Monsoon117
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77 Groundwork
🕑 Added 2017-11-08 23:18:50 +0000 UTCI turned to the elder, Alright, Ill kill it. I pointed at Hod, Ill need his help for training though.
Jass tapped her cane, Done.
Hod turned towards the elder then towards me, Why does Harbinger want Hod? Hod not able to kill Drikah.
I shook my head, Sure, but you do know how to use those hooks of yours. I have something very similar that Im needing to master. Ill need you to teach me how to use them.
Hod put his taloned hands on his hips, Hod help how Hod can.
Good. I turned to the elder, Ill get to it then.
I turned, walking away. Before we left, Althea walked up and asked Jass, Where does the water come from?
Jass pointed upwards, From the ancients and their cryptic language. How they do such a thing, I will never know.
Althea nodded, Thanks. Its safe to drink then?
Jass laughed, Hah, child, it is the only water left to drink. It does us no harm if that eases some of your concerns.
Althea jogged towards us, waving by, It does. Good luck with whatever it is youre doing.
Jass grinned, May the corruption never take you.
Hod, Althea, and I sprinted back towards the passage. I didnt use gravity or telekinesis this time. I just ran since it was faster. Once we reached back up the caverns and back to the ruins, I called Hod over towards one of the more open areas.
Around us, the orange lamps hung over head, the gems buzzing. The ruins towered over us towards my left, the odd shapes making a strange background. The wind whistled through the cavern, complementing the beams of light.
With the cool stone underfoot, I walked up to Hod. One of the biggest probles with using gravity for flight was the difficulty of keeping the well in front of me. I figured that making and destroying wells would make this process simpler. Hod's hooks worked a lot like that.
Drawing from his experience, I asked, Heres what I need. You know how you use your hooks right?
Hod nodded, Hod know very well. Hod use them all the time.
I spread both my hands to him, I have a method of movement very similar to it. Could you teach me how you swing and use momentum with those hooks?
Hod shrugged, Hod not see why not. Hod teach you tricks.
He walked up to me, slapping the hooks at his sides, Hod first tell you basics. Hooks work better when pulled near center. If you pull from top or bottom, you not move how you want to. You lose balance. When balance lost, head end up hitting rock.
Hod grabbed his head, squirming around like he was in pain, Head hitting rock is bad. Very bad.
Hod stood up straight, Harbinger may think Hod speak this way because Hod hit head. Not true. Hod tell story. Hod child of two seekers. Both seekers deformed. Hod end up deformed at birth, not from hitting head.
I frowned. Hod slammed his chest, Hod want Harbinger to know it no longer hurt Hods feelings. Hod learned something long ago. He opened a hand to me,
Hod not strong in head, but Hod strong in heart. A strong heart will give good friends. That how Hod friends with villagers, even when other seekers are shunned.
He turned towards the ceiling, Hod end story. Back to training. See roof? It like new ground when hooked. Remember, just because you have a new ground doesnt mean the old ground is gone. It still pulls too. You must use both grounds to get where you need to go.
I raised an eyebrow, You mean the old ground as in gravity?
Hod tapped the sides of his head, Hmmm Yes. Gravity still work from old ground. It pull you in, even if you get pulled away by hook. Whatever it is that pulls you, make it pull from your center. Keeps you balanced.
I pursed my lips, Ill give it a try.
I walked away from him, shaking my hands as I prepared myself. Burning a bit of ascendant mana, I created a gravity well above me. I ran and jumped up, making me fly towards the well. I reached out an arm, acting as if I was holding onto a rope. The gravity of the planet and the well fought over me, shifting the curve of my jump.
I reached out another hand, lowering the other one. As I did, the first gravity well dissipated and another formed in front of me. I kept it lower this time, like I was shooting out a grappling hook to another wall. The force pulled me forward, burning a morsel of mana. I approached it before creating another orb in front of me.
After about an hour of trying out this technique, I gave up. Creating dozens of orbs for flight was just too damn hard. I needed another way of using it. I left Hod to do whatever it is he does, intent on finding another way of using the gravitation.
So far I created spheres of gravity. They pulled in from any angle and any side. This dispersed the gravitys pull, meaning I couldnt get much out of it. Using it more efficiently was the key to my success. Thinking up some other way of using it, I planned out a few theoretical techniques.
The first idea was making panels of gravity. Instead of the gravity pulling from all sides, it would pull from a single angle. If I got a hold of this technique, kiting the gargantuan worm wouldnt be impossible. I needed more mobility, and that wasnt coming from telekinesis or just running around.
