Chương 16: Omnimancer BONUS Chapter: Jax's Descent (2 of 5)

Master of All. Jack of None. Jax didn't know what was more terrifying. The squid-like beings of pure energy as long as a football field, the creatures as big as an SUV that looked like a cross of a wolf and a centipede, the countless Eldritch creatures, or the mutated spiders. There was something here for everyone's worst nightmare, and surviving even half a day was suddenly sounding harder than he'd thought it would be.

And while their aura, or bloodlust, or whatever it was, wasn't quite as terrifying as the ones he'd encountered up top, there were so many that Jax felt like he was constantly underwater. Like a warm blanket, the invisibility kept him safe… at first. To his horror, it wasn't long before he started noticing the faint outline of his body once again—the bright yellow of his down suit unmistakable against the white backdrop. He certainly wasn't the only one.

The monsters that ignored him entirely now jerked their heads in confusion, sniffing in his direction. Jax took no chances and gave them a wide berth, moving as fast as he dared. Which wasn't very fast at all. Eventually, he made his way to Camp Four. Or what would have been Everest's highest camp. Except there were no tents here. No piles of oxygen bottles or cheerful Sherpa walking around with tanks strapped to their back like this was just any other day in the office for them.

Hardly surprising, considering where he was, but Jax had nonetheless hoped. If not for tents, at least a friendly face. Jax ignored the muscle pain and fatigue that would have had most people collapsing on the spot, and pushed on. There would be no rest until he descended to a breathable altitude, and he wasn't there yet. Not even close. It was after he'd descended past the Yellow Band—the strip of yellow rock that marked a milestone in the route—that things got really weird.

And not just because his invisibility continued to fade. Creatures grew more hostile, stalking and sometimes yelling at Jax, only to turn away at the last minute, and though the terrifyingly steep slope of the Lhotse Face was still present, instead of ending where it should have, the slope went on for as far as Jax could see, down to the base of the small mountains that disappeared into clouds on account of the storm.

The sight should've made him shit his pants, and yet, despite the high winds, despite the biting cold, the poor visibility, and the fact that he was almost assuredly going to die here, his heart raced faster than ever. Aliens? Monsters? Fuck, who cared? There was a whole world out there, just waiting for him. A world full of beauty and wonder. His biggest regret was not being able to explore this mountain to his heart's content. And who knew? If this world had magical inventories, maybe it had other powers too.

Maybe he'd even be able to take on those monsters at the top someday. Yeah, right… That was the altitude talking. Before long, Jax found himself staring up at where the steep mountain slope had been cut and leveled by something clearly man, or alien, made. The remains of two massive stone totem poles, each as wide as a redwood and nearly as tall, sat at the entrance to a great wall of stone built into the mountainside.

From its many cracks and the rocky debris that scattered the nearby landscape, Jax estimated the structure's age as… beyond ancient. He wasn't an archaeologist, how the hell would he know? The intricate designs carved into its face were too worn by erosion to make anything out of them, and if that were all, it would've still been interesting, but not something that made Jax's eyes bulge and his jaw drop. It was the spatial distortions that did that.

Like looking through a crystal sphere, random parts of the wall and the statues appeared magnified in odd ways. Elsewhere, the pathway seemed to shift abruptly, as though someone who had no idea what they were doing had sliced a tear in the world and put it back together. Who'd built this place? Why? The totems' faces were definitely humanoid, even if the proportions were uncanny, and the human-sized steps leading up to the massive wall corroborated that, but the place was too destroyed to tell anything more.

Whatever it was, the crack at the bottom of the wall offered a shelter from the storm. No spatial distortions or footprints either, though with the winds, that didn't mean a whole lot. Importantly, the hole was too small to admit most of the massive creatures he'd encountered on his way down. Nothing like being too fat to stop you from munching on squishy human prey. Not to mention Jax's body was too cold and too exhausted to stay out in the elements much longer anyway. And who was he kidding?

