| Предыдущая глава |
↓ Содержание ↓
↑ Свернуть ↑
| Следующая глава |
— Fear, panic, anger... Did you cast some spell on me earlier?
— Ho-ho-ho. You seem to have found the answer. Care to tell me what it is?
— Instincts, emotions... Those are the things that enable the Ether Link. Consequently ability to control emotions and instincts is something that only sentient beings able to do.
— That is correct. The spell I cast on you was mental interference spell called Emotional Amplification. The spell causes beings under the radius of effect to have an amplified emotional reaction to anything that happens. As for your answer to my original question, it is also correct. To establish a proper Ether Link one needs strong emotions. Positive emotions work, but negative ones are easier to invoke.
— Why are you telling me this? Wouldn't it be easier to get the desired reaction out of me without telling me this?
— It doesn't matter.
— But I can't use Ether Link.
— Is that so?
Suddenly from opposite wall an arrow flew straight at me. Instinctively I raised my hand to block it. To my surprise the impact didn't happen. The arrow disappeared.
— What was the point of that illusion?
— That was no illusion.
— Eh?
— That was a real arrow. And as for you not being able to use Ether Link... Well, when I appeared, you already succeeded in using it.
So he means that strange knowledge and confidence I had were due to Ether Link? But...
— Then why did you start that farce?
— Can't an old man have some joy in his life?
He was grinning again and all his seriousness disappeared.
An arrow flew right through him and got stuck in the opposite wall.
I am quite puzzled. Have I done that?
— What just happened?
— Ho-ho-ho. Quite an interesting ability you have there.
I still have trouble accepting all this, but it's not like I have a luxury to brood on this. Right now I just need to do what I can.
— So, what exactly is my ability?
— Ho-ho-ho. That is for me to know and for you to find out.
I really want to punch him. Though I know he isn't corporeal, so that won't succeed. I feel as if something snapped inside my mind. I hear a clap and feel a small breeze going towards the ghost. But nothing else happened.
— Hm... I think this is enough. With that, stage one is over. — Declared the ghost.
Suddenly my head cleared. As if fog over my thoughts has lifted. Seems that Emotional Amplification spell he had talked about earlier was still active. So that was what he meant when he said that it didn't matter whether I knew about it or not. Unless you continuously concentrate on your feelings, it doesn't really matter whether you know that you are under effects of this spell. You will still be less rational and behave more emotionally.
— If that is the case, will you stop trying to annoy me now and start teaching properly?
— Oh, but I was teaching you properly.
Leaving aside whether that could be called properly, I did manage to do something. Though, he didn't answer my question. Seems this is going to be all kinds of difficult. I sighed with exasperation.
— Oi, oi. Stop sighing all the time. Don't you know that with every sigh a bit of happiness escapes?
— That is a line only a heroine of a love story is allowed to say! Most definitely not something I want to hear from an annoying old geezer!
After a small pause I continue.
— So, what now? Are you going to tell me what my ability is and how to use it?
— I am sorry, but it would be better if I didn't.
— Why is that?
— Telling you that would effectively mean I am shackling your ability. As long as you don't discover what it is yourself, you won't be able to use it properly.
And now we are back to classical cliche developments — AKA 'Find the power within yourself'.
— So what is it that you are going to teach me? If there was a stage one, it means there is at least a stage two.
— Right now you are able to use your special ability only when you are faced with extreme conditions. The next stage is to allow you to use that ability any time you want to. To do that you need to get yourself into meditative trance.
— Do I need to sit in the lotus position or something like that?
— Eh, why would you need that? Just sit down so you are comfortable.
I sat right beside the wall, so that I would be leaning on it. Afterwards I start relaxing like I was instructed to. I thought that with all this stress it would be difficult, but that does not seem to be the case. Turns out I am so exhausted, that my body can't stay on edge any longer. As soon as I sat down I felt heaviness in my body and couldn't stand up even if I wanted to.
A typical development for this kind of situation would be for me to fall asleep and have some kind of 'enlightening dream'. That is not what happened.