I focused on creating a gravity well. I tried flattening it out, but the damn thing wouldnt respond. After a few more minutes of trial and error, I found that spinning the well caused it to stretch out into a disk. Once fully stretched out, I threw the gravity disk towards some water. It moved without the same resistance that wells had.
Once the gravity disk hit the water, weird stuff happened. The sharp side of the disk led towards the target, floating without any pull from the side. Once the disk hit the target, the flattened upper and lower parts of the well pulled from above and below. This pulled water before the disk dissipated. The water collapsed into the sunken in spots a second later, resulting in the water flopping. The next time, I sent out a much larger disk of gravity, one that required some mana to create.
I launched it towards the water, and the larger disk created the same collapse in the water. This time, the water dipped down before spiraling into a whirlpool. The whirlpool dug deeper into the pool of water before the disk dissipated. The dip in water crashed back in, creating a sudden spout of water.
Data Upload Complete. Gravitational Vortex(lvl 1) By spinning a gravity well at high speeds, you create a flattened, two dimensional circle of gravity. +1% gravitational force of gravitational vortexes. +1% sheering of gravitational vortexes.
Raising my hands in triumph, I thought of a way of using my new skill. It would be situational under most circumstances, but something like this might be useful. An idea sparked in my brain like electricity.
I created another well of the gravity. I spun it, turning it into a flat vortex at the front of my fist. With a bit of effort, I tightened the spin, condensing the edges of the vortex. The vortex compacted further, reinforcing the power of the spin.
Following up on my idea, I placed the disk over my left fist. Walking over towards a rock, I stomped my heels and shot out a punch towards the rock, keeping the vortex aligned with my knuckles.
The disk pulled my fist into the rock and pulled the rock into my fist. When my knuckles landed, the vortex spun my wrist and the rock. Since my armor was so dense and hard, this pulling and twisting enhanced the destructive impact of my punch dramatically. Like a cannon echoing through the cavern, my fist destroyed the rock with ease.
I laughed like a maniac at the result. Mastering this technique and combining it with my telekinetic augments would give my punches even more oomph. I lifted my other fist, walking up to another rock. I placed another disk of gravity on my hand. This time I fired a compact hook into the side of the rock. When my fist landed, I stopped my wrist forearm from twisting.
This made the rotational force of the gravitational disk transfer into the boulder. Responding with explosive results, the boulder disintegrated. I pounded my fists together, laughing at a new rush of power. This would be the key to my next mythical skill, I was sure of it.
Combining the free pull of gravitation with the telekinetic augments, and topping it all off with the ascendant mana boost. It was a recipe for destruction.
Even better still, the skill would work seamlessly with Boundless Storm. Boundless Storm let me beat foes in close range with my sheer technical prowess. This combination of skills would result in a monstrous offensive potential loaded into each and every punch.
With that tenacious desire fueling me, I cut out the other aspects of my training. The runes could wait. I wanted my fists to blow shit up. All the constitution I stacked would come into play, allowing me to control my targets and decimate them at the same time.
Over the next two weeks, I practiced with the gravitational vortexes. Each punch required a new vortex to fuel them. That meant making them had to be instinctive, like a reflex at the end of each punch. I trained the technique relentlessly, drilling it into my head. By the end of my impromptu bootcamp, and two breakthroughs, the vortex skill was already level 67. With that level of mastery, I gained a unique skill for all my efforts.
Data Upload Complete. Unique Skill gained! Gravitational Augmenter (Apply gravitational augments even at full strength. Do so without needing mana.) 100 tree points rewarded for learning involved.
Gravitational Augmenter (lvl 1) Others yield to the perpetual pull of gravity. You mold it into the core of your being. Enhances force and shearing from gravitational augments with level. Increases ease of use with level.
With the new unique skill at my disposal, I began using the gravitational augments with the telekinetic augments.
The two opposing techniques molded into a cataclysmic force. The augments amplified the force of the new vortexes in a way I never intended. You see, whenever my fist hits a telekinetic panel, the force bounces into it, transferring the force into a smaller surface area. As a result of that, my fist bounces back after landing on the pads. The gravitational vortex pulled my fist into the attack, resisting that backwards bounce.
That further enhanced the force of my attacks. My fists no longer bounced back after each punch. They would land into whatever I hit, transferring every ounce of kinetic energy into it. As a result, my fists caused shit to explode, and there wasnt any blowback. I could launch another strike immediately after.
