Chapter 5 Inspirational quotes are there to inspire, not to instruct. Instructional quotes are there to teach, not to encourage. It is your choice to use what is provided for its intended purpose, or otherwise.

The sun gradually lost its lustre, signalling the start of our monthly meet.

“You ready?”

Sunk Cost left behind this rhetorical question and returned through his ironically-coloured golden portal. I followed suit, hands in my pockets and smiling in a relaxed manner. In an instant, I was transported from my student dormitory to a wasteland dyed in a redden hue, as if a mist of blood plagued the space itself.

After having made sure everything’s prepared as it should be, Sunk Cost left me behind to my own devices to retrieve the others. We were at the edge of a canyon, where a crimson throbbing dimensional rift silently hovered above the centre of the awe-inspiring chasm, its chaotic mana overflowing with malignant pressure.

To put into context – if instructor Durohan was beside me, he’d look like those meatballs you could buy from Ikea©, overflowing with juice and from a questionable source[1].

However, there were three servants kneeling in obedience nearby, dressed entirely in black with a katana, a two-handed sword and a war bow respectively, on their backs. These ninjas were managed by Sunk Cost personally, a cult of sorts that answered to us four unconditionally.

Collectively, they are known as the JanZe[2].

They were responsible for handling miscellaneous issues when needed, be it information gathering, communication, transport or just to feed us grapes as we lie on our belly.

They were the blood and soul of our influence in the world, which we painstakingly raised a long time ago. Their reputation was renowned, told by parents as a warning to their children everywhere, so that the four of us could remain distant and objective to the global society. Right now, their job was to ensure my return at the appropriate time, manage the mana of the portal and respond to any unplanned developments.

In their possession was one of the rarest materials on Khondour – Promethium.

It’s not strictly a ‘metal’ as Earthlings categorised, but instead a miracle battery capable of storing unassigned mana. It absorbs mana naturally from the environment, albeit sluggishly slow, but can be used to forcefully consume mana if used properly. Think of it as one of those bottle caps designed so that the liquid within won’t come out unless some pressure was applied either onto the bottle, or by sucking on it, regardless of whether it’s upright or upside down.

A charged battery could become a weapon. The mana within was ownerless, which meant that anybody with enough skill can withdraw and repurpose it. However, most Inquisitors would never dream of using it that way. Not only was it difficult and time consuming to manipulate mana unowned by yourself, but it also had a costly consequence. During a battle, where concentration was split across multiple tasks, casting a spell with foreign mana could result in a deadly backfire should your attention be distracted. Controlling the flow of release, the utilisation of the mana, then resealing the extraction, all took precious time and mental resources away.

Instead, they are more suitable to be used as a defensive tool in battle, and a supplementary tool elsewhere.

This fist-sized orb of promethium was a vital component to Occisio Day, and the ninja leading the group of three – identified by the longer length of the ribbon hanging loose behind his head – gave a curt nod, ready for what was about to come.

One of the ninjas stepped forward to present an outfit identical to theirs – tight-fitting uniforms that blended in with the nightly sky. In addition to that, a lengthy ribbon of matching colour was placed upon the costume with care, as if a treasured artifact. The length of the ribbon, when unmasked, represented our ranks in the hierarchy, after all.

The entire group bowed as if to have a staring contest with the rocky ground, whilst I changed into our usual battle attire. The final piece, the ribbon, was first wrapped like a headband around the forehead until both sides of equal length trailed in the wind. In this ‘casual’ state, the ribbon easily reached the floor and further, like a formal dress with a double train.

To finalise everything, I wrapped the ribbon around my head until it formed a mask with only the eyes left uncovered. If one paid close attention, one would notice the thickness of my headwear to be slightly denser than the others.

Our mask is a symbol of our duty. Once our face is hidden, objectives and orders are the only concern.

I hopped off the cliff’s edge and fell into the rift…

… and emerged into a small bubble of space, encompassed by a mass of wriggling flesh and ear-splitting noise. With nothing to do, I sat down next to a sword stabbed into the ground like Excalibur, and waited patiently for Dead Weight to dispel his barrier, counting the seconds passing by.

At a predetermined time, it happened.

The scene was comparable to a Road Runner episode, where the monsters seemed to pause in the air in confusion before remembering gravity existed. That being said, the vast majority of the monsters were corpses, crushed underneath the immense pressure of everything on top of them.

It mattered not.

Like countless times before, I moved in time with the barrier and began to let off some steam.

[Transcendent] Mana Imbue (Strengthen).

The modifier [Transcendent] is applied when the Power in question have extraordinary potential, to describe the extremity of its usage. It could allow a vague and wide-ranged concept to function, or it could perform with results that beggars belief.

The title Enhancement is what it says it is. In this case, this Power enhances something.

That something is shown by (Strengthen). My Power allows me to strengthen something.

