The Game: Aether and Mind

I took a deep breath and instinctively closed my nostrils with muscles I didn't know I had, before taking a step forward and about ten of them back. "What the fuck!" I exclaimed with a shriek when I heard a roar that made not just the air around me, but also the very rock vibrate. Dust and grains fell from the ceiling, and as I was about to pull out my shield as a precaution, something loudly impacted with my scalp. Bits of rock and stone crumbled through my hair and left me confused for a moment.

"Oh, right, Mana Shield." I said slowly, noting that the game proclaimed that I gained two points in intelligence (undeservingly in my opinion) while creeping carefully towards the cave's entrance once more to carefully look outside. The cold seemed even more aggressive than my memory from literally half an hour ago forebode, and frost began to grow upon my Mana Shield barely a second after stepping outside. I couldn't see quite well through the roaring blizzard, but I could make out the movements of something very big lurking through the snow below. Entire chunks of ice and snow broke off from this hill and fell into the abyss below, but their sounds were entirely swallowed by the ivory blanket choking the land. I tightened my visage and slowly walked backward, but not before ripping the glowing crystal from the wall and into the inventory, leaving me once more in utter darkness.

"Tesla, a bit of light if you would." I asked, and the sphere with an electrifying personality showed himself, lighting just enough of the cave for me to comfortably see. "Thanks, do keep it about this level, we don't want any more attention. Wadjeta, prepare yourself if things come to a big shove."

I do not think what you're planning is a good idea. While very effective, it's also very reckless. The Game noted with much concern, as I turned back to the wall.

I nodded just once, before looking at the stone, the arcing electricity illuminated the walls like a strobe light, flickering endlessly. I jumped onto my hindlegs, and the cold didn't waste a second to caress my snout and freeze my snot, though it also slowly pushed my frost resistance upwards. I held up my hoof, caressing the stone and feeling out its hardness and toughness, but also its thickness which lay below that of the outer walls of the case.

"Alright, don't cave in just yet." I said with a grin, before unleashing a torrent of punches against the blockage. The sensation of my hooves bending the stone and cracking the interior invoked a primal joy that I couldn't quite locate in my earth pony roots, or due to the Earth Mover ring, but regardless it made me happy. And before I knew it, a spiderweb of cracks spread across the stone, a fickle barrier akin to eggshells to me. With a satisfying 'hmpf' I jumped around and onto my forehooves, before bucking the stone with my hindlegs.

An oddly satisfying crack rang through the cave as the wall gave in and other rocks crumbled onto the floor like an avalanche of marbles rolling on the hardened floor. The scent of the freshly dug stone filled my previously closed nostrils and broke a smile on this so often false visage of emotions. And when I turned around, my ears perked up and a sense of surprise and joy overwhelmed me.

"Well, buck me, this does invoke the adventurer in me." I chuckled, before slowly trotting through the self-made entrance into the hidden-away room. It was an ancient forge hidden away from prying eyes.

When analyzing the dust particles released in the air, I'd assess this location had been closed off for over a century.

"No joke, this place looks really run down." I said with fascination, while the sound of my solemn hooves echoed even louder, bouncing against the hardened walls of clay. I let my hoof fall and traced the tip of my limb across the edge of a large smelting basin, however, much to my dismay, bits of the seared stone crumbled away. "No." I said with shock, as the low wall of seared brick collapsed.

Tesla increased the light and revealed to me the full state of disarray hidden in the shadows.

The smelting basin looked like a German house after the second world war, with walls falling apart and the metals inside having solidified into a useless dross of minerals. The casting tables stood under their own weight, the ingots all were rusted into crumbly powder, and the weapons hanging on the walls were infested and barely resembled anything useful. I turned my head around to see a little station for crafting, but it was barely able to stand its own weight.

"Shit!" I exclaimed loudly and with anger while trotting through the ruined workshop.

The smelting equipment was useless, even if I were to try to repair it, the material wasn't just broken, it turned into stuff I couldn't use anymore at all. The seared bricks once made of grout were now equal to chalk and plaster. I suddenly stopped and let out a long drawn-out sigh, and just that alone was enough to cause the remnants of a hammer to snap off its handle and crumble on the stone floor. My head slowly turned to a petite and humble crafting station, though the best thing there was a little oven made of stacked stones, and I already had something way superior in the form of a crude and experimental blast furnace in the cave. I hopped onto my hindlegs and pushed my hooves through my long, silver hair, but while doing so, a weak shimmer reflected off something not entirely rusted.

An eyebrow rose and I dared to take a closer look, and ripped an innocent, little blanket of what was revealed to be a sort of safe - not entirely rusted was a very fitting adjective. I crouched down and stared at the faded numbers around the dial. I closed my eyes and grabbed the rusted dial. An audible crack sounded and crumbles of caulk followed before the mechanism turned. Six clicks announced the falling of the pins, and while it was very easy for someone with as sharp of a hearing, I can also hear earthworms moving in the dirt on a quiet day with my abilities, but given the era of time, this security measure surely was worth some salt back then. I grasped the lever on the side and opened the door, but instead, the hinges broke off in an instant and the plate fell onto the floor. I couldn't quite help but frown and grumble with displeasure at the universe spitting at my effort, but ignoring it for progress' favor.

There are enough pure gold casts for a mold inside of this container. The current configuration hints that their last use was for a sort of vessel of unknown purpose. The Game noted dubiously, and I could understand the confusion.

I waved my hoof carefully in front of the cast to take in the faintest of whiffs from the mold, and the smell was invigorating. This scent, I knew it all too well, but the implications behind it were concerning. I looked over the shape and the intricate details of a sort of realistically-heart-shaped container and the many artistic choices, almost like they weren't so much optional and were more likely a requirement for a structure similar to the Spirit Well. I hummed, before carefully placing them in my inventory, as although I had seen 24 karat gold from up close on a name plaque, its purity was only second to the aether, but then again, that gap was a mile wide nonetheless.

My eyes slowly sank onto stacks and stacks of paper, with each page sealed in a thin layer of fragile wax, warming my frozen heart at the thought that not literally everything crumbled away in this frozen hell. Though the victory was exhilarating, not just to please my kleptomania, the hardened truth was that I could read jack shit of what was written on there. Blocks upon blocks of text, yes, but also plans and schematics for tools, weapons, and armor that seemed a bit experimental and too heavy for anyone un-modified, however, what caught my eyes most were the diagrams of certain resources and parts.