The combination resulted in rapid flurries. I doubled my volume of hits, and they in turn doubled in lethal force. The synergistic effects turned my fists into lethal weapons. The best part was that I didnt need mana for the techniques either. If the telekinetic augments didnt exceed my strength, then telekinesis costed no mana. If the gravitational vortexes didnt exceed my weight, then they cost no mana either.
This freed me up to surge my ascendant mana through my runes. Learning to do all three at once took a long damn time though. Weeks faded into months, the training and time outside it an afterthought. During this time, I cherished my meals and evenings with Althea and sometimes even Hod.
I taught Althea the Tactile Cognition skill, figuring shed use the unique skill well. The resulting payoff was massive. During one of our more intense training sessions, I used my new gravity punch skill. It countered Althea to a ridiculous extent. Even her cloud form couldnt do anything because the vortexes on my fists made her solidify.
Of course I kept the punches light, not wanting to kill her. Althea saw through my restraint, making her frustrated. She combined her strength and speed with her stealth, making her hits overwhelming. Even against my tanky stats, she did sizable damage. After that, she began running and using her stealth to disguise her presence.
Every time I came close to her, she would snap in a few strong strikes before dashing away. As she ran away, she fired shots from her rifle. Combined with her stealth, and I struggled dealing with the style of combat. Once I believed she might even be able to beat me with it, she collapsed from exhaustion. Once I walked over and helped her up, she grinned with sweat pouring down her face,
I got it.
I raised an eyebrow, so she raised both hands while screaming, I got a mythical skill!
I ran up and picked her up by her waist, spinning her around. I shook her over me as I shouted, Hell yeah. Thats what the fuck Im talking about!
She and I jumped for joy, each of us ecstatic at our newfound spikes in strength. It was one of those moments you cant help but smile when you remember it. By the time we settled down, she and I were chatting away about the daily game. Thats something I noticed since coming here. Althea and I had grown closer.
It wasnt awkward to sit beside her and just think anymore. She was someone I could just exist and be comfortable around. That wasnt easy to do either. Im a jumpy guy, and I dont trust easy. The fact I could let my guard down around anyone was a breath of fresh air. A part of me hoped it was the same for Althea as well. She deserved somebody like that in her life.
Still, I didnt let it steer my training off track. Twenty hours out of each day were dedicated to training. If you think about it, it was like I was training 3-4 times faster than a normal person. Combine that with the rifts time dilation, and I might as well have been in a hyperbolic time chamber.
Althea progressed even more than I did, at least relative to where we started. She didnt know much about her powers and only had one unique skill at her disposal at first. Now she had a mythical skill, one that complemented her powers to an extreme extent.
We werent alone though. Hod visited us often. Dull as he was, he offered some insight into the Drikahs biggest weaknesses. The worm would jump out of the sand, open its mouth, swallow something, then dive back in. It never bit into its prey. The Drikah closed its mouth then let the pressure of the surrounding sand kill its target. Since it dived thousands of feet into the sand, that meant the pressure could crumple metal with ease.
Fighting it head on without Altheas help was pretty much impossible. Instead, I would kite it while using guerilla tactics. After evading its bite, I would strike it with an attack or two while covering it in oppression. Once it disappeared, my health and stats would regenerate. By the time it came back, I could dodge then unload yet another massive strike into it.
I doubt my hits would do substantial damage, but over time I could whittle it down. The main problem came with doing enough damage and being able to kite it. With that in mind, I homed in on finishing my new mythical skill.
Another month passed before everything clicked. During one of my training sessions, my runes were blazing. My augments, both types, were on point. As I shifted my steps, even the most complex patterns of movement came with intrinsic ease. No more struggling to use them together. They blended into an orchestra of calamitous havoc. With their fluid use in conjunction, I learned another mythical skill.
Data Upload Complete. Mythical skill gained! Fuses the three unique skills, Ascendant, Gravitational Augmenter, and Telekinetic Augmenter into a single skill, Volatile Carnage. Gives half of missing tree points from skill fusion. 121 points rewarded.
Volatile Carnage (lvl 1) You spent your life governing the forces of this world. Now you turn them towards destruction. Increases efficiency and ease of use of augmentations from mana, telekinesis, and gravity. Enhanced by strength, constitution, and physical damage reduction.
I tested the new skill, enjoying the sudden rush of clarity. Before I gained the skill, I relied on my enhanced dexterity and willpower to carry me. The motions were just too difficult to do without them. Calculating each augment, chaining them together, using the right amount of mana for my runes, it took a lot out of me.