More specifically, I can strengthen any concept I think of with my mana.

My mana detonated like a ballistic missile, dying my surrounding in a dome of hazy indigo that shook the air itself. However, it couldn’t physically push the falling corpses outwards like a true explosion. I took my stance – straightened back, fists cupped next to my waist with my knees bent as if I’m sitting in mid-air. The standard pose of a martial artist.

Then, I threw a ‘light’ punch.

There was nothing in front of me, so if I exerted all this strength into thin air, I’d end up disbalanced. But when my fist reached its full force, it collided with my own mana, resulting in a shockwave that distorted the surrounding space itself.

That attack could physically push the falling corpses, and it did. The clash also created a torrent of sound and kinetic energy, which in turn generated a swathing heat through fiction.

Like the famous image of an underwater nuclear warhead test, the sea of monsters swarming in this godless land erupted upwards, as if an active volcano went off.

To have done this, I had to strengthen three things - My body and clothes to protect myself from the aftermath, the punch itself and the immediate space directly in front of my fist.

To quote a certain alchemist – equivalent exchange. The amount of mana I spent on the strengthening had to reflect what it achieved. In this scenario, the punch alone would’ve sapped the life of an average Bathusium Inquisitor, not to include the mana used to collide with the fist in equal strength. Protecting my body required even more mana than the attack.

The ground cracked and caved, the tremors reaching far into the horizon. The monsters were being cooked in this man-made oven. Like an ill-prepared microwave food, the liquid and gas within the bodies expanded enough force to turn its prison into a firework display. Very quickly, the bodies were burnt to a crisp, then transitioned into ashes and finally – dust.

I stood alone on top of two platforms created by my own mana. Beneath me – molten lava. Around me – scattered particles of powder. Everything in my immediate vicinity besides myself – within an approximate of 200-meter radius – simply disintegrated.

[Defined] Mana Creation (Weaponry)

Mana Creation, the ability to construct equipment using mana. Variations include anything from making potions, to ‘summoning’ animals or combatants. In my case, I can create (Weaponry).

It isn’t a [Transcendent] ability, instead it’s a [Defined] one, which means that this Power is as specific as it gets and doesn’t allow room for interpretation.

I had to first ‘Analyse’ a pre-existing weapon to recreate it, and I can only imitate one weapon at any given point in time.

In addition to that – the weapon I analyse won’t include ammunition, nor can it disconnect from my body once created; I can create a bow or an arrow, not both; I can create a javelin, but it will dissipate immediately when the projectile leaves my touch.

Finally, the mana it uses reflect on the material of the analysed weapon, which also influences its prowess.

Now that I had a bit more room to work with, I summoned my weapon, unique because it was only usable by yours truly.

It had three forms – dagger form, whip form and rapier form. The original analysed weapon was made with titanium, gold, fractite and promethius. Technology wasn’t advanced enough for alloyed steel, or else the weapon would’ve been even stronger.

Its appearance looked strange and impractical. In the ‘Katopris’ dagger form, it had a 35cm long needlepoint protruding out of a 10mm diameter cylinder, which acted as a strange handguard for the grip handle underneath. The cylinder itself had multiple layers of metallic plates, connected by a thin sheet of promethium.

This allowed the entire handguard to extend into the ‘Stinger’ needle form, which complimented the weapon head properly at the expense of a handguard. At full length, the weapon reached a staggering 205cm, far longer than even the Italian rapiers of Earth. Of course, the length of the Stinger form could vary depending on how far I ‘stretched’ the weapon out.

The final form was ‘Ginnungagap’ whip form, or what Ego called the Limpy Pin. The links connecting each layer became flexible so that the weapon itself can coil in on itself. The ridiculous length gave birth to a deceptively long reach when the weapon was used properly.

At first, the prototype weapon was carefully crafted by scores of blacksmiths, the best amongst the best, and tempered across a gross of years. When it was finally ready, the whole thing was senselessly heavy, causing the rapier form to bend over time. Swinging it was impossible without launching the plates outwards, let alone whipping the thing. Currently, it rests upon an altar worshipped and guarded by the JanZe clan.

The real thing may have been useless, but the recreated one wasn’t the same. Though the weapon created by my mana shares the same properties as the actual weapon, I can do something else with it.

I can strengthen my own Powers.

In my hands, durability became obsolete so long as I empowered my weapon. In my hands, the weapon wreaked havoc with an undying will.

Ginnungagap performed best at Area of Effect (AoE) attacks. With one swing, the weapon tore apart everything between the handle and the destination, before creating a sonic boom at the end that shatters everything in an explosion of mana.

The lilac sun of this foreign dimension finally broke through the ceiling of corpses after a couple waves of my magic ‘wand’. I worked diligently to tidy this place up before they show up. One should never receive guests in a claustrophobic space, after all.

