Amazon Apocalypse 5: Chapter 55

The reward chest for completing this stage of the integration appeared before me. I was eager to see what was inside, so I wasted no time in flipping the lid.

I had hoped it would be overflowing with goodies, given the notification I’d just read, but the chest was half empty. There were only three things inside it. A potion, a token, and a metal sphere.

None were particularly large, and they almost looked ordinary, at least until I examined them.

Signature Skill Slot Token (Legendary)

Annuls ordinary requirements and limits to Signature Skills, granting the user a slot for a Signature Skill, even if the user is not A-Grade. This token adds a slot and is unaffected by normal limits.

Mystic Realm Anchor (Legendary)

This anchor grants rapid and easy access to a remote mystic realm, making it as easy to access and as convenient as a bag of holding. This anchor is imbued with great power, and the mystic realm it is bound to will dramatically increase in level.

Potion of Absolution (Divine)

This potion removes all negative traits, titles, and effects from the person who consumes it. Titles of mixed effect will be modified to be purely positive.

Gaining a second Signature Skill slot while still at B-Grade would no doubt make me the envy of many A-Grades. As far as I knew, most A-Grades only had a single Signature Skill to their name, whereas I’d have two before even reaching A-Grade.

The Mystic Realm Anchor was clearly gifted to me with Sanctum in mind. Easy access to that Mystic Realm would make certain things easier, particularly my new quest to rescue people for the Goddess in Jade. But the real prize was the Potion of Absolution.

Myrina often said that the System always left a path forward for everyone, and here was proof of that. I thought I would labor beneath my Death Curse forever. Recently, I found a way to invert and remove its negative effects, but I hadn’t thought I would ever be rid of it entirely. Until now.

Perhaps it would be best to wait. After all, I had that Chaos Dragon title waiting in the wings. If I equipped that, an item like this would be the only way to remove it.

But it wasn’t like I planned on equipping that unique title anytime soon. If I didn’t use this potion now, I might end up sitting on this thing for a hundred years. And all that time, I’d be kicking myself over the lost experience points I could have gained had I just drunk it here and now.

In the end, I figured it was enough to know such a thing existed. If I needed it in the future, I’d just have to figure out a way to get another.

So I popped the cork out with my teeth and chugged the potion down. It tasted like water, but cool and crisp despite the burbling magma all around me that should have instantly turned it to steam.

Your titles sheet has been updated!

• Death Curse has been removed and replaced by the new unique title: System Blessed (Legendary)

  • System Blessed increases all experience earned by you or party members. When someone without this title attacks you unprovoked, their reputation with the System will decrease.

• Soul Vampire has had its negative connotations removed. Stats you take from others will be much more easily regained, and have a chance to return on their own, effectively turning losing stat points to you as a way to increase maximum stats.

• Holy Saint of the Goddess in Jade has been modified. Your title is now Holy Saint of the System. This change comes with minor enhancements to effectiveness against undead and other evil-aligned entities.

I read through the changes. The biggest one was naturally the complete removal of the last traces of my Death Curse. I would have to show that off to Sir Sandon and, eventually, Ben. They still labored under the same curse and might be interested in how I removed mine.

The passive increase in experience would be helpful, as I’d felt my levels slowing down as I moved through B-Grade. But more important was the bonus experience for party members, since many of my levels came not from me but from my companions. They were the ones who really needed the extra experience points.

I hadn’t expected the System to consider my ‘Holy Saint of the Goddess in Jade’ to be a negative title, though. Maybe it was jealousy. I laughed a bit at that silly thought.

There were small but measurable improvements, so I wasn’t complaining. Though the Omikyr knights who revered me as their saint might not like the title change. Hopefully, it wouldn’t cause problems when I went to rescue the Goddess in Jade’s people.

After drinking the potion, I pocketed the Mystic realm anchor, which would be useful, but not until I had access to Sanctum again.