"This looks like a mix between German and Latin, maybe a bit of Spanish as well, but it's really inconsistent with the last language." I chewed on the inside of my cheek, before standing up and pacing around the room, with the occasional crack of ice shattering on my hooves. "What's this?" I asked suddenly, as I flipped to another page and looked over a diagram for a water wheel powering a sort of gearbox that transferred the rotational energy to several channels. I narrowed my eyes over the plans and what intrigued me most was that there were no nails present, almost like Japanese carpentry, however the way to make the fins bend and the core capture the tongue of what appears to be a waterfall, moving slow instead of just swirling like a race-car wheel.

'Hmm, I initially thought about using the mana crystal and the water stones as a sort of cutting tool, but those attempts failed as the pressure rose equal to the quantity, but with this, I could create an actual workshop powered with real stations and tool... most certainly it would allow me to create finer tools, like a casing for the nitorium that wouldn't cause a premature explosion.' I thought deeply and held up my hoof to the mask, and the sound of powdered blood scratching against stained gold emitted a haunting tune that drove me into deeper thoughts.

"Alright, I can get behind most of them." I thought loudly to myself, before quickly quieting down as another earth-shaking roar sounded through the valley, so much so that Tesla let the room fall into darkness for a single second out of surprise. I glanced over at my companions, before turning back to the pages, which I put into my inventory until just one remained. "But, what's so special about you?"

I said out loudly, and my eyes turned to a far-off side, a sort of null zone left empty without decoration, rubble, or things of use. It was a sort of framework, but it appeared to be closer to a cage made out of chains and bolts. The shining, pale metal dug into the stone of the wall, and cracks grew from each connection between the construct and the minerals. Beams protruded and chains hung off them limply, shaking gently and yet haunting the air with each creaking motion. I slowly walked closer, taking in the four-meter tall construction, and then I stopped as I felt something in my very insides shrink back, not out of fear, nor disgust, but due to an uncanny sensation.

But the smell kept me creeping closer and hiked my awareness ever higher.

I narrowed my eyes and extended my hoof, and traced the metallic chains, and their clinking and clanking invoked a sort of... choking feeling. My magic wasn't being repulsed by touching this strange material, it was dying.

The chains seem to be made of cobalt, while the great cuffs, as broken as they may be, possess a dense concentration of Wrath Metal.

"Wrath Metal?" I whispered in confusion and pulled out one of the daggers from my chest plate. I held the weapon to my eyes and traced my magic over it, and with great, and I mean, gruesome amounts of concentration, I could even hold it with my magic, and though [Magic Claws] could grasp it momentarily, those false hands did eventually collapse too. I let out a click and stuffed it back into my belt, just holding those things was enough to inch the progress of the dragon egg back by seconds.

But these chains...

These restraints were a thousand times more intense, so much so that even thinking about touching them invoked in me a similar reaction as the thought of someone grasping into a bonfire. While looking at the metal, something else caught my eyes as well, and it was a scorch mark, nothing special at first glance but looking deeper into the matter, I could see what truly clammed to the rock. 'But how?' I wondered with much confusion while staring at it with confusion, and slowly extended my hoof without any hesitation to cut the limb off if danger was to creep up on me.

And the closer my hoof came, the more the spot writhed, reaching towards me, but this spot, this clump of aether that should've long since dispersed into the surroundings, was tethered to something else stuck inside. And the very origin of this mark was a mystery in itself. Tendrils of fine energies, easily mistaken for strings of silk dancing in the air, touched the tip of my hoof, and thoughts and desires and emotions, and memories filled the upper layers of my thoughts. But then I heard something about a 'masterpiece' and all of it surged into me, into my very soul. My body tensed up and locked in this position like a heavy electrical current rushed through my core. My quiet growling turned into a loud howl as I felt my horn crack, shiver, bend, and to some extent melt under extreme pressure. And frightening of all, the Game was silent, not silent because of a lack of communication, no, he wasn't present in my mind, but I felt him heat up like a sort of overclocked computer.

And finally, to ignite you, my beloved masterpiece, weapon to smite those forsaken winged lizards, the powdered horns of mages slain by my clan in glorious combat. You will be my masterpiece, metallic son of Malkenir.

I closed my eyes and as the magical pull that stuck onto my hoof let go, I ripped my limb away and stared at the floor with a frightened look. I shivered like a fucking foal just after being born. My heart beat unevenly, and for once I could feel the physical presence of the Game latching in the depth of my soul, the weight of all these seemingly eternal machinations stored within me.

Arcanist lv.15 -->lv.20
Intelligence 77-->100
Wisdom 112-->120

I shook my head, and yet my breathing didn't relax in the slightest. My teeth chattered, and I felt torn, in a literal sense, like a part of me was ripped open and something was put inside, and although I was somehow stimulating this client insertion, or at the very least digesting it, the sensation was... It can't be described with anything I've previously experienced, but if I could feel pain, dear goodness it might've been the most painful thing I could feel, given that I felt it despite not being able to feel pain with the exception of the holy element and likely that of the nightmares.

Thousand of calculations, plans, schemes of someone twice, thrice, fuck it, the memories of a being with a lot more smarts than me were rammed into that skull of mine. It was... memorable, and I could feel the power rise within me quickly, but it was so intrusive, so painful, if not outright mind-breaking, thank goodness I cannot become insane, however, I, despite this huge power boost, couldn't muster any joy nor desire to experience this again. And I say that as someone who has willfully burned nightmares down to attribute crystals and ate them.

I let out a pained grunt and held a hoof to my head, pressing tightly against my skull, and caressed my horn gently with the other. Horns weren't very sensitive, at least to the physical plain, they were a bone after all, but right now I could sense just how damaged my nerves hidden underneath were.

I leaned my head downwards and sweat, blood, and If I did not mistake it for more sweat, tears dropped, despite not feeling any feeling in my face right now.

That was... unexpected... The Game spoke with uncertainty, not the usually assertive tone colored his speech, but something almost mortal.

"What... the fuck... was that?" I said between heavy breaths and slowly pulled myself up, before falling onto my flanks again regardless.