Saying no to exploring an ancient ruin on another world? One where the laws of physics seemed to bend, no less? He never stood a chance. After throwing a snowball inside to test the waters—nothing tossed it back—Jax crawled in, expecting to find a cramped space within. He found exactly that. But the cramped space was actually a stone tunnel, disappearing into a darkness so deep within the mountainside that his eyes couldn't make anything of the darkness within. Jax kept crawling, unable to deny his curiosity.

For a long while after reaching the end, he wasn't quite sure where he was. The howling wind outside was now nothing more than a muted murmur and he blinked away afterimages of the bright snowscape. When his eyes finally did adjust to the dark, they found not a small cave, but something else entirely. Something he couldn't have possibly imagined.

A grand cavern soared at least ten stories high, decorated with glowing crystals the size of buildings that jutted out from the ground and the ceiling alike, bathing the entire space in hues of blue, green, purple, and red. The spatial distortions were much more prevalent here, with dozens of objects appearing larger than they ought to, given their distance. Gargantuan butterflies flitted from one to the other, their glowing wings blurring together.

"The hell?" Despite himself, Jax climbed a nearby boulder for a better view. From the top, he could see most of the cavern that stretched off into the distance. On the ground was a field of glowing flowers, with herds of six-legged deer grazing peacefully. And in the very middle of that space was a circular glowing structure. Well, just stones, but placed intentionally.

And they surrounded a pedestal enveloped in a giant prismatic bubble that distorted light, shooting fingers of silver and gold light that reached up to the ceiling. Butterflies that passed through the bubble seemed to slow to half their speed, only returning to normal when they left the bubble's sphere of influence. Jax had come here hoping to find a spot to sleep. Instead, he got a whole other world under the snow just begging to be explored. His body had other ideas.

Before he had a chance to take another step, Jax's eyes slid shut, and he collapsed into a blissful slumber, right there on the rock.

"I see you made it," the voice said.

"Sure took you long enough. I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever summit that damn mountain." It was a familiar voice, even if Jax couldn't see the face, hidden by the ski goggles and enormous yellow hood as it was, though he hardly needed to. He recognized the yellow down suit immediately.

"Reina?" he asked, feeling his heart drop out from under him for the briefest moment before a sliver of his conscious brain kicked in and told him this was a dream… which just then made his euphoric excitement drop, almost waking him up. Almost, but not quite, turning the subconscious dream suddenly lucid. With that newfound awareness, he noticed she was in a dark room, not unlike the Dead Hands' den.

"Hey, Reina," Jax said, feeling profoundly awkward talking to what amounted to himself.

"It's good to see you." Reina, true to form, snorted, rushing over and enveloping Jax in a bear hug.

"You dolt!" she laughed.

"You've got no idea. Well, guess I've got something to look forward to now." Jax didn't quite know what to make of that, but then again, when had dreams ever made sense? Even lucid ones. The moment soon passed and the world crumbled to darkness around them.

"See ya 'round, Jackie," Reina said, grinning as she disappeared. Jax woke in a daze some time later, wondering why it was Reina who'd popped into his head and not Marc. A check of his Seiko Alpinist told Jax it was just past two in the afternoon, which meant about three hours had passed. That he even could check his watch told him his invisibility was now truly gone. He'd have to thank the teddies the next time he saw them. Without it, he'd likely be deep in the belly of some terrifying creature, rotting away.

Then again, it was the teddies' fault he was here in the first place. Maybe he'd bonk them first. Stretching his aching body, Jax turned his gaze to the meadow. The prudent thing would, of course, be to move on, but Jax was an explorer at heart. He couldn't resist the call of adventure any more than he could breathing, climbing peaks humans had no right to be on. It was why he couldn't resist now. Dropping off his boulder, Jax edged his way into the clearing.