Now it was effortless. There was no need for calculation. There was no need for chaining them together. They flowed from my fists like a river made of mayhem. I could focus on using boundless storm with the skill now, making my movements evolve. From simple jabs to complex maneuvers, I dashed and ducked, weaving in strikes.
Distancing myself, assessing range, all the intricacies involved in close combat came together. After enjoying the new skill for a bit, I walked over to Althea. Since my training, shed developed a unique skill of her own that involved flight. While not enhancing her power by any at all, it turned her mobility from good to excellent.
Instead of turning her arms into wings, she grew extra wings from her back. This gave her the option to fire in mid flight, but it increased the difficulty of the maneuver. In my own case, I tried using the gravitational vortex for flight. It didn't work out so well.
The gravitational vortexes pulled much more of my weight than the gravity wells did, about half of my weight. It took a lot of mana to make up the difference. Adjusting the vortex to counteract gravity while pulling myself forward was intensely complicated too. Combining it with telekineses made the process better though.
It just wasn't as effective as true flight. As I walked up, Althea's new, muscled wings wrapped around her as she rested. When she glanced up at me, she grinned,
Hows it going Daniel? Sounds like youve been trying to break the world over there.
I shrugged, Eh, just trying to figure out how to hurt the worm. I think I got it now. Unfortunately, I dont know how to keep my distance. Sucks.
Althea frowned, Ah yeah, you cant just sprout wings and fly. Why not use that telekinesis and gravity magic? I thought that would work out.
I shook my head, Theyre both great to help enhance movements, but they both suck at helping me do entirely new stuff. Flying with telekinesis is more trouble than its worth. Same with gravity.
Althea narrowed her eyes, staring forward. I walked over and sat beside her. I leaned my elbows against my knees, Something wrong?
She shook her head, Nuh uh, just thinking. After a moment, she glanced at me, Why not try the opposite of flying?
I leaned back, raising an eyebrow, What do you mean the opposite of flying?
She stared forward, away from me again while raising two hands, Think of it like this. Why can I fly through the air?
I glanced up, Hmmm. You have wings.
She shrugged, You could probably make wings with your armor too. That's not going to let you fly though, is it?
I cupped my chin, glancing back down, Touché.
I racked my head for a minute before slapping my left fist against my palm, Its weight.
She nodded, Youre just too heavy and too dense to fly. You must weigh ten times more than me at least. The air above us, its light like me, so I can use it to fly. Althea pointed down, The ground though, its too hard for me to claw through. Once Ive dug a bit too low, I end up choking on the ground.
She poked one of my armored shoulders, Why not try to master the ground and Ill master the sky. Well be like a dynamic duo or something.
I thought things through for a bit. I already had the burrowing skill, and my armor and weight helped with it already. When fighting Bloodbull, I made my armor burrow me away from them. Its why I survived in fact. Instead of fighting against my weight and density by flying up, why not work with it and dig down?
I couldn't come up with a decent answer against that question. It made things clear. I stood up, Hell yeah. Thats brilliant. I turned to Althea, clasping a fist, Thats what Im talking about. I ruffled her hair, making sure I was gentle and didnt hurt her, Miss mopey over here has a trick or two up her sleeve, eh?
She slapped towards my hand, but I lifted them over her. I stood two feet taller than her now, so it was easy. She threw a couple more playful swipes towards me, trying to grab my hand. I sidestepped and outdid her attempts to catch me. She feinted with one hand before flapping a wing behind me.
It caught my back, letting her pull me forward. She jumped up and grabbed my left hand with her right. I sighed, Fuck. Alright, you got me.
With a glowing grin, she raised her left hand in victory, Yeah, alright. Take that, Harbinger.
She unwrapped her wing and let me go, popping back onto her feet. Even when gripping my hand, Altheas strength amazed me. Whatever perk she had for it, it must have at least doubled hers. That was a good thing since shed need to eventually kill a tree monster that was much stronger than me.
As if replying to my thoughts, Althea shook out her right hand, Your armor is so hard. It makes rocks feel soft.
I nudged her, I was just thinking you gripped my hand too hard. Anyways, when do you think we should leave? Once I kill the worm, Im thinking well only need a few hours.
Althea deflated before trying to look casual, Uh, lets take our time. No need to rush, right? Were facing Yawm here. Hes a lot stronger than that sandworm anyways.
I shrugged, Hmmm. As I considered, Althea looked closer, as if waiting for my answer. I held her in suspense for a moment before smiling,
Maybe killing a few more sandworms would be a good way to close the gap in levels. We can stick around for a while.