Like I had been instructed, I was relaxing and trying to think back on that feeling I had when I just entered the room. At one point, when my mind was fuzzy and I was practically falling asleep, it finally happened. What I saw shocked me wide awake. I saw something that was totally inappropriate, though not entirely unexpected.
Not believing what I saw and thinking that it was some kind of hallucination, I start relaxing again. This time it happens even faster than the previous time. I see exactly the same thing. This time it isn't so surprising, so I don't snap out of this state. Now that I am certain that it isn't a hallucination... Well, okay. What I see might be called a hallucination, it was a bad choice of words. Let me rephrase it. Now that I was certain that what I see isn't a dream... Bad choice of words again. Ah, whatever. It doesn't really even matter.
I will just come out and say it, however lame it might sound. My whole vision is filled with a brown square. This square consists of two parts. The left part contains a human figure. It seems as if that figure is sitting and leaning on something. It took me a moment to realize that the figure is copying my posture. The right half of the square is filled with empty cells. There are thirty two rows of sixteen boxes each. In other words, before my eyes is a typical inventory screen of the kind you might find practically in any game.
Basically in all RPG games you have an inventory where all items are stored. Depending on the game they might have limitations on size or amount of items stored. This is one of the things why these games are made fun of. Potions, armour, herbs, ores, a rocket engine, a legendary sword or two... Those are all the things that might find themselves in a player's inventory. By the end of the game players may have filled those inventories with so much stuff that wouldn't fit even into a warehouse. Before my eyes, was a box that looked exactly like a generic inventory screen from those games.
What kind of game design is this? Are they telling me that my special ability is what every other game character has by default? This sucks. Throwing fireballs, calling windstorms, teleporting, or other similar power would be cool. Yet, what I get is a generic ability that is just a glorified backpack. Where do I get contact info to complain?
I practically convinced myself in the reality of what was happening. Everything here is just way too realistic. Whenever I talked with somebody it felt as if I were talking to real people and not NPCs. Feelings and movements are like in a real life. Now this comes along. A magical power... A power of miracles... A special ability to call forth an inventory screen. Worthless... It's just too idiotic.
— Is that it?
— I do not know what you see. Ether Link manifests through subconsciousness in a form that is natural to you.
So, what he meant to say was that this inventory-ability is natural to me? Stop joking around!
Meanwhile the spirit continues:
— What you see is how your subconsciousness perceives your ability. As you get yourself accustomed with this ability and as you develop it, subconscious perception of it might change and what you see might change along with it.
Do I play so many games, that I subconsciously want to become a game character? I refuse to accept that. I am not that hopeless. I am not that hopeless. There, I even said it twice so it must be the truth. There is no way that I would get whisked to another world, have strong magic and have a special ability that is just a backpack. That would be way too sad. I will simply go with the explanation that developers of this game were striving for realism, so they turned all typical convenient player abilities, like for example an inventory, into a game mechanic and called them a special ability. That sounds way more realistic. That definitely has to be it. Yep, let's go with that.
These thoughts calmed me down slightly. Though, my predicament remained unchanged. In three days there is going to be a fight, and I don't have any solid proof that dying there won't be final. Treating this as a simple game is just too dangerous. So I have to get most of this ability... No matter how crappy it is.
— Is there any way to develop it, besides using it?
— No. That is the only option available to you right now.
So, no shortcuts.
— In other words what you are saying is that there is no point in staying here and suf... I mean speaking with you?
— That seems to be the case. Your little companion over there can provide you with most of the information that you might need. You can return here when you are ready for the next step.
I really don't want to ask. Mainly because I know what he will answer, but I still have to. I have to continue asking stupid questions just to make sure I don't miss some crucial bit of information that could increase my chances of survival.
— And when will that be?
— You will know, you will know...
Suddenly a weight dropped on my shoulders, a light got brighter, a room warmer and I noticed a half-transparent door. Meanwhile the spirit got more transparent. It ended just as suddenly as it started. Weight disappeared, light and temperature returned to normal, but the spirit disappeared and the door became completely visible.
