117: Yet Another Discussion

Konderlacht rubbed the bridge of her nose with two fingers. “Absolutely not.”

“Should we not explore the option?” Dzhemehal asked. “The opportunity to have an extensive conversation with one of the people who made the Obelisks is incomparable-”

“The answer is no,” Konderlacht stated firmly. “I will not risk using the Skeleton Key and sending Miss Kadell into another prison realm.”

“She escaped the Abstract of Eternity, so why couldn’t she-”

“The Obelisk in the middle of Marrix was incredibly damaged and not functioning correctly in the slightest,” Konderlacht almost spat back at the pink-haired woman. “Our working assumption is that the only reason Eris was even capable of escaping was because of the existing damage within the structure, as well as the new damage that the death of Pravala caused. Presumably, this new Obelisk would be completely undamaged and therefore at its most powerful state. If it functions identically to this one, then I can all but guarantee that Eris would be incapable of leaving.”

Eris shrugged in her chair. “I mean, if she was wanting me to use the Key and teleport to her, then maybe she already planned a way for me to get out.”

“Or both of you,” Kull added, leaning back into the couch thoughtfully. Once again, the meeting was taking place in the living room of Eris’s house. As much as the breakfast bunch was eager to listen, they each, unfortunately, had their own schedules. Especially after the very quick explanation about the unforeseen upgrade to Wonders of Artifice’s quantity.

Eris wasn’t even properly introduced to the thirteen random crafters Kull had plucked from the Hub to stop by the house. They weren’t even names anymore- just bodies to carry the bonus. They, along with all of Eris’s tutors (Bailey included), were given a slew of pink pelvis tattoos and sent back to their respective shops under the order to craft as much as they possibly could. Bailey, of course, tailed behind the random Alchemist to work alongside him in his shop given that her own was now completely empty. Whether anything would actually come out of Bailey’s work was doubtful, but Kull and Konderlacht had at least seemed open to the option of giving it a shot.

As for the five members of Eris’s pre-selected strike squad, they had their own training to do, led by Elmas. Therefore, this meeting consisted of the same crowd as yesterday morning- Dzhemehal, Kull, Konderlacht, Eris, and Charlotte standing guard in the corner of the room.

Eris shook her head in regards to Kull’s comment.

“I thought about it, and I don’t think Vojemala is actually trying to escape.”

“Explain.” Konderlacht narrowed her eyes.

Eris settled in her chair. “Well, think about it. She’s an Artificer like me, and definitely a lot more powerful. I mean. I’ve only been one for a month. How long was Vojemala recorded to have been an Artificer?” She directed that question to the walking encyclopedia.

Dzhemehal furrowed her brow. “Based on conversations with the Precursors, I can safely date their transportation into the Abstract of Eternity alongside Pravala occurred roughly twenty days before the Sundering, and Vojemala herself had been the one to transport Pravala. At that time, Vojemala appears to have been an Echo for twelve years- give or take a few months.”

“Okay, so Vojemala had twelve, maybe eleven years on me before working with the other Artificers to make the Obelisk, and likely all of the other ones. She had plenty of time to become as powerful as she ever needed to be, so anything I can do now, she definitely could do back then. There is no logical reason that she would ever need me in order to escape her Obelisk, because she could just make something to do it herself. Better than me, actually, since she helped make the damned things. If anyone would know a ‘proper’ way to escape, it would be her. Plus, if she’s in an Obelisk, she chose to be in there for a reason.”

“To charge it,” Kull stated flatly. Eris snapped her fingers.

“Exactly. The existence of the Warden, AKA Control Trap: Alda Three proves that the Abstract of Eternity was using the Echoes inside of it as some kind of power source, and that there were at least three of them. Furthermore, the Warden was specific to Alda herself, not any of the other Seven. That meant at least three Echoes of Alda specifically were in that Obelisk and charging it. Now, we learned that in total, there are thirteen Obelisks. Thirteen, specifically.”

Konderlacht furrowed her brow and mumbled. “Fourteen would make more sense- one for each half of the Seven.”

“Yes,” Eris said, “Except for one key detail. Let’s assume that the Abstract of Eternity specifically only holds Echoes of Alda. That one out there-” Eris pointed towards the front door, in the general direction of the center of Marrix where the black monolith stood.

“That Obelisk would be siphoning the magical essence of Alda’s Echoes. A different one would be for Hennel’s. A different one for Kiara. A fourth for Raelan. Another one for a different half, and another for another, and so on. Every single Obelisk would be dedicated to drawing on the power of a different deity’s Echoes, except for that last one because of one single, fundamental difference.”

Dzhemehal’s eyes widened. “There’s only one Echo of the Oculus.”