I cannot quite say... But, if I would make an educated guess, someone or something used a highly concentrated, but also impure and likely not completely controlled amount of Aether, causing it to burn itself into the very space, and manifested its appearance in the physical plain by discoloration.

"Yeah, I saw that, but I didn't think it would end like this. I thought this was one of those Aether vents of whatever you called them when we discovered ditzy, but ouch, this is not natural." I said, shaking my head and forcing myself on my hooves a second time, before slowly trotting to the other side of the room, where besides a heating oven and a ruined metal anvil stood a stone chair in acceptable condition.

It wasn't, no mortal creature could control Aether like that, even to this failed extent.

"I-Is there a chance that there is a lesser one of your kin on this world?" My head snapped up, and I asked sharply while staring at the now mundane wall on the other side of the room. My breath was still shaking, I was trembling from the intense sensation, while my head pulsated like a damn frog in heat season.

If there was one, I wouldn't know, but I doubt it would be the cause of this, even a lesser version would not be this sloppy, they'd choose lesser concentrations with higher quality instead of this. The Game replied, but it didn't quench my unease.

I frowned and leaned back into the chair, letting my hooves stretch. What is going on in my head? I wondered as I could hear a voice bounce between clarity and uncertainty in the depths of my mind. Countless loops of mumbling about metal, magical conduits, artificial lay lines, and the maddening search after a power source. I stood up and paced around the room with concern dominating my face.

'The nameless red-cap.' I narrowed my eyes, as this name fell time and time again, at the beginning, it was spoken with mistrust and uncertainty, then with gratitude and joy, before falling deeply into a basin of hate, anger, and despair. "The nameless red-cap, where did I hear that title before? I heard it somewhere a lifetime ago, but where? And why? This must be some coincidence, but what if..?"

I halted my breath and looked at the wall next to the heating oven. It looked awfully out of place now that I looked closer at it, but it was still in awfully good condition. The stone appeared to be still strong and the burned coal appeared to be cold, yes, but not frozen just like everything else in the room. And looking at it, it scratched a memory, one of the many I consumed, a jumbled mess of thought at the very least. I tilted my head and raised an eyebrow, before crouching down and pulling out my halbert- I was done with touching things for today -before poking the coals, then probing deeper before touching the wall behind them.

A click rang through the room, and the wall began to shake. I jumped back with dilated pupils and pulled out my shield and switched back to the warrior class.

But the worry was wasted, as no danger awaited me, but instead a new passage, a secret room within another mystery. 'How the plot thickens.' I thought grimly and leaned my head back as I felt something very big approach this mountain through the tremors in the ground.

An entity exceeding level 75 is nearing our location. Time of arrival expected in 50 minutes.

I grasped a couple of rocks from the ground and threw them onto the ground before me with strong speed, however, my suspicion of more traps was ultimately crushed as not even my senses picked up a reaction. I shook my head and entered the next room that bore a much more preserved look, even the smells of heavy wax and deep book glue appeared like finely aged wine.

"We don't have much time, but at least the time expended wasn't too much of a waste," I mumbled and slowly walked over the stone-ridden red carpet and towards a sturdy birch bookcase filled to the brim with books made of bronze, a few even out of gold. I extended my hoof and opened the glass doors from the shelf and pulled out a golden book, and it read 'the way of the smith.' I grinned and couldn't help but crack open the first page, and the metal obeyed like true paper, bending like it too, but most certainly it could cut even me.

'No, now isn't the time.' I concluded begrudgingly, and closed the glass door, before absorbing the whole shelf into my inventory. If I could lift it, and it wasn't packed with too much energy, I could fit it in there.

My eyes traced towards a globe trapped in a steel cage. I stole it as well, but as I took it, I noticed a spell matrix on the ground, despite not knowing anything about this thing, the eight circles, and the various symbols invoked a dreadful sense of fear. I shakingly turned my head upwards and saw a multi-ringed stone wheel, stained with smoke, that could be shifted to show the different lines of symbols by dialing it.

"Wait... no..." I said slowly and took a step back as the symbols before my very eyes morphed into letters I could read, and from the core of it exuded a black smoke that carved through the rock like acid through a table, and in this miasma of corruptions formed a six edged triangle through which a small, harry, pox-ridden hand burst out.

I slowly walked backward, before falling over the very stones I throwed. I quickly scrambled up, looking around frantically and back to the spell wheel, but other than the stains I had previously noticed, nothing I saw was there. I breathed heavily, and the corners of my eyes burned, not… not from tears, but my eyes were strained so wide open that my eyelids ripped ever so slightly. I shook so terribly and held a hoof to my fluttering chest, I grunted and growled like a mad beast, but I couldn't restrain myself.

I feared neither pony nor nightmare, but the vortex and what lay beyond invoked fear that even made the fearless crumble.

"Wadjeta, cut the wheel off, this thing cannot stay here, do you understand us, if need be this whole mountain will crumble before anyone else sees this." I said harshly, but the order alone was enough for the liquid companion to float to the ceiling and cut away at the connection to the ceiling. I Walked a short distance, rubbing one hoof with the other.

There are very few individuals who know about the world gate, much less so how to operate it, even on such a primal scale, the coordination's existence should nonetheless be only known to us. The Game said slowly and with a strained tone, and I couldn't tell if he hit another regulation, but I didn't care, because I wouldn't speak against it, this was my thought as well.

As Wadjeta cut away at the spell wheel, my eyes slowly descended to the dried corpse of yet another minotaur, though this one was not preserved through frost, he still was distinguishable. His clothes, at least I assumed it to be male, were rotten and barely hung by a few sinewy fibers, clinging to dried, tanned skin that tightly stuck to fragile bones. My face tightened, not just the ingrained disdain for anyone playing with games above them, that did include myself at times, but my own displeasure shone through my visage as I walked towards the soft, red armchair on which he lay.

A tar-black anvil coated in electrum and encrusted with jewels and depictions of smith forging stood before the corpse, while a hammer and a pickaxe, each with equal decoration rested in the minotaurs loosely gripped hands.

As if walking near, I felt once again an uncanny unease, but not like the remains of Copper Horn, no, this reminded me of the forsaken stench of a nightmare, though it was buried, choked, and seemingly sterilized within the depth of this 'taur.

A loud crack rang through the room, and my eyes shifted from the items, back to Wadjeta, but when I saw that the wheel still hung there, I turned back in confusion, and before freezing in place.