Since there wasn't anything to do here, I just went out.
— Rue, is there a good place to train this ability?
— Follow this line, Master.
A white line appeared under my feet. Following the line I went along the middle path into the forest.
Walking, I thought back on what had happened. I really behaved quite oddly. That Emotional Amplification spell is quite a nasty thing. It's like I couldn't think properly — turned off my head and reacted to everything with raw emotions. If you think about it, staying there and learning more would have probably been smarter course of action. I assume it was the spirit's way of saying that I had to go. Normally you would at least ask the name of a spirit, right?
Still, thinking of what I can do with my ability right now is more appropriate. Most obvious thing would be to have a huge assortment of weapons stored there. In that case...
— Rue, is the use of weapons allowed?
— Yes, Master. Weapons are only as useful as user makes them. Thus, the ability to use weapons is considered to be a part of a person's strength, so everything you can get your hands on is allowed.
— Great! That being the case, is there some armoury I could loot for weapons?
— There is no such thing as armoury here. Although there are some outdated weapons stored in the Training complex.
— Why such a peculiar state of affairs? You have weapons to train with and against, but not weapons that you are supposed to arm yourself with?
— I am sorry, Master. I seem to not have made myself clear. It's not that there is no armoury, it's just that there is no need for one. There is only one weapon anybody associated with these facilities would use — Chlymea.
— Now you lost me. What is Chlymea?
— Chlymea is a scientifically developed crystalline substance that grows when you infuse it with Ether. As it can take basically any form the user imagines, there is no need for any other kind of weaponry.
Right now I feel like crying. My ability wouldn't be completely useless if I could use it to arm myself with a large arsenal to handle any situation that would arise. And now it turns out even that is pointless, because whole arsenal can be fitted into a (presumably) small crystal anyway. That's just unfair!
— What about high-tech weapons? What if I would like to create some sort of anti-matter gun?
— You can use memory crystals to store blueprints of weapons you don't know the technology to produce. Then, when you are infusing Ether into Chlymea, you can tap into those crystals to produce a weapon you need.
That's it. My ability is completely useless. Still, I have to admit that this Chlymea thing sounds interesting.
— Is there a way for me to get my hands on one of those crystals?
Like with the nutrition (torture) pill earlier, a glowing circle with writings on it appeared before Rue. Now that I looked closer, writings on that circle were forming geometrical shapes like the ones I saw in the room earlier. The circle turned into a glowing disk, and Rue took out a jet black crystal that was shaped like a triangular pyramid, a tetrahedron. The crystal wasn't too big, an edge had a length of around half a palms width — approximately four centimetres.
— This is it?
— Yes, Master. This is Chlymea.
— So how do I use it?
— Master should picture an item he wants, and infuse Ether into crystal.
Leaving aside imagination, the part where I have to infuse might be a problem.
— And how do I infuse it?
— According to what is found in books, the fastest way to learn that is using Master's ability as much as possible. Eventually it will enable to feel a flow of Ether, which in turn will enable to influence it.
This means my plan to see what I can do with this useless ability remains unchanged.
— Ok, thanks for information Rue.
At this point I saw something above the trees.
— By the way, where are we going?
— Master has requested a place to practice using a special ability. The best place to practice is the Training Complex, we have practically arrived.
I have to note that while I was walking I came across other participants multiple times, but I was either ignored or met with a look of disdain. Thus, the first contact could be considered a failure. This bothered me, but there wasn't anything I could do about it.
Shortly after I had finished my conversation with Rue, a building became visible. What is before my eyes is a large half-sphere shaped grey dome with a small sphere on top of it. The dome is around half as big as the library, the diameter is less than a hundred meters. And the diameter of the sphere on top is approximately a height of a child, around one meter. I start to see a pattern forming with the shape of these buildings. Wouldn't be surprised if the administrative building had five corners...
| Предыдущая глава |
↓ Содержание ↓
↑ Свернуть ↑
| Следующая глава |