The final item, the token, was easy enough to activate. I crushed it in my hands, and suddenly, my Signature Skill slots increased from one to two. I would have to sit down and figure out what I wanted to turn into a signature skill. My current signature skill, Incarnation of the Apocalypse Dragon, had proven rather handy, so I figured I ought to make another one before leaving for Ladwick again.

***

Reluna noticed when the notification for the end of this stage of the integration appeared, though Mimiko wasn’t wearing her funky glasses and missed it. By the time I returned, the two of them were finished with their work and ready to return home.

We wanted to take the teleporter home, but our local teleportation array technicians weren’t as skilled as Thulga, nor did we have a system in place to let them know we wanted to go back to Crownhill. As a result, the fully assembled teleportation array we set up was little more than a paperweight without a skilled technician to operate it. I ended up flying us home.

There, I read through the rest of my System notifications.

The next stage of the integration will begin in three days.

With that official proclamation from the System, I realized I had the moment I was hoping for to make that new signature skill. Like with the potion, this was the sort of thing I’d feel foolish for waiting on too long, so I thought now was as good a time as any to make it happen.

After spending the better part of a day thinking over what kind of signature skill I wanted to make, I decided it ought to be something that would let me unleash powerful magic. Something that resonated well with my existing abilities and that would let me leverage them to new levels.

I went through my own abilities several times, thinking of which I could group together into a cohesive whole. All in all, I had quite a few charisma and fate-based abilities I could combine. But I also had a few that worked well with my magitech.

Either theme would likely make a formidable signature skill. I could choose one and then take the other at A-Grade, but given what I planned on doing soon, it would be wise to make sure I had as much firepower as possible. Was there a way for me to take a little of both now?

After thinking it over, I decided I would give it a try. After all, what was the point of having such a high luck stat if I wasn’t willing to take some risks?

In the end, I selected several skills to roll the dice with. They were Fortune’s Favor, Fate’s Blessing, Slippery Foe, Hand of Fate, Time Stutter, Curse of Ill-Fortune, Conversion, Direct Order, Pacify, and Elemental Phalanx.

I debated throwing in Living Paradox as well, which was the greatest of all my fate abilities. Adding it might increase the overall power of the signature skill I created, but risked losing the lifesaving effect of Living Paradox.

In the end, I decided the once-daily lifesaving measure was too important to risk losing, so I left it out. The rest were all luck-scaling abilities, with the exceptions of Direct Order, Conversion, and Pacify, which were Charisma scaling, as well as Elemental Phalanx, which was plain old magic.

I hoped these additions would shift the ability toward altering probability not just in my favor, but for my companions as well. After all, I rarely fought completely alone, and at the very least, I always had Sharky to call on.

With that settled, I began the process of making my new signature skill. Notifications streamed across my vision.

You have sacrificed your Fortune’s Favor ability!

You have sacrificed your Fate’s Blessing ability!

You have sacrificed your Slippery Foe ability!

You have sacrificed your Hand of Fate ability!

You have sacrificed your Time Stutter ability!

You have sacrificed your Curse of Ill-Fortune ability!

You have sacrificed your Conversion ability!

You have sacrificed your Direct Order ability!

You have sacrificed your Pacify ability!

You have sacrificed your Elemental Phalanx ability!

I held my breath as I felt a tremendous strain in my soul. The empty feeling from losing so many skills soon shifted into something else. There was a new power taking root deep in my spirit, but it would not come easily.

Whatever was changing was something deep and fundamental to my soul, like an old and sturdy ship being outfitted with a new keel. Any thoughts of existential terror were soon blown out of my mind by a completely agonizing pain that went far beyond mere physical agony. Even as recently as a few months ago, I would have probably blacked out from the pain.

But all the challenges of the integration had made me strong, and I grit my teeth, swearing I’d remain conscious throughout the entire process. I wasn’t sure why that was important, or even if it mattered at all, but now that I’d made a decision, I was determined to stick to it.

The new signature skill likely formed in less than a minute, though the agony I endured meant it felt more like hours. Soon it was over, and I unclenched my hands. My fingernails had dug tight enough into my palms to draw blood, but I ignored that as I read up on my new signature skill.