Suppressing a grin, Althea waved at me, Yeah, that sounds like the right thing to do. I have to level some too. We cant just run back to Torix with the same levels as we had coming in. Can you imagine the look on his face?
I stood up straight, sticking out my bottom jaw and lip, Oh, why hello there. Its good to see you two didnt even gain a single level during your training. I suppose they changed the definition of the word while you were out. Excellent work in keeping with the times. Just majestic.
Althea giggled at my Torix impression before I clapped my hands together, Yeah, fuck that. Sounds good to me. Im going to try and come up with some crazy burrowing move. Good luck with your flight stuff.
As I turned to walk away, Althea waved, Sure thing. Well eat lunch later though?
I nodded, Of course.
I paced off before finding an empty slate of stone nearby. Not too hard with how large the cavern was. I dug into the stone, clawing with my hands. The stone relented to my gauntlets and fingers. It was like ripping into a brittle gel whenever my ascendant mana pulsed through my runes. I burrowed at a reasonable rate like this, but it wouldnt be near fast enough to escape the worm.
Molding my armor, I created armor spikes from my hands. As the spikes pulled the rocks from in front of me, they pulled me forward. Each spike pierced into the stone then picked it apart towards my side, opening a path for me. In order to move forward, I pushed with my feet. It wasnt the most efficient kind of movement though. To move fast, I needed to trim the fat off this style of movement.
With that goal in mind, I changed my armor a bit. A couple spikes reached off my shoulders, back, and helmet. They kept catching on the stone. To stop that, I molded my armor into a smoother, thinner form.
Working further into that, I made my head end in a sharp point. After that, I created long claws at the edges of my fingers. Sure, I looked ridiculous ridiculously effective that is.
Awful jokes aside, I dived into the ground this time. As my head hit the stone, it cracked. My armor grew from my horned helmet, tearing through the ground. As it did, I pushed myself forward with my arms and legs. At this point, I moved as quick as a light jog. Nowhere near fast enough to escape good old sandworm guy.
So, I launched myself out of the ground and brainstormed for a minute. This time before I burrowed, I made a gravitational vortex at the top of my head. Whenever I dived into the ground, the pulling action was enhanced by the gravitational pull.
The vortex dissipated with a quick jolt, spinning me forward. I wormed my way through the stone, my armor cracking and cleaving it the whole way.
I was booking it now. Unlike when running, I had something solid for my gravity vortex to pull me into when burrowing. The air didnt give enough resistance, making a wind tunnel whenever I made the gravitational vortex to pull me forward.
The hardest part of either process of keeping the vortex in front of me. Whenever the vortex pulled the same amount of weight on both sides, then moving it was much easier. Flying through the air lacked meant one side was weighted down and the other wasn't. The rocky ground gave the grip my vortex needed so that I could move it with ease.
I needed more speed though. At this point, I crawled through the earth damn fast. I didnt need damn fast though. I needed ultra fast. This time when I went to burrow, I created telekinetic pads beneath my feet. Each time I stomped into them, I transferred that force into plates above my head. These new plates were smaller with reduced surface areas.
It was the same bullet technique I used for my fists, just tweaked a bit for traveling through the ground. With it, the ground above me offered almost no resistance. This telekinetic stomping destroyed the ground utterly, shooting me forward. The gravity vortex kept pulling me towards the broken ground, speeding me up further. During all that, I used my arms for adjusting the direction of my descent.
It was like I was swimming through the ocean, except the ocean was made of solid stone. Awesome.
Data Upload Complete. Unique Skill Gained! Fuses the skills Burrowing, Gravity Vortex, Soul Forging (Armor Molding), Telekinesis, and Stomp into the unique skill Earth Glider. Total tree points possible for fused skills, 500. Total earned from fused skills, 186. Half of unearned tree points are rewarded, 157.
Earth Glider (lvl 1) Most swim through the air and through water. You laugh at their limits, choosing to swim through stone. Allows the user to swim through solid materials. Enhanced by constitution and physical damage reduction.
I dug around for a while, relishing in the new skill. It didn't leave tunnels or anything either. It was like I was sliding through the ground by churning it up then sliding through the mush. This let me use the the skill without causing cave ins.
Practicing that skill took priority. Over the next few weeks, I practiced the skill with my other kinds of combat. The first hurdle came from changing my armor quickly. To make the most of the skill, I needed to jump in and out of the earth all the time. Shifting the form of my armor took a bit of thought and practice, making the transition difficult.
