Chapter 25

Okay... this one is a doozy lol.

I won't ruin anything. Just enjoy!

Chapter 25 - Disembodied

Nephilim Village

Jason

With a gasp, Jason was back.

Back in the Nephilim village. Back in his own body, his limbs cold and stiff, only sluggishly responding as he slowly sat upright.  Back inside this dreary, dark cavern.

The one his minions had hollowed out beneath the Nephilim village, surrounded by dirt and damp and dark. Even during the short few hours he’d been gone, insects and worms had squirmed their way inside his armor and wriggled among the bones of his ribcage.  Their skittering and bulbous forms illuminated in the soft blue glow of a notification.

The realism was… a bit much.

System Notice: Body Surfing Skill Terminated

Your temporary vessel has been destroyed and consciousness has reverted to your original body.

One of the vessels for your Najima has been destroyed, reducing your total mana and mana regeneration by 1/6.  This effect will last until you die and respawn.

Jason cradled his head, pain throbbing behind his temples and that notification swimming in his vision.  It was disorienting, suddenly switching bodies.  Much worse than traveling through a waypoint or one of Cady’s portals.  Even death would be a welcome relief.  At least, the deathscape gave him time to grapple with his body’s demise.

Yet his plan had worked.  It had started with a simple question.  One he’d been grappling with for days—weeks even… ever since he’d cut himself open in the Mile High Club and deposited his organs into protective jars. A transformation that had stripped away more than his flesh – that had taken a piece of his humanity with it.

He wasn’t technically alive now, was he?

Not here, not within the rules of this world. This body held no blood, no muscle, no organs. It no longer required food or breath.  It was just an animated construct – a creation of darkness and decay.  Not unlike the ivory creations that he’d built with his own hands.

Which had led to a second question.

What exactly kept him “alive” then?

The answer was obvious. His mana. That darkness fueled his minions, lashed together their barren, bony frames, and glimmered within the depths of their soulless eyes. And if that worked for his skeletons – his creations – then did the same logic apply to him?

And his mana flowed from his Najima.  Those natural concentrations of mana.  The same mana that he had ripped free of his mortal body high above the clouds and stored in six containers made of bone and metal. Evidence that maybe – just maybe – he was more than his body.

Which led to a final question.  Could he accomplish something impossible?

Since he’d entered this world, Jason had observed wonders…

How even bits and lines of code could gain sentience.

How Cady had cloned an infinite number of herself, each with their own feelings and memories and personality.

How living and breathing men and women had uploaded their consciousness into this digital world – into new bodies.  How they had become gods here.

How players like Eliza and Frank could transform their bodies; converting flesh and blood into something more primal.  Fang and claw and… mold?

Didn’t that imply that they were all something more than mere matter?  Religion would have called it a soul, but Jason suspected it was something simpler: consciousness.

Those question had been rattling around his most likely empty skull for days and weeks now.  The questions growing and multiplying until they became a buzzing swarm.

What would happen if cut into himself again – this time alone – no longer needing the other avatars’ help, only the razor sharp tip of a Soul Blade?  What if he reached inside his own chest, where his heart might have once rested, and pulled one of those precious urns free?  A simple stone container riddled with darkness.  His new heart – black and twisted and pulsing with malignant power.  With his new lifeblood.  Mana.  His mana.

Could he fuse that vessel into another vessel?  Another body?  The skeletal remains of one of his minions.  Cobbled together into a vaguely humanoid form.  One with arms, legs, hands, and feet.  A face.  A barren skull that stared back with sightless eyes.  All he had to do was slice open its chest and insert that urn, lashing it in place with bands of dark mana and covering it with layer after layer of reinforced bone before sealing it up once more.

Watching and waiting and tense until—

Those eyes flickered open.  And as they met his, Jason’s perspective fragmented.  It was difficult to describe with words – language inherently rooted in human experience.  Humans only ever saw from a single perspective, their mind merging the data fed by their various senses into a single, unified experience.  Yet, in that moment, he transcended his humanity again.