Without his invisibility, he was extra cautious not to approach the creatures that roamed the meadows. Grazing on grass as they were, they didn't seem dangerous, but Jax knew better than to assume anything of herbivores. Anyone who did hadn't encountered a moose. He almost made it. When he'd closed to within ten feet of the altar, at least it looked like an altar, the deer all collectively froze and perked their heads up at him. Normal deer behavior. Their eyes turning red? Not so much.

Jax froze in place and then inched back, wondering if he'd just doomed himself. Their mouths didn't look like they were designed to rip flesh, but the bucks' antlers would have no trouble goring him. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. The deer creatures lowered their heads, preparing to charge. Both waited for the other to make the first move. Jax would move first. He'd dart to the safety of the rocks and squeeze into the tunnel, where they could not follow.

But would he get there in time? There was only one way to find out. They made their moves. Jax ran. The deer bolted. Just… not at him. In the opposite direction. Jax stumbled to a halt, cheeks red and feeling more than a little stupid for completely misreading them. That was until he turned and caught a glimpse of movement. Across the cavern, at the wall where there was far more shadow than light, he thought he saw something move.

Just out of the corner of his eyes, but it was enough to make the hairs on his back stand on end. He went very still, waiting for it to move again. To catch any glimpse of whatever might be there. Seconds ticked by, then a full minute, and the only things he saw and heard were glowing butterfly wings and the slow drip of water off stone. Finally, he forced himself to exhale and turn around.

The deer had probably just gotten spooked at their own reflections through the weird light warping of the pedestal bubble, and now his fear was making him do the same. Probably. Every instinct he had told him to get the hell out of there…. but the pedestal was right there, and the two shining things atop it were unlike anything he'd seen in either world. Besides, when had Jax ever in his life let the smart choice win out against the interesting one? He kept one eye on the dark and approached anyway.

They looked like broken pieces of glass. Except, like the bodies of the Eldritch horrors before they turned into teddies, there was a depth to their metal that seemed endless. Like a vast ocean was trapped within. It sucked Jax in—mind, body, soul, and all. Unable to help himself, he stepped forward, entering the spatial bubble. His stomach lurched like he'd plummeted off a roller coaster, and he nearly lost his balance.

When the sensation abruptly passed, Jax didn't feel any different, nor did he seem to move any slower than normal… until he looked outside. The butterflies flitted around on 2x, and the blades of grass swayed unnaturally fast. Just a casual time dilation Artifact, I see… Jax thought, slowly reaching out to touch the glassy metal shards despite himself. His confusion was cleared in the form of a floating message. Space Shard (Tier III) obtained. Time Shard (Tier III) obtained. Would you like to consume these Shards?

"Uh, what?" Jax asked, receiving no answer. Without knowing what Space or Time shards were, or whether consuming them would kill him or worse—make him grow a second head—he declined the prompt for now, sticking the two shards into his inventory instead. And as much as the explorer in him wanted to stay and explore every nook and cranny, Jax knew full well just how unsafe this mountain was. Itch scratched, he had no reason to linger. He'd be back, after all. After eating some good food and taking a hot shower.

Maybe even sleeping on a comfortable bed. Wouldn't that be something? If he wasn't mistaken, he'd seen cities in the distance. Cities! He couldn't wait to see them. Assuming they were human cities, that was. Not that Jax had anything against aliens, but what were the chances an alien city had good showers? Later, when he was better suited to deal with the threats here, he'd return to explore this place's secrets. Until then, he could at least remember it through pictures.

Bringing out his phone, he took a few shots of the otherworldly scene. It was a small thing, but seeing him and Marc on the home screen brought a smile to Jax's face. He wondered what the guy was up to now… With one final glance back, Jax shut the phone off, climbed down his boulder and crawled back through the small tunnel before whatever monster might've been lurking changed its mind.

The air was silent, which was a good sign that a man-eating beast wasn't on the other end, and when he reached the entrance, he found the storm had passed. No wind and stunning views for days. When his eyes adjusted to the brightness, he took several additional photos, zooming in on as many landmarks he could find. All of which were really far, by how much he had to zoom. He then brought out his notes app and got to typing. Large city to northwest, at the top of 14k ft (maybe?) peak. Circular.