The minotaur remains stared at me with a dried visage and empty eye sockets. From the depth of his dead, hollow sockets radiated a watered-down, dirty purple. Though the hue implied to me that it was less like the pure purple the nightmares presented, and more akin to a mold forming over whatever remnants of a soul this unfortunate creature had.

"Please... " He choked dry and slowly stood up, with the items still clutching to his open palms like honey. "...Please..." The sound was drowning the very air with bitter hate and pungent despair. "I just wanted a masterpiece... to live up to my father... to keep the clan safe... The nameless red cap fooled me..." Despite being so close to death, he spoke rather quickly, almost desperate and panicking with his dead voice. The words had no rhyme or reason, just bits or pieces of an already spoken sentence, ones I could just vaguely make myself a timeline of.

The dust-like lament of the corpse reached its peak, when the corpse, at its strength's end, fell down before me with the snout buried in the carpet. I quickly pulled my furthest limb back and held it to my chest as I felt a painful burning gloss over the hoof like it was on fire. The pain wasn't like the intense searing of the holy aspect, but rather a slow and insidious drain or creeping under the skin, almost comparable to acid breaking you down, by merging itself with other elements, in this case, my very magic.

...Please... allow me to see my father again... The desperate voice rang forward, and only with hesitance, did I let my hoof back on the ground again.

I didn't move, not when he stood up, not when he fell down. I wasn't scared, just disturbed, I saw this creature for all it had to offer, and now not a single skill graced him, and what little he had was buried under nightmarish chains keeping his very soul as a prisoner. Almost uncanny, given the nightmares I encountered possessed too little restraint to not just brutally rip their prey apart, much less so scheme such long-living plans.

My breath halted, like I was stalling, comparable to hovering my foot over the ground as if uncertainty took over my very control and denied me the very next, otherwise natural, action. I didn't know what to say, usually, I always had a quick-witted reaction as an answer, regardless of dumb at times, but as of this moment there was nothing for me to say as I stared at the anticipating, waiting, and desperate form of a minotaur who I just met. Pity, a desire to help, and yet great hesitance plagued me. It was different, the nightmares gave me little choice, no matter how hesitant I was at the beginning- or how skeptical I was now -and the assassins... I wish not to compare the two, but both didn't give me a choice, but right now, I did have a choice.

I can barely remember a time where I truly had a Choice where the other option just wasn't straight-up death, or ultimately my decision would be made null by a stronger entity, not entirely focused on, but mainly Celestia in my case. I licked my quivering lips, and now took a staggered breath.

'Who was I to decide over life and death?' I wondered, and slowly lowered my head. I had been in inescapable, less than pleasant situations before... Fuck it, I am now. I am a blasted monster hunter lurking closer to my prey than my blood-related kin. I have a higher kill count than most soldiers out there, it's just easy not to think about it because your opponent cannot even distinguish between being alive and dead.

And now... but why... I am given a Choice when the answer is already on the wall, would it be right for me to make my own Choice, and thus deny another's?

"Malkenir..." I said slowly, but the body didn't move, but I could feel his attention spike. "I wish you peace, wherever you go." I whispered, my voice slowly dying as my face loosened, and so did my lips. I could barely keep my face straight, I didn't even know what to say, how to act other than in this one's favor, and all that without any idea if what I had in my arsenal could do shit.

"I don't ask for peace... to be free..."

I lowered my head and knelt over the tired body. So many scars, so many scorch marks, so much wear and tear for who knows how many years of work that ultimately culminated into nothing to be proud of. I grasped my bell, and held it silently over his head, before closing my eyes and channeling my accumulated faith into it. Silvery strings departed from my chest and strung themselves around the bell, and with each string, the divine glow grew stronger and yet more mellow, but from here on the heal spell, I knew evolved. A spell circle, tailored to the nature of miracles, surrounded us, and when the bell now finally rang, silvery dust sparkled throughout the stagnant air.

Thank you... little kid... thank you... I heard the voice of Malkenir call out one more time, as the purple fumes attempted to escape his body, only to burn away in the divine light, but just like the nightmarish essence, Malkenir wouldn't stay much longer either, for his body crumbled away into bronze dust, blown away by a strong gust of wind that couldn'tve ever found its way here naturally.

I let out a somber sigh, and knelt down, before absorbing the three items he treasured into my inventory, for as much as I yearned to spend a bit more time to pay my respect, I could feel Malkenir's masterpiece drawing near, and were time not tight enough already, the ember flame that followed me around suddenly burst up with new life and pointed towards the exit of the cave.

Valiant Heart Activated
Last Wish Fulfilled: Malkenir, The Blinded Smith
Reward:
25 Charisma + 1 Charisma
15 Dexterity + 1 Charisma
15 Strength + 1 Charisma

This never happened before... I blinked repeatedly as the fallen ashes, the last few crumbles, left this forsaken grave, this prison. Since I gained this happy-go-lucky skill I have been attempting to milk it to its fullest, though sadly to little reward. I'd spent countless hours with Sunset's disguise at every place that they allowed me at, especially those where desperate ponies went to like orphanages, soup kitchens, and my personal favorites, building sites for good causes. However I could at times spend an entire week somewhere working- for free, I might add -and not gain jack shit. Sure, the occasional strength or luck point manifested somewhere, but it was mostly charisma and that couldn't help in combat... Well, not entirely false, my fur and hair became so much stronger and I can look into the mirror without it breaking.

'But so many attribute points.' I pondered for a moment. 'I need a much closer, a hoof’s on approach, if you will, to get real points. Malkenir suffered so long, and I gave it to him, meaning I'd get a larger reward.' I hummed, though I did feel a bit bad thinking about exploiting others. I mean, yeah, I first went there to gain points, but I continued going because it felt nice, it reminded me of my first youth: I was so skinny back then, I skipped so many meals so that Amber could have a full portion and I always played it off that I ate something on the way - a big fat lie. At one point, while walking on the street, I think I was 13 then? A man working in a soup kitchen dragged me inside and fed me a bowl, and goodness how he was rambling about kids needing to be plump and not dried out. I don't think I had been given so much food by someone who had so little.

A horrific scream sounded through the valley, and this time it was directly pointed toward the mountain I resided in.