Generating ability... comparing similar soul configurations... analyzing resource pool... negative modifier detected, now mitigating damage...

New Signature Skill analyzed!

Instrument of Fate (Divine Rarity)

Your soul is a great blaze in the kindling realm, drawing others toward it to ignite an engine that can change the fates of untold billions.

Your exact capabilities are untested, but preliminary analysis suggests dramatically improved passive probability manipulation, as well as increased conscious capabilities for use in combat.

This ability also included a large amount of knowledge of time and fate deemed dangerous to minds below the peak of A-Grade. For your own protection, this knowledge has been sealed. As recompense, you will be provided with a blueprint for a relevant archaeotech invention that will resonate with your new signature skill.

You have been given the blueprint for the Architect invention called the Probability Engine (Legendary).

I found myself slightly annoyed that the System had apparently sealed off knowledge from me. As soon as I had that thought, I tried to search my mind for what was missing, only to be hit with the mental equivalent of slamming into a brick wall. Perhaps I could get past it if I really wanted to, but there was a decent chance the System was being truthful, and it really had saved my ass from going insane because of an unlucky side effect of my signature skill.

Then I looked over the blueprint it had thrown in and much of my annoyance, rapidly evaporated. This Probability Engine device the ancient Architects had built was something damn impressive. I was pretty sure I could follow the exact steps the System listed out for making it, but actually understanding it would be well beyond my capabilities.

And I even had most of the parts for the most basic version on hand in my workshop. I could have one built before the next stage of the integration.

First, I took a break to kill some local monsters. I made sure I was grouped with Mimiko and Reluna, since I was still paying both of them back for the levels I’d swiped. I took out a few creatures that had taken up residence in my valley while I wasn’t paying attention. For a while, I was scratching my head, wondering why there were so few of them, which was when I remembered I’d removed my Death Curse. Without it, monsters were much less likely to go out of their way to look for me. I was going to have to track down practice dummies the old-fashioned way.

So I sailed around my territory and encountered a dozen different kinds of D and C-Grade monster I didn’t recognize. I hadn’t really fought these things since I out leveled them, and it was interesting to see all the new monsters we had access to, thanks to the new shards.

I took a trip back to Crownhill to buy an adventuring guide. Frank’s guild had been printing and distributing them for free in the hopes of keeping newbie adventurers alive. I read through them until I saw something familiar.

“Giant rats that deal poison damage plague the outer streets of San Antonio. Low value and very difficult to fight...” I muttered as I read aloud.

That sounded very similar to the giant rat I’d fought in the earliest days of the integration, only now there were a lot of them and a much higher level. Just not a high enough level to get my attention.

These were the sort of things that I would normally send out a quest to deal with. From the guide, these rats weren’t worth fighting, since the experience they gave was minimal, and it was a tough fight where even a tiny scratch would inflict deadly poison damage.

They simply weren’t worth the risk for D-Rank adventurers. Eventually, either the council or I would put out a quest to clear them out, dramatically increasing the rewards and encouraging C-Rank adventurers to deal with the problem. But today I figured I wanted some adventure, so I flew off to deal with them myself.

I flew off to the indicated location, then touched down in city streets. San Antonio was still a mess thanks to all the fighting that happened here, though now that the undead were gone, people could actually pick up the pieces, and the area around the Obelisk was inhabited full time and even slightly fortified.

I’d have to send Governess here to clean the place up like she had Crownhill. Then maybe build some defenses as well.

I chatted with a few of the locals, who, to my surprise, didn’t even recognize me. They thought I was just a particularly strong adventurer, much to my pleasure. For the first time since we established the Crownhill shelter, I had an urge to add a few more cities to my little growing empire. That way I’d have more places I could go and pretend to be a normal citizen.

“The big rats are that way, mister adventurer. Just be careful! Their bites are nasty,” a woman said after I bought some street food off her.

I nodded in thanks and paid her far more than she had probably been asking for, then found the building with the rats in it. It was an old bakery that looked like it had been abandoned even before the integration. It was likely full of rats and cockroaches even then.

