Chương 57: 56-Chantify This

Jenna examined the loot she had obtained from their activities: a cursed whistle, enchanted skates, a Grislyball stick, and the Hive Ring. The ring and the whistle were unobtrusive and easy to carry, but the rest of the gear was not. She did not want to go on an adventure looking like a mom carrying her son's hockey gear. They had less than a week until the Answer reached Babylon, and they had to make the most of it. She, in particular, had to explore new ways to use her powers.

Using the Chant to heal Elias had been a good start—she now knew that she could jumpstart her powers in certain circumstances, getting more than her usual five freebie points from them, even if she could not make the effect last more than an instant. I inspire, the Chant had told her. Most of Elven magic seemed to revolve around the idea of following the examples set by the Codas of the Chant. Could she expand her powers even more? The Chant had proven effective in enhancing her own Talent magic.

Maybe it could also work on the Elven magic Alarel and Elariana had given to her—a name, a sword, two daggers, a spear, a suit of Elven armor, and a cloak. The gifts were all of excellent quality, but had no supernatural powers except one: they were part of her soul. She could dismiss them and summon them at will, and recreate them instantly if they were destroyed. Could she extend those qualities to other items soulbound to her? It seemed worth a try.

She donned the skates, grabbed the sharp stick with one hand and the bone whistle with the other. They were also part of her; no other person could access their magic except the Primordial, but they were not so intimately tied to her person as the Elven gifts. For now. She rehearsed the Codas in her mind. There was one particularly suited for what she intended to do. The Coda of Erila, a powerful Amazon warrior who fought an apparently unbeatable coven of witches during the third age.

Erila had won using the hags' cursed items against their owners. She had worn the defeated hag leader's armor and weapons, knowing that they would destroy her, but determined to use them to defeat the rest of the hags. Jenna enhanced her Spirit and let the Chant wash over her. In her mind's eye, she was no longer the Primordial—she was Erila, all the evil weapons she had taken from the Hag Queen arrayed before her. Necessary tools to confront evil that would defile her and destroy her as payment for her use.

Erila grabbed the Hag Queen's blade: I will destroy your enemies, but I will also kill the person who trusts you most. I will pay your price. Jenna grabbed the Grislyball murderstick. Erila donned the Hag Queen's armor: You can't be defeated in battle while you wear me, but I will harden your heart—you will love no more. I will pay your price. Jenna donned the enchanted skates. Erila wore the Hag Queen's cloak: Night will hide you, now and forever, but you will become monstrous under the light of the sun.

I will pay your price. Jenna wore the Bone whistle around her neck. Erila put the Hag Queen's ring on her finger: Evil will fear you, but so will Good—you will be remembered as a monster. I will pay your price. Jenna extended her hand, admiring the Hive Ring. She became one with the Elven Hero, and she recited her battle-oath: I will pay any price evil asks of me, to rid the world of it. She felt the power of the Chant enter her soul, and through it, transform the four soulbound items.

In the Coda, Erila's purity of purpose had protected her from the curse. The items became dust once she used them to beat the hags and had no further use for them, their curses withering with them. Jenna saw the skates, the stick, the ring, and the whistle melt in a flash of white light. Oops, I think I may have destroyed them, she thought for a moment. She checked inside her soul. They were not gone. They were now part of her, much as her Elven weapons.

She breathed a sigh of relief—Chant magic was much more esoteric and unpredictable than her Primordial powers. She was basically asking for the Chant's favor each time she used it. She extended her hand and summoned the stick, no longer a bladed stick but a beautiful axe of Elven design. She willed her skates to appear under her feet. They were no longer dark and grisly; they were made of silver and adorned with runes.

She extended her left hand, and the Bone Whistle appeared in it, now an Elven Warhorn carved with runes. The Hive Ring appeared around her left index finger, made of pure silver instead of plain metal. She knew that their magical properties remained unchanged; only their appearances had been altered to make them more Elven-looking. The Warhorn now summoned a beautiful riding stag, if she was lucky, or an angry Elven hag, if she was not. They could not be taken away from her any more than the original gifts could.

They had been chantified. Jenna smiled, satisfied. Whatever soulbound items she gained would always be available to her—she had gained a significant power. ◇ Bob examined Billy's character screen with his new perk.

"I feel kind of stupid for not having thought of this before," he confessed to Billy.

"To be fair, everything has been kind of a blur the last few months," Billy answered.

"We were either in the midst of a crisis or trying to recover from the last one."

"We can't afford that way of thinking anymore, Billy. We are no longer amateurs. We have to behave like pros. That means thinking things through and being proactive," Bob said as he activated the perk. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. He had always gone for useful perks, with plenty of possible applications. But sometimes, specificity did the trick. Akashic Analysis (Truthfinding 3): Examine one of Billy's Akashic Templates.

Gain all possible information to be gained from it. Will only work if Billy is projecting his Respawn Screen.

"Okay," he said after a few minutes.

"Much as I feared, we missed one Pantean skill—a significant one. The Timespiders have a Skill called Timecraft."

"Damn it," said Billy.

"They do not have the Hatchery tag, so I can only become one of them while inside the Web of Ananke. I could use one as a component for an Essence Gestalt, though, and make sure it has access to the skill."

"Not right now, Billy," Bob answered.

"Lawman is a powerful shape. I do not want you to lose it with the Answer so near. It would be like throwing AP away. This will have to go into the to-do list."

"Have you found anything else interesting?"

"Yes. Quite interesting, as a matter of fact. I am taking a look at the Mystic Storyteller shape you took from Penny. Your most powerful form so far. Ninety-nine levels. Only one short of an Omega's. The one we did not want you to use, as it made you vulnerable to Exile."

"And to Coven manipulation. Penny was doomed to Exile if she ever failed a quest. And we know where they all come from."