What a way to go, Malkenir. First, you make a deal with the devil, get dropped into some ancient creature's plan, and made a monster that trapped you, and then that beast goes around literally crushing the ecosystem - That must be why Copper Horn starved to death here, she was trapped, but why did the beast not enter this space? Was it the salt? The sulfur or maybe even the calc? It surely couldn't have been Malkenir, otherwise, he would've left ages ago... Wait, the rust, or rather, from what the rust partially stemmed from must've deterred the monster...

I had preparations to make.

I closed my eyes and slowly stood up, but I didn't move, for a second later the spell wheel finally fell onto the ground, and broke into two pieces. My eyelids sprang open and I turned around to absorb the pieces, including the plate on which the wheel on the ground was carved, into my inventory, but I nearly tripped when I felt my inventory nearly reached its limits after a decade of careless kleptomania.

"Wadjeta. Tesla. How do you feel about making some preparations?" I asked loudly, as both spirits soared to my side, and I felt a content smile form for but a second.

30 minutes later

My ear flaps flickered wildly in the strong, frozen winds, and yet I felt almost at peace while meditating the cold. The frozen air numbed my body and made my spirit almost seem free. The small opening stood now wide open, I tore it down, I wouldn't be trapped, I would escape this maze, but first I'd overcome this frozen hell. A deep breath clouded my face in a stark, damp cloud, and the moisture that shortly accumulated on my fur's tips froze into frozen aglets. I pulled out a shot of spicy tea from my inventory that I quickly threw back with everything hot I could find. The concoction was by no means tasty... or palatable for anyone with at least two taste buds, but it would work.

Extra Spicy Tea
Drink: Hot, Spicy, Disgusting
A slowly made, 'imaginative' brew using ingredients not particularly fitting well together with one another. The searing aroma alone is enough to make a stallion sweat.
*Increase Frost resistance by 100 points
*Increase Damage against frost-based enemies by 20%
*Raise speed and stamina regeneration by 30%
*Last 20 Minutes

My thoughts halted as I felt the mountain first shock, and then tremble endlessly like an earthquake took over the rock. It was close, I could not just feel it with my flesh, but also with my mind. Like a ball of concentrated electricity rushing towards you, that your hairs rise despite not being anywhere near, the air quivering and a strange, numbing sensation afflicting your skin from just being in contact with the electrified air.

"Almost time now isn’t it, Game?" I asked quietly and calmly while keeping my eyes still closed. There was nothing else to be done, I took everything I needed, the cave was gutted, only ruins remained, and all resources I could fit into the space I had left, which when it came to plain mineral powder and salts, was quite a lot. A particularly aggressive wind rushed past me, and the ice still clambered to the tips of my armor, but the tune that rang out, this clambering music, when the chain that rested next to me moved, brought shivers up my spine.

The arrival of the opponent is imminent. Don't forget: escape to the mirror realm is possible should things become critical. The Goblin hideout can also be used as an escape, but don't forget that time doesn't pass very quickly there. The Game spoke smoothly, an opposite to the raging, never-ending storm outside.

With still closed eyes, I pulled out my beautiful, little bell. Just holding it made me happier, just a fuzzy little feeling in my chest that invoked a smile every now and again. With a sigh, I held it up to my face, and rang it to use [Minor Stat Boost] on strength, endurance, dexterity, and intelligence, boosting them each by 5, as I wished to conserve enough faith to heal myself up in the worst-case scenario.

A heavy thud sounded as I let the hobgoblin club fall down next to me, and Tesla slowly flew over the wooden weapon, electrifying it. And lastly, as I felt doom near itself towards me, I pulled out my violin and let the strings dance in hope of a little bit of strength. However, and this did break my tranquility, the second the bow rubbed over the strings, all of them snapped at once, having frozen brittle in just the few seconds they were exposed.

I stared at the quickly healing instrument with annoyance, before gently putting it into my inventory, and standing up. The club laid next to me, as did the Ram Crest Shield, but in my hooves rested the only thing that has survived the teeth of time, the only actual epic quality item- as for the other weapons that broke down with time? -while powerful, they were just hunks of metal, but I needed the thought and emotions to make an item truly powerful. Sure, a silver sword would be quite nice, especially since this incredibly rare metal boosted magic performance, ultimately it would pale to a lesser sword that was used for years by a guard.

I gripped the great, heavy chains made into one with much concern, before leaning my head back and embracing the cold metal's innermost imprints.

My expression morphed into absolute discomfort, and a gasping breath escaped my lungs as I felt so... unimaginatively... much hate and oppression tied to so little mass. I growled as the emotions played with my mind, like a snake sliding itself around my throat, I couldn’t help but bare my teeth at the entrance before me, as the time drew near. I felt how my magic flowed from my limbs into the metal, the first few drops of mana evaporating upon touching this vile item, before overcoming the earliest barrier and storing my power in the metal to use its one skill.

And after a passing moment of silence, a monster of a size I didn't have the fortune to meet appeared before me. The regal, yet decayed beast adorned with majestic metals, and caressing the artist inside of me; held onto the corners of the cave and stared inside. An uncanny mockery of a minotaur, that was so beautiful on one side and yet absolutely bile-drawing on the other was entombed within a metallic beast with a relatively small abdomen and oversized, blunt, and clunky limbs. How the lines of mana from corners, woven with such proficiency and talent morphed into a stagnating, corroding, and corrupting mess at its core didn’t fail was flabbergasting.

With a grunt and ignited warrior spirit I hurled the now spinning chain towards the monstrous beast and charged right after the ejected metal behind my raised crested shield.

The chain made such a horrific sound, like a thousand tortured souls screaming in agony in the rhythm of a great, rusted bell tower, as it connected with the beast's second head, the skull of the tomb that encapsulated the forsaken masterpiece inside. The holding beast held onto its neck, and the metallic visage's, half-molten metal skull, with one-half sunken and the other frozen visage, let out a pained, groaning growl while separating its heavy arms from the mountain and attempting to free itself.

I sucked in a deep breath and closed my eyes, before activating both [Charge] and [Sprint], before feeling the entirety of my weight crash into the crystal sarcophagi that were the beast's abdomen and the masterpiece's tomb. A teeth-shattering crack rang out, only overruled by the vibrating metal and the dooming silence that lasted a lifetime when gravity finally grasped at the trio of us and dragged us all into the frozen depths.