As I made my way through it, I stepped over the half-eaten bodies of thousands of scavenger cockroaches, each the size of a dinner plate. No doubt these were what had given the rats their early levels.

Eventually, I found the first one, which charged me as soon as I appeared.

I focused on Mana Arsenal and activated it. I tugged on the ambient dank water mana, which had an almost swampy feel, and flung it at the rat. The resulting projectile looked like an overinflated mana bolt. The element I’d chosen wasn’t particularly effective, but the sheer level difference between me and the target meant the rat exploded on contact with the spell.

I did that several more times in quick succession as I tried to get a feel for my new abilities. Mana Arsenal would actually let me make the mana bolts I was so familiar with, though they were only tangentially part of my new ability. The power wanted something more focused and elaborate with some actual magical structure to it.

All my artificing experience came in handy there. As soon as I understood the basic principles, I was throwing mana bullets and mana lances. Given the right elements, they could be far more effective than my old mana bolts, albeit at the cost of more concentration and more raw mana.

I would likely have to bring back Doomseeker, my old staff, to help fuel the spell. I’d stopped using it because it was too easy to supply the mana myself these days, but now that Mana Arsenal was more demanding, the tool could come in handy again.

Of more interest was the realization that I couldn’t seem to miss. Not once. Every shot I fired was a critical hit.

For a while, I convinced myself I was just that good, but by the thirtieth giant rat slain in a single spell, I realized something was up. That’s when I realized I was already practicing my new signature skill.

Instrument of Fate was a far more passive signature skill than my Apocalypse Dragon ability. It was less present, but still seeped into everything I did.

I had to actually try to not hit my target’s vitals. Even without looking, my attacks usually dealt a deadly critical hit. Making my attacks miss entirely was quite a challenge. I was sure there was more to explore with my new ability, but that on its own was an interesting development.

My new healing ability was also fairly powerful, and I could be much more liberal with my old Blood Sacrifice ability. All in all, I got around thirty percent of the damage I dealt back as new health, and I could bolster that further with certain modifiers.

***

Once the last giant rat was dead, I called it quits on my adventure for the day and returned to Crownhill.

I went through the city interface there and made several arrangements and upgrades. The System had given us a lot of bonuses for making it through the last stage of the integration, and I went ahead and made selections for bigger walls and more training resources.

I also placed the free defensive buildings we’d gotten as our reward. I read through a few descriptions as I put them down.

Ancient Psychic Detection Array (Mythic)

This system scrutinizes and detects hostile entities within its facility and alerts local law enforcement to their ill-intention. This array is most effective in catching sabotage or infiltration from hostile powers.

Ancient Shield Generator (Mythic)

This system creates a bubble-like shield that blocks incoming physical and magical projectiles. Its settings can be configured through System menus.

Ancient Psychic Morale Booster (Mythic)

This system increases the happiness and work ethic of citizens.

I ended up going through the two psychic structures and turning down some of the mental components each building proposed. Most of System space didn’t care much for privacy or the sanctity of a citizen’s own thoughts, but I did. But at the same time, the buildings were just too valuable not to use.

So I put them down, and the System started materializing them for us in the indicated locations.

All that done, I made some purchases at the Obelisk in Crownhill to make sure I had all the right materials and set about crafting a little something the System called a Probability Engine.

<Note>

This was that poll a few days ago, if you recall. That poll was closer than I thought, and it looks like a lot of people really want a magitech signature skill. We'll get one by A-Grade, but right now Carter has lots of fate abilities to tie together. Now that there's more room, maybe Carter can collect a few more magitech-focused abilities that will make a good A-Grade signature skill.

Also, my backlog is running a little thin, and you guys are catching up to me. I may have to do a week with only 3 chapters, depending on how much time edits to the first half of the book (which I have to finish this week) take, as well as my taxes (which I also have to finish this week) take. Sorry in advance if I have to do that! I'll push to avoid it if I can.