Skyscraper/tower in the middle.' But seriously? A city on the summit of a tall mountain? Whose bright idea was that? Shaking his head, he charted out the others.

'Small town to southwest. A bit closer. Also on the summit of a mountain. Maybe 5k ft?'

'Lush valley with river, in between peaks. Good source of food and water?' Jax powered off his phone after typing everything he could think of. While he could just barely make out the outlines of several more cities in the far distance—mostly because they were all at the summits of their respective peaks—he couldn't discern much else about them. Do the people here love mountains or something? Well, whatever. Not like he could fault them, and all the better if they were. They'd have something in common.

Distances and heights were anyone's guess, but all the closest peaks were bare. The nearest summit town couldn't have been any less than a hundred miles, visible only thanks to Jax's ludicrous vantage. That was a trip of a week or more after he got down to the base of this neverending peak. And that didn't factor climbing back up the smaller peak. There was a reason sane people didn't build civilizations on the tops of peaks. Not unless they had a damn good reason… or were masochists.

He wondered if the teddies had given him anything other than temporary invisibility and an extradimensional inventory. Something that might be of use here. As if on cue, another prompt filled his field of view. A most welcome one indeed. Quest: Get off the mountain (Part II of???) Complete! You have survived for half a day. Initializing Status… Another screen popped up, but Jax knew what to expect by now. He let it play out. No spells detected. No Schools of Magic Learned. Unique Gift [Omnimancer] detected.

Rarity: [Transcendent] In recognition of your high physical fitness, your Vitality has been increased to 130 from the [Human] race default of 50. Name: Jackson William Collins [Human] Gift: Omnimancer [Transcendent] Level: 0 Vitality: 130/130 Lux: 0/0 Peaks Ascended: — Luxspire Peak (Altitude: 101, 301 ft) Spells: None Boons/Passives: None"It's like a game HUD— wait, one hundred thousand what the fuck!?" That was a mistake. Right? That had to be right. Because if it wasn't, Jax should already be dead.

Even with his air tank, he relied on the surrounding atmosphere to give him enough to survive. Everest was at 29k. At 100k ft, there'd be practically nothing! And yet, he was fine on just a trickle of air flow. When he stopped to think about it, though, he realized it probably wasn't that crazy. He was no planetary scientist, but he'd heard of planets like Earth, just way bigger, with an atmosphere to match. It would certainly explain the ridiculous views, and why he could breathe.

Either that, or his improved Vitality was really doing some heavy lifting. Possibly both. Jax refocused on the screen, which was easy since it hadn't yet disappeared.

"Er, can I get more details on this 'Gift'?" Gift: Omnimancer (Unique) [Transcendent] Master of All Magic. Jack of None. The Omnimancer stands at the pinnacle of possibility—a testament to the superhuman grit and resolve required to obtain it. This is a Unique Gift, bestowed upon the first person to reach the highest font of power in the mortal realm. Unlike all other Gifts, the [Omnimancer] is unlimited in the number of Magic Schools that can be learned. This Gift rewards multi-school synergy.

Jax's eyes grew wider and wider as he read the description, until his eyes were almost bulging out of their sockets by the end.

"Master of all? Seriously?" Though more than the allure of personal power—that was there, to be sure—was something more. Something profound. On Earth, he'd been a pawn and nothing more. A cog in the great machine. One among billions. Powerless to truly make a difference. But here? With this Transcendent power? Maybe be able to do some good for once. Something more than giving handouts to the needy or spare cash to corrupt charities. Jax liked that thought. He liked that a lot.

Then the ground suddenly rumbled under him and he felt a presence that struck him as oddly familiar. A presence he'd just caught a whiff of, and very recently at that… Horror dawned upon Jax as he put two and two together, and when his head snapped around, it found a wall of white… fur? A colossal red-eyed beast stood proud atop its hind legs, eyeing him like a predator gazing at its next meal.