The next step was learning to jump into the ground. In other words, digging with my feet first instead of my face. I couldnt maintain decent speeds like that, but hiding in the ground quickly was invaluable. I could already imagine it. Some monster bites at me, but I jump backwards and slide into the ground. They bite into thin air before I shoot back out, slamming them in the face with a hard punch.
Once I learned that, I worked on the transitions of the skill. Jumping in and out of the ground, all while swapping the form in and out for my mythical skills. While not quite perfect, I had enough fluidity that I didnt need to spend seconds transitioning anymore. The true test would be seeing if it worked in sand.
With that in mind, I crawled outside the cavern wall. Once under the red sky, I glanced at the sea of sand around me. Glancing back at the mountain, Hod fiddled on a patch of runes near the mountain. From the runes, water materialized out of nothing. The eldritch runes worked like that, casually breaking the laws of physics.
I shouted, Hey Hod, can you help me out with this for a minute?
Hod stood straight up, glancing around till his masked face met mine. He grabbed the side of his head, Hod not know if he can help, but Hod will try.
Using his hooks and wings, he dived down the mountain. Reaching me in seconds, he landed onto the ground near me. His talons crushed the stone beneath him. He was a surprisingly powerful creature, despite the way he acted.
I pointed at the sand, Im going to try and dig through the sand. I need you to save my ass if it doesnt work out and the sand worm comes.
Hod walked over, gripping my shoulders and lifting. With a bit of strain, he lifted me off the ground slightly. I raised an eyebrow, What are you doing?
Hod seeing if Hod can lift Harbinger.
He set me down, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow, Hod can handle it.
I frowned, You sure? I can just go snag Althea-
Hod brandished his hooks, Hod use hooks. Hod carry harbinger out with ease.
I shook my head, You know what, I think its actually dumb as hell to put my life in the hands of an acquaintance. I dont know what came over me. Ill just get Althea to help me on this one.
Hods shoulders drooped, Daw. Hod disappointed, but Hod understand.
After getting Althea to come out and watch over me. I prepared myself for the dive. At the edges of the mountain, a steep cliff around a hundred feet(thirty meters) tall towered over the dunes in the distance. I stood beside it, rolling my shoulders and cracking my neck.
Althea had her wings at the ready, just in case she needed to fish me out. Hod stood with his hooks ready as well. I sighed out my worries, knowing they could help me if things went sour. Like pulling out a tooth, I ran and jumped off the cliff.
It was time to see if I could dodge the King of Drikah.
Comments
Monsoon117
Alright, think of it like this. If you punch a wall and your fist bounces back, then your punch isn't as powerful as if you punch a wall and it breaks. I think we can agree on that right? If your fist hits something with the same amount of force, but bounces back, that means not all of the force transfered into it. It's the same if something breaks too. My vortex example was supposed to illustrate that none of the force is being wasted because the fist is bouncing back. All of the force of the punch is being transfered into whatever it is he's punching. We're assuming the punches are the same force here.
Monsoon117
He totally can.
Still not clear why he can't just use the telekinetic pads like a staircase. You don't impart more force on the top step of stairs than at the bottom, so why is climbing from 1m to 2m different than climbing from 2m to 3m?
Mine comes from verifiable physical laws and theories. Personal experience is moot in the face of fact. I'm aware that I've had some simplifications, but that's because the thing is so egregiously erroneous that I didn't feel it necessary to bring in the minutiae in order to explain how it was wrong. I'm not misunderstanding it. Either the pads transfer force perfectly in one direction, and don't in the other, in which case the best way to transfer force to the pad (something that doesn't break) is an elastic collision. Or, the pads transfer force from both sides, in which case they serve no purpose, as he could get exactly the same result from punching with his armor as the spikes. The pads are only useful if they skirt around the limits of what is already possible, else spiked armor would achieve the same result with arguably less mental drain. The thing with the airbags depends on where you are defining the limits of your system to be. If you include only the person and the airbag after the collision, it's more obvious, but even if you include both cars in their entirety, it still would show that the person had less impulse because of the airbag (and the other restraint stuff) but regardless, I wasn't asked to give an excruciatingly detailed explanation of a car crash, just a real-life example of where increasing contact time decreases impulse. 'Punching through a person' is to make sure you don't subconsciously counteract your momentum by stopping your fist at the point of contact. That isn't the collision absorbing the energy, it's your own muscles. The whole point is to keep from stopping your fist. The differences in the different punches come from how many muscles and how much weight you can get moving. A jab is pretty much just arm and shoulder, maybe a bit of hip, but not as much as a straight lunge, which takes advantage of moving a decent portion of your body weight and potentially taking a step to add momentum. A hook adds torque to the equation, so it has more energy than a jab, and if you step into it, it can have more momentum than a straight lunge.