A blast of air escaped me as I threw my shield into my inventory and with the lightning element infused club, I used [Goblin Smash] onto the crystal wall. The cracks deepened as the wood impacted with the cage time and time again, but the masterpiece inside seemed not so much worried as it should've been, it seemed rather arrogant, if not outright pitying me.

I narrowed my eyes, frozen wind and raging snow encapsulated us lying as like the ocean around a sinking stone. I saw not even a meter away, the very edges of the small sarcophagus were hidden to me, and although the brew was slowly melting my insides, the very tips of my fur were shedding: freezing and then crumbling at such speeds I felt like a piece of wood being held against a grinder.

And then when I looked a bit closer, I violently turned around, too much so that my very spine under the frozen winds nearly broke, and rammed the club against the incoming metal pillar that was the beast's arm, though it grasped not just the item, but also my arm.

A sickening crunch echoed through the frozen wilds and a surprised howl left my throat as I held onto the cracked tomb with my remaining limbs before said limb was ripped out of my socket, and yet all I could feel wasn’t the cold that froze my exposed, trickling blood, slumping and ultimately stagnating before even touching the crystal, but unbridled rage. I, with a wide-open snarl, hurled a quickly dying fireball towards my separated limb and just before the ember flickered out of existence, I let vilethornes grow from my separated flesh.

The thrones combusted like an oil fire and the fire crept over the club too. A sadistic smile crept over my face as I hid my stump under my chest, for a deep rumbling boomed through the wind. The illusionary figure of the hobgoblin appeared above the broken item and with a core-cracking rumble rammed its hefty, meaty first into the abdomen of the cage.

The masterpiece let out a gasp, as the frozen air seeped inside, and frost began to continuously spread across the false 'taurs body like the vile infection that already festered inside of it.

I felt its life force drain rapidly, so fast that my first drop into this wasteland seemed like a long tale rather than a short-lived poem. I used [rapid recover] to heal my missing limb, and with a combination of [Mana Blade] and [Power Strike] struck the crystal furiously with heavy strikes, though only a few of the smallest part of my attacks actually damaged the crystals, I didn't set out to shatter it, more-so increase the speed where my foe died.

The cracking was drowned out by the howling wind of untold weight rushing down this mountain and the sizzling of the material burning bit by bit was only a weak player in this symphony of growling, screeching, and cracking.

My senses burned and I rolled to the side as the beast's fist rushed past me, ripping chunks of crystals off the cage just by cracking it. Only in the very last moments did my hooves move fast enough to grasp onto the sarcophagus's edge to delay my fall by barely a moment. I puffed in quick succession as I painstakingly dragged my body onto the platform once again, only to see yet another strike rushing towards me.

With a determined groan, I erected a [Mana Construct] under me, before using the extra height to jump over the incoming wave of metal and prepared to ram all my hoves down onto the cage in one motion, but the crystal instead rushed to me with sudden, unexpected and neck-breaking acceleration.

In quick rapid succession, one sense overturned another. The crystal shattered as my weight focused on one point and cracked the shell, but also slowly crushed me against the metallic beast's abdomen. Cracking, splintering, crumbling echoed around me as splinters and chunks of wood rushed past my face and the material was so sturdy and resilient that not only did it not just shatter upon touching my metal-like hide, but also pierce it.

And then were halted and in a split second, I felt all of my bones crack as I was launched back several meters into the, only to flop onto the ground once more.

I shook so terribly, but I pressed on and pushed my limbs against the frozen ground littered with splinters, unearthed dirt, shredded grass, and an absence of snow. I took a breath and pushed myself up, but in doing so also released a liter of blood or two onto the ground below, painting the vague shape of a flower into a color-devoid land. I stared down and breathed heavily, so much so that the falling snow melted around me.

A booming crack rang out, and footsteps drew near in with such speed I had but a fickle moment to react, sensing my opponent and their strike before they even executed it. I held a hoof to my throat and it was caught by a horrifically twisted claw that once, possibly resembled a minotaurs hand, while I grasped the second, incoming hand by my own.

I could feel the stick-like limbs push me back several steps at once, though my retreat lasted just a second, before I rammed my hind legs into the ground, crunching the newly formed ice and snow, standing up and looking the so-called masterpiece into its eyes while keeping it, for now, at stalemate.

And once more I dared to stare upon purest beauty and most gut-wrenching horror given form, how flesh, the very same on either side, could resemble both the very heights and lows of charisma, and strange enough, though this body was physically appalled by this very sight, I could almost imagine myself looking like it, just with the sides not split up horizontally, and more so in volume.

The visage it bore burrowed deeper and deeper into disdain, and I could feel almost the vaguest outlines of a real being before me, were it not for the nightmare’s taint to foul its artificial soul, to unspeakable depths. And as we stood there, the frost crept up, claiming the flesh and seeping into its very equivalent of bones, it dared not to look away, less so move. No, just like a real creature, its pride and hate lasted longer than it did, and finally, before me stood not another nightmare, but a frozen sculpture hosting a seed of corruption.

I let out a staggered breath, yet daring not to avert my eyes for a moment longer, heaving as the cold tried to do the same with me as it did with the 'masterpiece' though just as I ignited a fireball to warm by frozen bones, the statue burst apart. Splinters of metal made the very air gleam, but through the shimmer flew a small nightmare, no larger than a balled fist with tentacles flailing it all direction and with its attempt to reach me impacted with the fireball.

My very own flame exploded and bathed my armor in liquid light, ripping pieces off, charring my fur, and burning my flesh, and yet it bothered me little as something else entered my flesh, something that wasn't the nightmare, it died in its futile attempt to harm me. In doing so, however, it also released all of the power it bore, all those memories it accumulated with by siphonic whatever emotions Malkenir infused into his masterpiece, but also all the aether it had gained not just by drawing from the world but also the creatures it killed in this frozen wasteland.

A ringing pierced my skull and I felt the world blur, vast unnameable colors painted my vision as my limbs fell numb to my sides and even the desolated cold left me untouched. My mind jumped from place and place, yet no thought traversed, just the silent winter imagery and silence enveloped me like a haunting dream. My breath, I forgot to breathe as it felt like such a far-off need, staggered, jumping, halting with no rhythm and rhyme, just doing so seemed like an overbearing task, and yet I couldn't stop now even if I wanted.