As fearsome as its salivating maw was, though, the aura of blinding brilliance radiating off it in pressure waves almost paralyzed him. No, his eyes were trying and failing to look at its blindingly bright chest, where instead of fur and muscle was something unexpected. Something so hot it made him break out in sweat. Something far more terrifying.

"A sun? The bear's got a freaking sun?" How did I not see that in the cave? How the hell did it even get here? Jax didn't think—he ran. He ran down the steep Lhotse face faster than he had a right to, barely maintaining his footing. One wrong step away from a fall to oblivion. As for the sun-bear, it was catching up. Hardly surprising, considering the monster was several times his size. Jax bet it wasn't even running hard. It didn't matter how fast Jax pumped his legs down the slippery slope. The bear was faster.

This is it? Jax thought. This is how I die? Eaten by a goddamned monster bear!? After learning he could do magic? After finding such a powerful Gift? No goddamned way. Jax brought up his Status Screen, saw something called the School of Fire, and commanded whatever AI was behind this System to get him the first spell that showed up, and damn the cost! What good was money if he was dead? Welcome to the School of Fire! For entering into this school, you have gained a permanent 25% boost to all offensive magic damage.

Congratulations! You have purchased [Lesser Fireball]. [Greater Fireball] is now available to purchase. Congratulations! You have purchased [Greater Fireball]. [Apex Fireball] is now available to purchase. Congratulations! You have purchased [Apex Fireball]. Knowledge Jax never had flooded into his head. Information he had never learned. Like recalling a half-forgotten memory from a decade ago. Jax knew magic.

He didn't know how he knew, but he knew that if he stopped, turned, and summoned the well of Lux in his chest, guiding it along the magical circuits that ran all throughout his body, something would happen. That if he chanted the right words in just the right way, filling each syllable with intention, then something marvelous would occur. Warning, insufficient Lux. User emergency: converting spare Credits into Lux. Strange and foreign words spilled from Jax's mouth, almost automatically.

"Thar'koven sho'rek ai navaa ko'te lem'zholen, sho'rekaa nav'ko te'lem!" With each syllable uttered, more and more sparks caught all around his arm, one after another, forming little puffs of smoke. Warm through his gloves, but not burning hot. Then, when the incantation finished, they coalesced into a watermelon-sized ball of sunfire that hovered above his palm for a moment before leaping from his hand. And through it all, Jax had to admit, it felt good. Channeling this magic gave him a rush like no other.

An adrenaline-fueled high. Even if every second he spent chanting felt like an eternity. Seriously, why the hell is it so damn long? And then the worst headache ever decided to wage a war against Jax's brain, souring the fun. Too bad for it, Jax laughed at pain. He blinked away the stars, pushed through the migraine, and readied another, because this monster was no simple beast. He'd likely need several more just to scare it away. It didn't matter how many headaches he'd have to endure.

He'd survive this, no matter the cost. He'd win. Jax readied his next Fireball, only to find… nothing. Where the bear had stood was now only melting snow. Then Jax saw it—the trail of snow down the mountain. The tracks of something big. And further down, a massive bear with a sun in its chest, tumbling end over end as it rolled down the neverending slope. Down and down it tumbled, proving that once something started rolling on a slope like this, it never really stopped. Even mutant sun-bears, it seemed.

"Well that's one problem solved," Jax said, putting his hands on his hips. It occurred to him, a little too late, that he'd just thrown a ball of fire at a creature with a sun for a heart. Brilliant. But while the bear could probably shrug off flames all day long, it couldn't shrug off a ten mile tumble down the side of a mountain. He watched it go until it disappeared completely, reveling in the victory. The sensation was cut abruptly short when he thought of the cost he'd paid.

Jax brought up his remaining credits, bracing himself for the damage. Lux Credits In Account: 29, 945, 965.

"... Huh."