Eris leaned back in the seat.

“As Rita explained in her lecture, there was only ever one Echo of the Oculus at a time. If Vojemala and the others built all the Obelisks for some plan to stop the end of the world, and it required the magical energy of Echoes from each of the Seven, then Vojemala would have been the one and only individual that could power an Obelisk for the Oculus. That’s why it isn’t split into a different Obelisk for either half- it has to remain as one that Vojemala herself needs to stay inside of for their plan to keep working.”

Konderlacht frowned. “Could she be trying to lure you into her Obelisk to trade places with you? To force you into imprisonment so she could be free?”

“That… I don’t know.” Eris sighed. “She could very well be wanting me to reach her, just so that she can more efficiently explain to me why she and the others did what they did, and what she needs me to do. Or she could be trying the bait and switch you just suggested. Even if she is…” Eris paused.

“I don’t know, maybe it might actually be a good thing if it happens.”

Kull furrowed his brow. “You want to get trapped in an Obelisk?”

“Oh gods, no,” Eris said. “But if she and I swap places, then that means the Syndicate now has an Artificer with four centuries of experience, prophetic powers, incalculable strength, all the knowledge you guys could ever need, and likely some crazy plan to save the world from annihilation.”

Silence hung over the room like a gelatinous mass. Eventually, it was Konderlacht that huffed.

“No. I won’t risk it. There are too many assumptions to make an educated decision. We won’t take rash actions until we know more. You will not attempt to use the Skeleton Key to travel to Vojemala’s location.”

The response was synchronized between both Eris and Charlotte.

“She doesn’t have to.”

“I don’t have to.”

Both of them looked at each other, then Eris waved her hand in a motion for the bodyguard to continue. Charlotte cleared her throat.

“If I remember correctly, the Skeleton Key only opened the pathway after Eris made the sensor, after she made it an active projection by draining the magic of nearby items, and after achieving simultaneous climax with a target on the other end. Eris could simply choose not to partake in that climax and reserve the Key strictly for an extended conversation that wouldn’t strain Vojemala and could thus provide much information.”

“And that’s if I don’t destroy the Key.”

“Pardon?” All four other individuals suddenly raised their eyebrows. Eris shrugged.

“The only reason the Key even works that way is because of the Envy enchantment from Pravala’s influence, allowing me to siphon magic from items to power the projection. Normally, I don’t think it would be possible for me to do a similar enchantment because I’m Lust, not Envy. However, I just got an ability that lets me drain magic items and apparently gain every single effect it has, make those effects stronger, and put them on whatever items I want.”

Eris crossed her legs, resting her hands on her knees.

“Theoretically, I can fake that Envy enchantment despite not being an Artificer of Envy by draining the Skeleton Key, then make an even more powerful version. I’m stronger on my own now than I was back then when Pravala was boosting me, and that’s before even taking all my new items into account. Then there’s all of the artifacts you’re wanting me to identify, repair and probably drain, which will give me a slew of new options to play with. Lastly, of course, my level four and five skills.”

“You levelled up twice?!” Konderlacht furrowed her brow in disbelief. Eris shook her head.

“Not yet- but I will. Every single one of my Wonders is getting fifty times the level progression, which is given directly to me, and there’s twenty-five of them now. Even if we don’t count Bailey who might not even be doing anything, I should be progressing in level about twelve hundred times faster than normal, even if I do absolutely nothing myself. Based on what I’ve read, the average amount of time to get from level three to level four is four-ish months, AKA a hundred and sixty-some-odd days. If the math works out, and with all the extra progress from yesterday, I’m probably due to level up within the next twenty minutes. After that, level five would logically happen shortly after noon, level six probably after dinnertime, and if I don’t get it by the end of the day, then we’d have a fantastic head start on level seven tomorrow.”

Eris blew a raspberry. “I mean, think about it. Just over the span of today, I should theoretically be getting twelve hundred days’ worth of levelling. Almost exactly three YEARS of progress even if I myself do absolutely nothing.”

The room went quiet. Eventually, it was Dzhemehal that nodded. “The math does seem to support it, even if the pace of her progression is baffling.”

“And if level three with Malleable Arcana and Benediction was any indication, there is absolutely the possibility of me getting even more crazy powerful skills that completely change my fundamental process of becoming stronger. For all we know, I could get-”

Of course, that was when comedic timing once again kicked in and decided that exact moment was the perfect time for Eris’s entire body to lock up. Her words died in her throat and every single pore on her skin stood on end with rippling goosebumps while a tightness in her chest forced the air from her lungs in a wheeze and kept her from taking that air back.

Warmth.

She needed to breathe.