Once 15 minutes passed, I shoved my hand back into the portal and gave the audience hidden there the bird. My summoning finger brought forth Ego, Sunk Cost and Dead Weight.

Everything was ready for us to do our jobs. We set off as a group to massacre whatever we see.

During Occisio, there were three scenarios that could happen:

Firstly, the Vanguard would be overwhelmed on entry. The monsters often switched their tactics in order to deal with us. Sometimes they would pile a mass of monsters like right now, other times they’d have their elites guarding the portal, to strike as soon as we entered.

At the 15 minutes mark, if no signals were received, it would mean the area inside was dangerous.

At the 30 minutes mark, if silence prevailed, it would mean that I am dead.

This led to the second scenario – I have died as a vanguard, and the portal must be resealed immediately. If I did my job correctly, Dead Weight’s Sword would still be impaled and usable. Dead Weight would simply reinstate his barrier and strengthen it accordingly.

The final scenario would be a portal outbreak. All forces must be summoned to retake control, then forcibly barricade the portal off until countermeasures were made.

In all of our history, that shit show happened many-a-times. I hope that conveyed the strength of the monsters to an understandable degree, but they are a metaphorical and literal pain in the ass.

As I was reminiscing about our failures, a beam of compressed mana pierced through the mountain of corpses at an extreme speed toward my chest, fired by a hidden assailant in ambush. Not only did I fail to expect an attack of this calibre so quickly after the initial clearing, I was also distracted and unprepared – I have yet to fully utilise my Strengthen Power. The momentary lapse of concentration led to a fist-sized bubble of melting flesh and gore sizzling away at my right ribs.

I had to act quickly. Sunk Cost and Dead Weight noticed the disturbance and busied themselves to create cover for my recovery. I first empowered [Mental Fortitude] to withstand the sudden surge of agony. Immediately after, I empowered [Reaction Time] and [Regeneration]. Finally, I used a chain of buffs appropriate for combat.

[Defence Physical] [Defence Magical] [Defence Mental] [Offense Physical] [Speed] [Sense Sight] [Sense Aural] [Sense Touch] [Sense Balance] [Sense Proprioception] [Sense Magnetoception] [Sense Time] [Mana Weapon]

With this many empowerments, a readjustment to [Mental Fortitude] was needed lest my brain overheated. The mana used by each strengthened concept was spread at a specific ratio across the board. After battling with my life on the line for multiple millennium – and even dying a few times – I could adapt every part of this Strengthen ability in the chaotic situation of combat, a frightening degree of control if I said so myself.

This was my standard [Combat Buff] set, and the duration to initiate my powerup lasted less than a second – it was activated by my thoughts.

But in that time, another long-range attack was sent my way.

Unlike the red laser-beam, this was closer to a slash by a claw. The intensity of the mana shook the air, which created a refraction like the one you’d see around a fire.

With practiced movements, I used my bread-and-butter move.

I used [Strengthen Space] around the skin of my left palm, creating an invisible platform that defied gravity and stayed in its specific space. Doing so allowed me to somersault upwards using my left hand as a pivot to pole vault away from the projectile, with no preparations beforehand.

If the opponent focused on my leg movements, they would never have expected such an unnatural dodge.

Whilst my body was upside-down in mid-air, I used [Strengthen Space] on my soles at an angle, then rocketed downwards with a force of a meteor. My Destination? The laser bastard.

This move was only possible by readjusting the mana channelled into [Defence Physical]. If that wasn’t done, my body would’ve imploded from the impact force on the leg, the air resistance from the velocity and the g force. These two abilities worked together seamlessly to create an infinite combination of movements in a 360o area.

With my senses strengthened, the world around me revolved sluggishly like a brain during the final exams. Within seconds, I found my target, who was helpful enough to spread its many arms wide in welcome.

The red orbs forming around its outstretched hands said otherwise, though.

Multiple beams of mana, significantly less powerful than the concentrated one from before, shot at me as I readjusted my direction with [Strengthen Space] at appropriate areas. Thundering booms could be heard every time my body forcefully redirected itself, whilst the shockwave from my collision with my own power flattened whatever was around.

The lasers were slower and weaker than before, especially with my renewed senses, and I could dodge them with ease.

Like a metal ball in a Pinball machine, I used [Strengthen Space] to abruptly change my position in the air, with minimal movement and therefore little decrease in speed.

Stinger soon stabbed savagely into laser-guy, turning it into a fishing net. As usual, I used [Strengthen Space] in conjunction with my other skills to forcibly end my velocity, creating yet another boom that blasted torrents of blood and gore away from me. My eyes rolled to the left, pinpointing my next target – claw-guy.

[1] Message Not Endorsed by Ikea. It’s a fictional scenario used for comedic effect.

[2] Cantonese pronunciation for 忍者, which directly translates to ninja. You can listen to it via this video link: https://youtu.be/4brGRQ7vSck?t=8