He was redirecting the impact of his fist from the pad to the tiny spikes. The vortex might increase the speed of his fist, but since the transfer is from his fist to the pad, if he stops his fist moving, the transferred force to the spikes should reflect that.
Me too. Give it like 8 hours or so, I'd imagine.
John Grizzly
how fun though, looking forward to Mr. Author replying with his original intentions :D
I don't think I can easily find a way to say this without sounding rude, but I don't mean to be: Regardless of how it sounds, that /is/ right. That is the very definition of an elastic collision. I think I see the problem though. The bounce does not come from the energy of throwing his fist forward, it comes from the internal forces in the pad pushing back. They do not come from the same place. If he overcame the internal forces in the pad, it would break, and his fist would continue forward, but the pads seem to be mainly a force/momentum transfer/portal thing, rather than something with internal structure, which should mean that the results should be similar to if the pad wasn't there as far as moving through things as they break goes.
John Grizzly
itd be cool if he can form some kind of spring using gravity wells or vortexes and telekinetic plates he makes now. thatd be intersting actually.
John Grizzly
he wasnt redirecting the impact with telekineses though. wasnt it from the vortex pulling both objects together, the telekineses is still just the spike focusing his force on the smallest area he can, like brass knuckles.
John Grizzly
???erm, that doesnt sound right. that doesnt mean that energy is lost. it means that the full force of the moving object transfered to the object it collided with. its not lost but transfered, thats why its not moving anymore, it doent have the force. if it was elastic, if it bounced back, the force of the original object is transfered over, but also rebounds and returns to the object. erm, also keep inmind, while his hands doesnt move anymore due to redirecting recoil, the other person/thing will be lol. impulse migthve screwed up what i was trying to say XD but tis what came to mind when i was thinking of the whole transference of force between two object.
That is exactly the opposite of what happens though. More impulse is transmitted when there /is/ bounce because the contact time is smaller. If you increase the contact time, the impulse is less. So if his hand glues itself to the thing, there is more contact time, and therefore, less impulse. The problem with saying he's just redirecting the impact the other way is that would not be a 'finer detail' that reaction force is literally the reason you can stand on the ground without just falling through. If he could redirect that force, he should just cover himself with telekinesis and become completely invulnerable to any physical attack by redirecting all the force away from himself.
That's kind of the point. A non-elastic collision where things don't bounce (or don't bounce as much) means that some energy was lost somewhere.
John Grizzly
about the vortex thing, true, but thats if you see it that way, i see it differently is all, while a force of nature sure, its still induced by magic, so him resisting the rotation could still affect the spell as i see it. again though, this really depends on how you choose to view it. i think seeing it simpler makes more sense, im not sure if the author is a physicist and magic is a nice crutch to push one through some of the finer details. haha. well what i mean about the impulse is the transmission of force. more force is transmitted if there is less recoil/bounce back. with the best case scenerio of punching through something, the full force going through with out any feedback, but there is recoil because the things he hits are pretty tough too. i just see it as him using magic to redirect the rebound/recoil back into the direction he is hitting torwards, meaning both the original force the normally should go through is partnered with the force of the recoil he wouldve recieved, making it carry more devesation than if not. and how? basically crutching on magic for the finer details. can call it a bluff by the schema too, rewriting the fabric of space and time and laws of the universe is bound to mess some of the finer details up.
The impulse is related to the time interval of contact, which means that /less/ time in contact means there must have been a greater impulse. the time part is on the bottom of that equation, it's I = F/t (t being the time in contact). So keeping his fist against it decreases the impulse.
John Grizzly
well splattering is diffrernt, the integrity of the item failing is what causes the dispersion of force acting as it hits you. if it didnt, itd be a hell of a lot different story id believe XD
John Grizzly
*time interval.
John Grizzly
? im pretty sure i was thinking of impulse, where there is a difference when the same amount of force is acting on something at different intervals. usually based on different materials liek a hollow or solid, but there would still be a noticable effect based on if the force bounces off or not. not bouncing off being more destructive of the two.
That would make sense only if his fist turning was affecting the vortex, but it's pretty clear the vortex is what was causing his fist to turn. That means stopping his fist only changes how his fist behaves, it has no effect on the vortex, and thus doesn't affect how other things are affected by the independent vortex.