Because he could see his creation and himself at the same time.

It induced a strange sense of vertigo, like staring at infinite reflections in a funhouse mirror.

He could raise his right arm – both of his arms.

Although, wiggling his fingers was harder…

And splitting their movement was even more difficult.  It made his head ache and his vision spin.  Even something as simple as directing his bodies to raise opposing arms.  That became easier with practice, as his mind adapted. However, more complex motor movements were still out of reach. Nearly impossible. For a moment, Jason had felt despair ripple through him.

He hadn’t had days to experiment or practice – until the Nephilim discovered their dead.  He had mere hours before Alex had put on his performance.

Yet he’d calmed himself.  Had started over.

Maybe he couldn’t control both bodies at the same time – not yet anyway.

But did he really need to?  Or could he make one go… dormant?

Order his original body to lay still and quiet in this makeshift underground cave that lingered just a few precious feet beneath the surface.  Close his eyes.  Slow the mana coursing through its body to a mere trickle.  Pretend that he was really and truly dead.  Until his head stopped hurting, until his vision stopped spinning, until his consciousness had shrunk back down to one single vessel—one single body.  The pull felt normal.  Natural.

And as his mind settled into its now form, he was rewarded with a new notice:

New Skill: Body Surfing

You have discovered that the body is merely a vessel for consciousness, enabling you to transfer a part of your mana – your self – to a new body. While your skill level is still unable to handle multiple bodies simultaneously, with extensive practice and training, perhaps you can break through yet another barrier…

Skill Level:  Beginner Level 1

Effect: Infuse one of the urns holding your Najima into a separate form, splitting your consciousness between a primary and secondary body.  Current control limited two vessels. 

Cost: Your primary body’s mana is reduced by 1/6 for each urn transferred and your new vessel will have limited mana and durability.

Which explained why his secondary body had been weaker than the original – why it hadn’t been able to outrun the Nephilim.  Not that he’d needed to.  Jason had never meant for that body to survive, only to make it to the border of the Twilight Throne. The plan—Alex’s plan—was simple. If the Nephilim had difficulty identifying the travelers… then maybe the undead did too.

And starting a conflict between the Empress and this “Sebastian” would distract them from what Jason was doing here in this small village.  From what he hoped to create…

His UI pinged, a message from Alex flickering in the corner of his vision.

Alex:  Did it work?  I saw your mana drop.

Jason:  It did.  I lured the Nephilim patrol to the Twilight Throne’s border.  They’re dead – all except for one.  I’m sure she’s flying directly back to the Crystal Reach to report.

Alex:  Great.  What now?  I convinced the rest of the villagers to take shelter in the schoolhouse like you asked, but I don’t know how long I can keep them here.  Some are already talking about leaving to check on the scouting party and make contact with the Crystal Reach.

Jason:  I just need a bit more time.  Keep stalling.

Alex:  Time do what exactly?  I still don’t understand the endgame here—

Jason just swept the chat log aside.  There was no time to explain.

Also, he was pretty sure Alex wouldn’t have gone along with the plan if he had. Because he was about to make another big gamble, especially now that the village had lost most of its strongest fighters and casters. Which is why he’d made sure to collect the bodies of the children they’d murdered.

The Nephilim corpses filled this small cavern, his Night Vision allowing him to make out their vacant, staring eyes.  Their little bodies rigid and their expressions twisted in pain.  The sightless eyes of their instructor staring at him through the darkness. More collateral damage.  Sacrifices he’d need for this next step.

With a wave of his hand, Jason minions peeled away from the walls – their flat skeletal bodies acting as makeshift supports to hold up the soft, loose earth.  The small tunnel they’d used to make it inside had already long since collapsed.  Yet now there was no need to hide.

Another gesture and the undead began tearing at the earth overhead with insect-like pincers – appendages that Jason had modeled off the ants outside of Sandscrit.  They swiftly formed a steeply angled tunnel leading to the surface and Jason crawled his way out of his own grave.  Fresh, evening air soon swept across his face, his hands wiping off the moist earth.