My head slowly turned upwards as I felt something drip, but I found nothing, but once I learned back far enough, the liquid dropped into one of my eyes and I realized that I was bleeding from my nose. A breathless gasp escaped me, and a little chuckle escaped me as I looked down yet again and saw the little droplet bloom into a flower bed of my own blood.

I felt, how could I describe it... mortal. Seemingly, after a hiatus of twelve years, I could feel mortality, how my body was degrading ever so slowly, inching closer, and dread given form crept over my bones, and yet, I found it amusing. I couldn't help but laugh at this morbidity display of my own self, how my bones broke, my flesh tore and skin ripped apart, and yet I couldn't even be bothered to expend the simplest of remedies to aid the healing process after the battles, but now a little nose bleed brought me so low. I couldn't help, but just arrogantly assume, to feel human again.

'I killed three people...' A thought broke through the hazy maze that made up my mind, and yet this didn't quell my laughter, and I let this strange sensation join in the turmoil that enveloped me right now. This faint sensation of despair, this crushing hint of doubt, and that stalking fondness of wondering, but worst of all? That sensation of triumph, of superiority, this feeling of power that echoed through that memorable night compared to what I now know seemed almost like a golden skull. Morbid, scary, and yet desirable, though for me it was less the latter, less like a tool, and more of an opportunity.

My chest thumped back and forth, yet it didn't come to blowing laughter, just a muttering chuckle.

The steady cloud leaving my mouth became even thinner as the cold formed into frozen sheets across my armor, and between my hairs, and yet I just stood there, paralyzed and not even bothering to attempt to ignite a fire - not that I even could feel my magic right now.

Attention, the Aether of the entity "Nightmare Heart - lv.87" has been bound to foreign memories that can freely be distributed by choice. Available level points: 16

As I stared down, a smile crept up ever so slowly, my lips cracked and blood flowed through my teeth with a drip.

Confirm choice?

...

Choice confirmed, distributing levels.

I staggered and took an unsteady step forwards as my heart stopped beating for an ever-lasting second and yet then once more started to beat twice. The cracking sounded through the wasteland and the shaking touched the unchanging biome. The ice plates fell from my armor as heat formed and steam exuded from the inhuman changes going on within me.

The bones broke and regrew.

The flesh tore apart and sewed together.

The skin was flayed and regenerated.

A creaking, scratching breath escaped me as my armor deformed under the force, corners singed like paper and the metal groaned like a quaking mountain, before it, just like my flesh, like an extension of my body, stitched itself together.

The pain lasted but a moment, the feeling of the Game, of being the Gamer, returned, and yet I savored this agonizing yet familiar sensation of pain. I felt how my flesh morphed into something superior to it was before, and new worlds of opportunity opened themselves to me.

And through all of this, I didn't stop chuckling. I grew in size in every way: Height, width, depth, in all dimensions measurable and not, so large in fact it was possible I stood even larger than an earth pony stallion.

And when the sweet sensation returned, of being connected to the game, freed of time and impermanence, worry, fear, and stagnation, this above-heavenly sensation that I could only describe as being disconnected to the world and bound to just another individual, I couldn't help it.

I just did.

My laughter roared from my depths as I stared into the storm-covered sky as the very height of human pleasure and satisfaction once more became the standard, how the feeling of the Aether caressed my worn-down soul, the years of crushing grind appeared once again like an achievement and not a waste - and how dare I not mention it first - the feeling of power, but not just strength itself, but the ability to steer my life with my own two hooves.

It took just a second to make me realize that fate always rested in my hooves, I was just too scared or perhaps even used to another pulling it in my place while just nodding to even the most unpalatable routes.

And then my delight was stolen by the faintest of growls. My head, still dazed by the sensation of the game, slowly looked down and towards the one approaching me.

A living member of the race of which I found a frozen corpse on my path towards the mountain. Its fur was raised as it lowered its stance and neared ever closer.

I could only tilt my head, staring at the button eyes eyeing me, and as it put yet another paw forward, I acted. I warped forward with almost no resistance and grasped its great head almost in its entirety within my hooves, and twisted it with a sudden and yet brutal motion. A crack, a ghastly, whispered whine escaped the beast's lips as it fell to the ground, though the result didn't surprise me at all.

After all: I was twice its level, and nearly possessed double its strength.

And I felt no shame in what I did, but the satisfaction was like a brick, you don't appreciate it 'till it was a house. My mind was set after hearing a humble ping towards the completion of my current quest.

With a sigh, I rolled my neck and said to the game and myself. "Game, this was for the quest, food, and the journey, never let it be about fun." I finished with a whisper as I forcefully crushed the inner feeling of joy as new Aether dripped into my core and the amalgamation that I called my repertoire of powers and skills.

I took in a deep breath as my hair, now almost reaching my pelvic area, flew in the wind with the snow, my fetlocks drowned in the ice and my brows froze in the storm, and yet the cold now felt so peaceful, one I could spend a small eternity in.

The amber flame ignited next to me, and the tip turned towards the little haven within the boreal forest.

I turned my eyes towards the corpses, and with my level, thus also my inventory expanded, absorbed both corpses within my immaterial backpack, and just as I was about to trot through the crotch-high snow, I beheld the stump whose trunk was crushed by the metal golem before and saw that an ichor-like liquid trickled into the bark, absorbed into the wood and in a sense lifted the poor wood upon quality that may have crowned it the king of the forest.

I closed my eyes and felt my magic ever so gently envelope the bark, and yet that alone was enough to crack it, before it was ripped out of the frozen ground like a stubborn root before it too was taken away into my possession.

And now, I continued my journey a little stronger, a little wiser, but most importantly still me, with just a bit of a different viewpoint. The snow parted before me on my path, and hopefully so would the nightmares in my journey of reclamation.