That's not how physics works. Equal and opposite reaction. If the reaction force is just enough to stop his fist dead, that's less than if the reaction is enough to bounce his fist back. It has nothing to do with focusing it all forward, he's already doing that. It's about the reaction force from the thing he's hitting. Since the action and reaction are equal, if the reaction is greater, the action must also have been greater.
John Grizzly
as far as im understanding it, the medium is still the vortex. but then again, im only considering the basic ideas and leaving some to a suspension of disbelief. i just think of it as equal and opposite reaction as the basis, you can have one side of the equation zero out without consequences, the consequence here being the otherside of the equation getting twice the force while the other zeroes. equation is balanced, lo and behold, damage multiplier. now im not sure how legitimate my understanding is, but it makes sense enough for me, idk if it helps with you understanding it tho.
John Grizzly
2] same thing as the first one but instead its with kinetic force. the total amount of force remains the same, but when it bounces back, there is force going through the object, and then force returning to the fist, by focusing ALL of the kinetic energy forward, the total amount is sent through thing being punched. the whole of the energy is transfered through the punch, instead of recoiling. 3]good question,
But /how/ does it add to the opposite force? The force comes from the vortex, not the rock/wall/whatever. To stop his hand, he just uses his muscles to counteract the vortex, right? How does that make the other side different?
John Grizzly
1] didnt he stop spinning his hands a while back? unless he sets up for it anyways. if that is the case, then the whole rotation thing is coming from vortex. guessing the vortex spins both sides of it, therefore enacting a spin on his hands and what he is punching, if he forces his hands to not spin, it doesnt negate the force trying to make his hand spin, instead it adds to the opposite force. atleast thats what im guessing is happening. makes sense to me. *shrugs*
Monsoon117
Alright, sure thing. I'll add in something as a reference point to build on. Thanks for the tip.
Scott Rutherford
Awesome!! I love when a character gets the chance to grow and improve. I'm also happy he decided to stick around and level some after defeating the worm. I'm also loving the Earth Glider skill he gained, now he just needs to fuse Earth Glider, Phaser and his sensory skills to make his movement ability Mythic. After all, you said nothing about him refining how he moves nor how he knows where to move, he just became capable of moving through solid matter. So Earth Glider is like, learning to drive.. fusing the rest is like, being a professional race and stunt driver.. knowing when and where to turn and how to optimize his movement around or towards obstacles. Of course, this would make his movement in solid matter more capable than above ground.. possibly.. bit he can't really punch consecutively from underground either.. he's gotta pop out. Definitely a kiting style of fighting.
You really need to learn to use simple metaphors when describing complex stuff like gravity and such. the benefits are two fold. The lengthy explanations you use can be tedious to read and hard to picturise mainly because of how many ways you can picturise your words only to go back and repicturise because the next sentence or paragraph contradicts it. Metaphors and similees make it much simpler for both you and the readers. Instead of saying that he/she looked scary or cool, you can say it looked like one thing only with some specific feature. Give us a reference point to imagine from instead of forming the image step by step part by part.
loimprevisto
> Fuses the skills Burrowing, Gravity Vortex, Soul Forging (Armor Molding), Telekinesis, and Stomp into the unique skill Earth Glider. Earth Glider doesn't mention anything about bonuses to gravity vortexes, soul forging, or general telekinesis. When these merges happen, do the new skills implicitly give the benefit of these previous skills at level 100 along with their specific bonuses?
Monsoon117
Loved Dune. Such a good novel, though the series does go a bit off the deep end after a while. Still riveting nonetheless.
Chakfor
I can't be the only person thinking that "The spice must flow" over here. Very Dune-esque. I like it!
Monsoon117
Thank you!
Monsoon117
I think this confusion has a lot to do with how I described gravity magic's mechanics, and not explaining several key differences between gravity vortexes and gravity wells. Wells pull from all sides. If you add up all the pull from every angle, you get Daniel's weight. This means no angle is particularly strong.
James McNeely
Thank you for the chapter it is awesome
Monsoon117
He's out of trees.
Leonard Marchant
Pretty disappointed about the flight thing tbh. I thought for sure he'd reduce his weight with gravity magic then move through the air by pushing and pulling against the ground with telekenesis. I feel like maybe how those two magics work, like the constraints and such aren't well enough defined. I'm still confused as to why he has to move his own body when using telekenesis, as well as why he tried to mimic the hook movement when he could just have one gravity well that he moves around himself. Maybe I missed some stuff..
Gabriel
Thanks for the chapter. Wouldn't he spend his tree points before doing something insane like swimming with the King of Drikah? * Or did he run out of trees?
Sir Sloth
Thanks for the chapter!