Full night had fallen across the world of Awaken Online, the bright searing sunlight replaced with a bottomless blackness.  Normally, stars would be visible.  However, the Nephilim village had far too much ambient light. A bright glow that radiated from that giant crystal that floated in the center of the courtyard – the collected mana of dozens of Nephilim.

Even as Jason stared at the crystal, his minions hauled the corpses up out of the hole behind him, dragging the children’s bodies into place.  They formed a loose circle of dirty, bloody corpses around the crystal, even as Alfred finally made an appearance.  The cat wound around his legs, his fur magically free of dirt and debris. The AI hadn’t been too keen on sitting in a makeshift grave.

Only a few short months ago, Jason may have had qualms about this situation.  Might have weighed the moral ramifications of poisoning children.  Of starting a war.  Of using their little bodies to commit an unholy ritual – one whose consequences were still unclear.

However, he also knew they weren’t dead.  Not really.

Consciousness surpassed form.  He’d already proven that.

Or, at least, that’s what he kept telling himself…

“It still isn’t too late to stop.  To turn back,” Alfred offered gently, no doubt eavesdropping on his thoughts; his doubts.

Jason grimaced.  He said that, but they both knew it wasn’t true.  They [TB4] were at war – both in-game and out.  Casualties were inevitable.  And Jason had sacrificed far too much to stop now.  To give up now.  The lies, the secrets, the deaths… even his own humanity.

And one of them had manufactured this scenario – this exact moment.  One of them was a god within this world.  Which meant that Alfred was testing him.  Again.

“We both know this is just another test of my resolve,” he replied, meeting the cat’s gaze evenly, his own gaze pulsing with ominous power.  “Haven’t I already proven myself?”

Alfred cocked his head.  “The goal was never to prove your conviction to me… but to yourself,” he replied.  “This is the easy part.  The challenge is only just beginning.”

Jason grimaced.  There was some truth to the AI’s words.  This was just one war – one battle.  One with few stakes.  If he failed here, what then?  He simply died, respawned, and tried again?  As they kept going, the stakes would only grow.  A castle built atop a shifting pile of corpses—one wrong move and it would all come tumbling down.  Each step creating sunk cost.

Yet he wasn’t going to back down.  There was too much at stake.

And, this time, he didn’t even need the darkness to numb him to this choice.

He was never going back to that teenager that had simpered and retreated.

He had shed that person like dead skin, becoming something new.  Something stronger.

Someone who had the will to take control; to take risk. Who had agency over his life.

Which is why he dug a hand into his bag and retrieved a plain black urn, the surface inscribed with a dizzying pattern.  Jason crouched and placed that urn down carefully, completing the circle around that glowing crystal.

Light and shadow.

Death and rebirth.

A balance of mana prescribed by his relic.  The one he’d already unlocked.

All it had asked of him was another sacrifice – the one thing he’d always avoided.

Losing.  Publicly.  Spectacularly.

Relic of the Dark

At first glance, a simple urn.  However, it harbors a dark secret.  One that might reveal the origins of this world.

Quality: S

Unlock Condition Met!

Kill yourself publicly 1/1

Dark Ritual Requirements

Find a concentration of mana 1/1

Collect 12/12 fresh corpses (<24 hours dead and not reanimated). 1/1

(Optional Bonus) Find a concentration of light mana. 1/1

(Optional Bonus) Collect corpses infused with light mana. 1/1

Jason rose, the dark pits of energy that were his eyes focused on that notice, the same one that flickered in the light cast by the crystal.  He’d figured out a way to turn defeat into another victory; another opportunity.  One that had sent both him and Alex on a death run around the world of AO, searching for just the right location.  The right corpses.

And now the stage was set.  The village under their control – at least, for now.  The bodies still fresh. Weeks of work and death and sacrifice culminating in this single moment. 

Tonight, he planned to use his relic for the first time...