"Well, it does not work quite like that with you. You do not have quest slots. Your module has implemented that feature differently. You should read the whole class—there is a lot to unpack there." Bob projected the information from the perk into his own status screen so Billy could read it.

Level 99 Class: Mystic Storyteller Healing +2 Visualization +2 Persuasion +3 Resilience +2 Memory+2 Perception+2 Expression +3 Body +3 Mind +3 Spirit +3 Class Perk: Rewrite Reality Once per hour, you may turn a recent action into another that achieves the same results. The power may be resisted with spirit, and it can't negate an action that directly affects the mystic storyteller. The alternative action must be possible.

Competencies and Choices: Legacy: Alpha (20), Teaching (19), Warding (18), Possibility (17) Legacy: Alpha (20): You get access to Alpha Learning, the only choice available to this Legacy. Alpha Learning(x20): You always incarnate as a level 1 Avatar when choosing this Akashic Template. You can use Learning the Ropes to level up—each level only costs 5 Achievement Points, as long as you do not deviate from the path of the Mystic Storyteller.

Choosing different options as you level up will permanently negate this advantage for the current incarnation. You get your class perk at level 1 instead of 15 You must swear an Oath when you incarnate as a Mystic Storyteller. The Oath must involve completing a significant task within one week. Failing to fulfill the Oath will Exile you to Limbo. Discorporating counts as not having fulfilled the Oath. You must choose Teaching as your second Competency.

Teaching: (19): Intuitively learn how to impart knowledge -Essential Activation(x8): You can inject Achievement Points into an Essential. The Essential will eventually gain extra levels. Every 50 points AP will allow the Essential to gain one level, but only if he successfully performs Essential quests. The maximum level is capped at 98 for a Core, 84 for a Boss, and 70 for a Mob. -Essential Questing(x4): The Mystic Storyteller may imprint an Essential with a task to perform.

Easy tasks that require at least 1 hour of effort grant 1 level. Risk grants up to four extra levels per task. If the task requires at least 1 day of focused effort to be completed successfully, it grants 1 extra level; one week adds 2. The Mystic Storyteller may keep up to four tasks on the same Essential, and may create one new task per day. If a task pits the Essential against powerful Experientials, add one extra level. -Advanced Essential Questing(x4): The cooldown of Essential Questing is reduced to one hour.

-The Stick and the Carrot(x4): The Storyteller can give undesired consequences for failure, which manifest if the task is failed. The injected Achievement Points are lost—they manifest as a hazard or foe to be beaten by the Essential Warding (18): Gain instinctive knowledge of defensive magic. -Insignificance(x5): By directly pitting his will against the opponent, the mystic storyteller may change the altered action into an insignificant one, with no important consequences.

-Rewind(x5): The successful use of Insignificance reduces the cooldown of Rewrite Reality to five seconds. -Powerful Rewrite(x4): The cooldown of Rewrite Reality goes down to one minute. -Protected by the Script(x4): Any harmful action directed against the storyteller or one of his allies counts as a use of Insignificance. Possibility (17): Grants access to the alternate timelines' magical effects. -Flimsy Reality(x10): The Storyteller can use his powers to make the alternative action a significant one.

He can mimic the abilities of one single Choice belonging to any Competency, up to level 10, to shape this power's effects. The proposed action must be at least theoretically possible, within the chosen scenario. There is a 1-in-20 chance of getting an undesired result. Attempting very unlikely outcomes is detrimental to the Storyteller. -Deep Rewrite(x4): The Storyteller can rewrite the consequences of an action up to one month old.

The alternative action is based on its consequences, and if not carefully designed, may trigger the Butterfly Effect. Deep Rewrite has a cooldown equal to the time that has passed since the original action occurred. -A Bag of Surprises(x3): Flimsy reality can create any effect at all, even impossible ones, but the chance of getting a random result is 1 in 10. Billy studied it for a few minutes.

"I can't make either heads or tails of it. What is it supposed to be? Some kind of glass cannon-tank hybrid? Some of these powers are weird—I can rewrite reality if I get hurt—the very idea seems absurd. And what is the matter with the Essential quests? What did Penny have to do with Essentials?"

"You are forgetting one important detail, Billy: your module does not make exact copies of the models it uses for its Akashic Imprints."

"It tries to imitate them by using Pantean stats, perks, and meta-abilities. Sometimes the result is close, sometimes not so much."

"What did we know about Penny?" Bob asked.

"Penny's main power was that she could level blindingly fast. Your module simulates that by making each level cost one-tenth the usual cost of AP, but can only create it at level one, and has to uprank it using Learning the Ropes. You could choose a different path as you level, but you would lose this advantage."

"Penny was vulnerable to Quests given by the Coven. Your module simulates this by making you swear an oath that will damn you to Limbo if unfulfilled, which constitutes this Akashic model's main drawback." Billy's eyes took a haunted look when he remembered Penny falling into Limbo, the price she paid to save them all. Each time he used this form, he courted that same fate. Bob went on, "Penny was a system vector. You will never be.

The module approaches this by granting you abilities that could theoretically help an Essential level up. It is the closest it can get."

"You mean I can level up Essentials now? Give them quests that make them gain levels? How is that even possible? Aren't Essentials supposed to upgrade only when their dungeon does?" asked Billy.

"There are lots of things we don't know, Billy. I think we can safely assume that many of the restrictions we treat as natural laws are actually imposed by the Coven. The rest of her abilities are upgrades and extras to Rewrite Reality, her one true power. You have a very powerful form there, Billy. And an incredibly dangerous one to use."

"Oh, boy, Jenna is not going to be happy about this, is she?" asked Billy. Bob did not even need to answer. Both knew she would have to learn to live with it.