't assimilate his world he wouldn't be involved in any of this mess and would possibly have died in a more earth natural way in his own life span. Daniel didn't ask for what he has he earned it for himself Schema applies his system to all so it's not a favor given to Daniel that he needs to be grateful for.
Herald
Do you feel like being aggressive makes your point for you? You need to relax. "Schema gives the system to all worlds about to be engulfed by the eldritch freely and provides a way out from being food. " your comment, also:"A world is about to be filled with rifts and schema activates and organizes the rifts into dungeons. Thats literally the new world protocol." and Finally :"Clearly Rhuls dungeon was moved to earth during the new world protocol and I never said otherwise." So from your own comments Schema does bring the eldritch to other planets. From Daniels perspective in the first chapter there were no mass amounts of eldritch on the planet just some possible ones from way back like the angel reference. So earth not under any kind of major Eldritch threat until schema enveloped earth and brought the rifts to the planet. You also say "Its never forced anyone into anything" but what about when it brought Rhuls rift to earth? Daniel asked to get out and was denied until the rift was clear, that's not forcing someone into something? Yes some of the blame goes to rhul for catching him but mostly schemas fault for brining it and refusing to correct the error once reported. Yeah Schema is such a great "guy" and not a machine at all, I had no Idea AI meant person with free will, oh right it doesn't, It's a program that is operating according to it's design and is not deserving of all the praise you lay on it. When Elysium first started there propaganda against Schema Daniel refuted it and defended Schema and even then didn't like the system and acknowledges it's not great. The real question is why do you want to force Daniel into accepting schema when it goes against everything he's ever said about it? Are you sure I'm the one remembering "nothing"?
Bonesaw
I just kinda feel that Daniel is going to try to work both sides here to get the most out of them cause they both have a huge interest in Daniel because he is in the upper tier of combatants in the entire universe so if Schema can give him an even better deal for breaking the ceasefire he will
Herald
Edit: Original comment deleted response out of context. instead: Great work as always Monsoon117, I'm interested to see how the Empire reacts to the partial cease fire they've been granted. As well as Daniels reason for delaying going to take care of that Rhul on the slime peoples planet
Deimosdaft
Not like Daniel wasn't essentially betrayed as well. He was asked to go a mile and he asked for a a few yards in return but wasnt even given that. There's not proper assistance or incentive to continue so of course he would stop fighting.
Joshua Little
Thanks for the chapter.
Turora
Definitely excited to see what happens. Perhaps Daniel was more important than anyone ever and is stretched so thin he can’t compensate Daniel sufficiently for his guild because he lacks the mana or military. We also shouldn’t forget that schema accelerates eldritcification when worlds are close, and focuses them into dungeons. Rifts open all the time but what schema does is force all of them open simultaneously so that it can concentrate the rifts. Schema also has a history of being betrayed, even by its creator, so it’s fair to say Schema has trust issues. Daniel also has a contract to modify schema meaning Daniel has to betray Schema at some point. Schema can hardly afford to strengthen Daniel. It’s a wild situation, so I’m interested in seeing what happens next!
EvilGodAsura
Kemizle
You have to consider if there is no opposition schema would crush Daniel. Dan and the guild needs this break to solidify and grow or either side would wash over them
Zutyro
More so when he isn't even rewarded properly for it.
Unbreak
I personally liked the whole cease fire. Dont get me wrong, I agree with everyone, Elysium is bad, but Daniel isnt the universe patrol. He is strong and full of potential, but not the strongest force out there, there is no reason for him to take it upon himself to stop them. He is already going against them by helping with those bugs that will help the empire. It would be like in the middle of the cold war people condemn a developing country for choosing not to attack Russia on behalf of the US.
No, Schema offers Sentinel as a Class, but it does not explain that you will become its mind slave. That was not part of the description. You conveniently ignore that Schema is ruling with an iron fist, not allowing people to know about all sorts of information and technologies. It even sends hit teams against people if you do not do what it wants. It is keeping people in ignorance through threats and murders. And most damning, Schema destroys inhabited worlds and is an inveterate racist when it comes to eldritch. You are really looking at Schema with rose-colored glasses.
EvilGodAsura
Kryn
Enjoyed the read, thanks for the chapter!
I agree with you that Elysium is evil but Daniel simply cannot afford to fight them with his current level of resources. Too many soft targets. I somewhat disagree with you about Schema. There is something seriously wrong with Schema. I do not know if it is just a design flaw, or if it is actually evil (could Schema actually be an eldritch? It seemed like Amaya knew some secret). But Schema certainly does many evil things. It brutalizes whole worlds when it brings them into the system. It makes sapient beings its mind slaves to some extent. It actively keeps the vast majority of civilization in the dark about many subjects and technologies. And most relevant here, it did not send any help for Daniel to fight Lehesion when he just attacked. Given all that, I do not see that Daniel did anything wrong in agreeing to a ceasefire. I do wonder if Spear might have found out about that dimensional slicer that Daniel stashed away. Maybe Spear considers that a betrayal, but again, I think Schema is in the wrong there. It has no inherent right to censor information and proscribe technologies. It is not god, but it seems to behave as if it is.
EvilGodAsura
kyle
If I may make a recommendation. Imo daniel should always have at least a portion of his mind working on new magic like while he is having a convo and stuff otherwise it just seems like a waste and he has way to much to do not to.
Connor Alexander
Oml this chapter makes me sooo happy! Amara’s characterisation is awesome, and she seems so much more! And pointing out that Daniel is now definitely a hillside, it’s great lmao! Can’t wait to see what they manage with the new big break. Thanks for the chapter!
Blake Richardson
Thanks for the chapter
Mink
because, as you said, it cant hurt him, plus spear is a friend, and haven't you ever seen the troupe where the cool guy gets a knife or similar pointed at him, but just stands there and talks the aggressor down?
Does Daniel believe that Schema knows where all the Elysium worlds are? Or only some of them?
Shin
Great chap and thx for integrating my ideas on the armor ^^ It feels oddly fulfiling to see my ideas realised in your work
I'm not sure I understand exactly what happened there at the end. Did Spear come up with his slicers stowed on his back, then draw a slicer from his back and move it to press up against Daniels chest, all while Daniel just stood there and did nothing? Even if it cannot seriously hurt Daniel, it seems odd that he would just watch while someone draws a weapon and pushes it against his chest. Why not grab it or block it before it comes into contact with his chest?
Corwin Amber
'she already dawned' -> 'she'd already donned' 'she never had' she -> she'd
kyle
Loved it thanks!
s476
Did enjoy, would hope for some revant pov but dont know if it fits somewhere. I mena them seeing daniel. Also thats a deeeeep cliff ;) thanks for the chapter
Monsoon117
A short chapter when compared to recent ones, it was still very fun to write. I particularly enjoyed the segments on what items they got. It was interesting to plot out different connection points between the loot and characters, and it gave the treasure a different feel, like it wasn't all just for one person. It was the yield from and for everyone. Anyways, enjoy guys.