Heat.

Eris needed oxygen.

Fire.

Air please air please air pleasepleasepleaseairpleaseple-

When the force released Eris’s body, her chest nearly felt like it was exploding with the power of the deep breath she took. Her eyes refocused to see Kull, Konderlacht and Charlotte all stationed just beside her chair, all holding onto her and preventing her from having face-planted right into the coffee table. Eris grunted through gasps.

“Gods, I already hate levelling up.”

“What did you receive?” Konderlacht asked hurriedly. Eris glanced up with an annoyed glare.

“Yes, I’m okay, thank you for asking.”

The older woman’s eyebrows knitted together. “Now is not the time for sass, Miss Kadell.”

Eris rolled her eyes, looked inwards, and started reading.

Name: Eris Limeen Kadell

Age: 18

Class: Artificer of Lust

Level: 4

Vitality: F-

Physical Defence: F-

Magical Defence: F-

Tenacity: F-

Strength: F-

Dexterity: F-

Mind: D-

Control: D+

Craftsmanship: A-

“So yeah, it seems to be going upwards pretty predictably,” Eris said. “Every single level, my Mind and Control have gone up by two ranks, while my Craftsmanship goes up by four. If it stays like that, level five is going to bring my Craftsmanship past A+ and have it as a numeric value by default, even without any of that crafting gear I made. It’ll take a while for Mind and Control to do the same, though.”

“What about your skills?” Dzhemehal asked with visible curiosity.

“Uhh, my new ones are Retroduction-”

“All of them, please,” Konderlacht interrupted. Eris raised an eyebrow.

“Really? You want me to say every single one?”

“Yes.”

“But that’s already starting to take a while, and I’m getting pretty tired of repeating-”

“We need to make sure that nothing else has changed with them,” the dark woman responded firmly. “State them all, please.”

“And how much Desire each of them should need to reach their next levels, if possible,” Dzhemehal chimed in. “That could be useful in determining the next priorities for that resource.”

Eris rolled her eyes and sighed. “Fine.”

Then, she kept talking.

Skills: 20

Artificer’s Cunning {Passive} {Maxed}

You are the foremost expert when it comes to items. You may Inspect unknown materials and items. When Inspecting a crafted object, you receive additional information about it. Information includes:

Material construction

Current durability

The crafter’s name

Active magical effects

Adept Artificer {Passive} {Evolution 1} {Level 4}

You have a natural talent for crafting. Any product you craft gains a {375%} bonus to its Quality, applied after all other bonuses. This bonus is doubled when crafting items using only equipment made by you.

Mana {Passive} {Maxed}

You gain a reservoir of Mana, which you may spend on certain abilities.

Artificer’s Grace {Active} {Maxed}

While in the process of crafting, you may expend Mana in place of Crafting Points to use certain abilities.

Enhanced Crafting Points {Passive} {Evolution 1} {Level 4}

You have {125} Crafting Points, which you may spend on certain abilities while in the process of crafting. When beginning a new craft, current number of Crafting Points resets to {125}. For every 5 Crafting Points spent on a single ability during a craft, you gain {4} additional Crafting Points that can be spent on any other ability.

Excellence {Active} {Evolution 1} {Level 3}

For each Crafting Point spent on Excellence, the Potency of the craft is increased by {150%}. This bonus is increased by {300%} when 50% or less of your total Crafting Points are spent on this ability.

Unbroken {Active} {Evolution 1} {Level 4}

For each Crafting Point spent on Unbroken, the Durability of the craft is increased by {200%}. Consumable crafts, such as potions or food, have their Duration increased instead. When used on crafted armour, Unbroken also increases the Potency of the craft by {100%} for each Crafting Point spent.

Empowered {Active} {Level 3}

For every 10 Crafting Points spent on Empowered, the craft gains 1 additional stat modification. Each stat modification may only be applied {3 times} on a given craft.

Wonders of Artifice {Active} {Evolution 1} {Level 3} {Benediction}

Designate up to 5 (25) willing people as your Allies. Until you designate different targets, the chosen Allies gain {1000%} (5000%) faster level progression, you receive the same amount of level progression they do, and you receive skill progression resources from their sinful acts.

Obfuscation {Active} {Maxed}

When finishing a craft, you may change, hide, or add information to determine how the craft appears when Inspected by others. This does not affect the craft’s abilities in any way.

Consumption {Active} {Maxed}

While touching a magical item, you may absorb the magic and destroy the item. When Inspecting a magical item, you additionally learn the magical value.

Malleable Arcana {Passive} {Maxed}

You may permanently learn, alter, and empower different kinds of magic stats and enchantments you absorb.