Star Touch - Nightmare Slayer 1(John Weaver)
Level - 80
Class - Warrior- level 30 (The Gamer)
Race - Unicorn
HP (Health Points) - 1620 [178 per minute]
MP (Mana Points) - 1688 [224 per minute]
SP (Stamina Points) - 1620 [178 per minute]
STR (Strength) - 174 [145]
END (Endurance) - 170 [142]
DEX (Dexterity) - (124) 97
INT (Intelligence) - 225 [100]
WIS (Wisdom) - 130
CHA (Charisma) - 133 [148]
LCK (Luck) - (72) 65

Copper Heirloom
Level 40 Item
Unique
A beloved heirloom of the minotaurs, which's outer shell is passed down from generation to generation and interior content changes depending on the owner.
*Increase health recovery by 10%
*Increase stamina recovery by 10%

Earth Mover Ring
Level 80 Item
Rare
As is tradition, the ring of the Earth Mover shall be granted to the firstborn daughter of the clan Chief's finest smith, while their brother, were one to be, shall receive the earring of the smith. This item, dates back to the clan's first days and has been forged by Malkechir, the finest smith to ever have graced the clan lands.
* Increase strength by 20%
* Increase endurance by 20%
* Half the equipment burden
* Grants the boons of the level twenty-five miner job

• Increase eyesight, odds of finding rare minerals in the earth, and ability to use metals and gems.

Frost Resistance [Passive]
Blasted be the false King Quefestos, for his frozen realms are no safe haven from the endless, nightmarish brood, but just another hell of our own making. There is nothing waiting past this dire winter, for it will never end, and as the frozen sky thickens, so does the looming, twice-d triangle. May your prayers burn, for only then will you last another day.
-Alwigh, of the Frozen Caravan.
*Frost damage is reduced by points equal to the skill's level. If the amount of resistance outweighs that of the damage, no damage is dealt to the user.

Physical Damage Resistance [Passive] lv. 28 --> lv. 40

By reaching 30 with Physical Damage Resistance, the skill : [Bronze Flesh] has been awarded

[Bronze Flesh] - Passive
Your flesh will become hard as copper, should a certain pressure threshold be overstepped or a strike is registered, thus adding an additional 30 points to your defense.

Poison Resistance [Passive] lv. 38 --> lv. 51

[skills]
Warrior lv. 24 --> lv. 30
New Ability: Hardened Resolve
Arcanist lv. 20 --> lv. 30
New Ability: Mana Ray
Spiritualist lv. 20 --> lv. 30
New Skill: Spiritual Empowerment
Summon Lower Lesser Elemental --> Lower/Lesser Summon Elemental
Summon Lower Lesser Elemental --> Lower/Lesser Summon Spirit
[Charge] lv. 1 --> lv. 12
[Transit] lv. 1 --> lv. 8
[Power Strike] lv. 30 --> Heavy Impact
[Mana Shield] lv. 10 --> lv. 15
Spirit Senses 24 --> Greater Spirit Senses
infusion 26 --> Greater Infusion
Sprint lv.8 --> lv. 15
Rapid recovery --> Rapid recovery I
Vile Thorne --> Silver Thorne
Mana Blade 9 -->13

Hardened Resolve [Special]
This body will break before my resolve does, and the very ground below me shatters before my bones will. No matter the pain, no matter the challenge, I will endure even in death. I am the stalwart shield against the coming Doom.
- Maximus the Powerful, on the journey to retrieve the Grand Aether Manipulator and Extractor.
* Cooldown: 24 Hours
* Duration: 10 Minutes
* Increase physical resistance equal to half the endurance points
* Double physical damage

Mana Ray [Special]
Mana Ray, the merger of pure power and precise lines, is to compress and exhaust mana like a concentrated flame, turning the power into a beam of destruction. However, regardless of how skilled the mage may be, this one burns the user even when distanced, and due to the intense nature required to either keep the matrix stable during the spell's effect or continuously create another to replace the last, repeated use is discouraged.
- Grand Arch Mage Ul'salium
* Charges: 3
* Regeneration rate 1/day
* Cast time 5 seconds
* Immobile while casting
* Damage: Int *20

Spiritual Empowerment (add the power of a spirit to the user)
I can feel it, I can feel their connection to the very elements that make up our mortal plane. How the air gushes through my skin, the water breaching my blood, the stone piercing my bones, and the fire engulfing my soul. Power at its mortal primordium, the naturales potentia.
Miercalac - The Spirit Walker.
* Temporary merge the power of a spirit with yourself.
* Depending on the chosen spirit, certain attributes and skills may increase in power.
* The chosen spirit cannot be called upon for 10 hours after the use of this skill.
* Cooldown: 1 Hour

Heavy Impact
The path to a true warrior is to never back down from a challenge, it is to brave the tides of war and deliver every strike with the intention to kill. If you cannot focus all your determination, strength, and will in each and every attack to fell your opponent, then you are no warrior.
- Maximus the Powerful
* Damage: (Weapon Damage + Strength)*5
* Chance to apply a stack of "Broken Armor" on the target
* Knockback
* Cost: 100 Stamina Points

Greater Spirit Senses
0 Faith per minute
You have become acquainted with the spirit kin and honed your ability to sense them and all around you by continuously sharpening your senses. Your senses are heightened greatly beyond that of a normal mortal.
* This ability can be turned on and off.
* Smelling is Greatly Enhanced.
* Hearing is Greatly Enhanced
* Seeing is Greatly Enhanced.
* You may interact with local spirits

Greater Infusion (removed base damage penalty)

[Greater Infusion] (Active]
Once you and your spirits grow connected enough, seemingly every thought, hope and desire merge into an unstoppable force, and this determination can be focused on objects to strengthen them with yourself. Your spirit and you.
Zorya - the day the temple fell.
* Cost: 10 Faith per infusion.
* Greater Infusion duration: 6 minutes (30 minutes + 2 minute *level)
* Greater Infusion turns the damage type of an object into that of the chosen element and applies the properties of said element.
* +30 elemental damage
*Adds two additional points of effectiveness per level.

Rapid recovery I (1/3 ratio)
Flesh tears. Bones Break. Skin cracks. Blood spills. Only the greatest hunters can revel in their in-permanence, to ever change, embrace death and growth. And if their will pursues this, then the flesh will follow.
- Gurgom, Primordial Hunter of Slane.
* Regenerate 3 points of health for 1 stamina point.

Grow Silverthorne - lv 1
Your body and the vilethorne have grown a tight, symbiotic relationship to the point that you are physically inseparable. The plant has siphoned untold nutrients and adapted various aspects of your body's unique abilities, it has mutated and evolved into a much stronger and more dangerous plant coated in silvery, chitinous plates that are hard as metal.
*Rapidly grow Silverthorne from your body.
*Silverthorne spores can be planted.
*Silverthorne may 'temporarily' replace and merge parts of your body