Enchanter {Active} {Maxed}

For every 10 Crafting Points spent on Enchanter, the craft gains 1 enchantment that you have learned.

Pacifist {Passive} {Maxed}

You cannot directly bring harm to any creature, monster, or person.

Desire’s Reap {Passive} {Level 4 - Maxed}

Engage in sexual acts with others to collect Desire. Additional Desire is collected based on the arousal of the active participant(s) and depravity of the acts performed.

Enhance {Active} {Maxed}

Expend collected Desire to advance skill progression.

Benediction {Active} {Level 4}

Engage in a Lustful ritual to activate Benediction. Choose 1 of your applicable skills. That skill gains a {400%} bonus to its effects. The bonus lasts until Benediction is used again.

Eris let out a deep breath.

“All three of my upgradeable skills from first level; Adept Artificer, Enhanced Crafting Points and Unbroken should presumably take a hundred thousand points of Desire each to reach level five. Now, when they reached level five the first time, they evolved into their new forms and became level one again. There’s a decent possibility that it could happen again, bring them to Evolution Two, and give them even stronger benefits. As for what those benefits would do, your guess is as good as mine.”

Eris started to wish she had a drink of water. Regardless, she continued.

“My level two skills- Excellence and Wonders of Artifice- should also both take a hundred thousand to level up again, but it would just bring them to level four. Excellence should have the bonus per point increase from a hundred and fifty percent to two hundred, with the secondary bonus then increasing from three hundred percent to four hundred. Wonders should just have the progression bonus increase from a thousand percent to twelve hundred and fifty- which would be… six thousand, two hundred and fifty with Benediction’s bonus? Speaking of which…”

Eris took another long breath.

“Benediction needs two hundred and fifty thousand to bring to level five, which should cause it to evolve. Given how crazy powerful it already is, I imagine that any bonus added on would be nothing to scoff at. If nothing else, partially resetting the cost and allowing me to get another couple of cheap levels into it would be worthwhile given that it’s gonna keep increasing both the amount of Wonders I can have, and the progression they give me. As for Empowered, it’ll take twenty-five thousand to bring to level four, which should allow for each modification to be stacked four times. Given how many I can already put on, that by itself would be really nice, and then it would be two hundred and fifty K to evolve it.”

Eris let out a sigh. Kull narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. “And what about your new skills? You said you have twenty now, so that means you got three from this level?”

The Artificer nodded. “Yeah, but can I get a drink of water or something first? My throat is SO dry right now.”

A minute later, Eris had chugged down half a glass of refreshing liquid given by Charlotte.

“Ahh, much better. As for my new skills…”

Retroduction {Passive} {Maxed}

You have an intuitive knowledge of how best to utilize any crafting material you handle.

Sanctum {Active} {Level 1}

Engage in an arcane ritual and designate a location no greater than {1000} square feet. While in your Sanctum, you recover expended Mana {100%} faster.

Benefic {Active} {Level 1}

You may spend Mana and touch a magical item. For 8 hours, the item gains a {10%} bonus to its Quality, applied after all other bonuses.

Eris then narrowed her eyes and did a bit of internal testing before giving a small nod.

“And it does seem like the base cost to upgrade them is staying the same as my previous two levels. Sanctum and Benefic both took two hundred and fifty to bring to level two, then twenty-five hundred for level three.”

Kull’s brow furrowed. “Should we not have discussed things first before you spent those points? We haven’t even decided if those skills were a priority right now. You could have started saving for certain skill upgrades.”

“Really? At this point, five thousand is practically pocket change. Even if I didn’t have TWENTY FIVE Wonders that can all go and mass-collect Desire in some super-orgy you set up, I still have…” Eris double-checked the number.

“Thirty thousand and six points of Desire.”

Dzhemehal frowned. “The math doesn’t work out. If you really did increase the level of Benediction last night like you said, you most definitely shouldn’t have had enough to spend this much just now despite your Wonders having partaken in a gathering orgy.”

Eris raised an eyebrow. “Wait, did I not mention that knocking up Riley gave me an immediate boost of fifty thousand Desire?”

The room went quiet for a moment. Konderlacht let out a terse breath.

“No, you didn’t. That would have been preferable to know.”

“Well, pardon me for forgetting one little detail when thirteen Obelisks and a Skeleton Key were a little more important to focus on.” Eris shrugged. “Anyway…”

Sanctum {Active} {Level 3}

Engage in an arcane ritual and designate a location no greater than {3,000} square feet. While in your Sanctum, you recover expended Mana {300%} faster.

Benefic {Active} {Level 3}

You may spend Mana and touch a magical item. For 8 hours, the item gains a {30%} bonus to its Quality, applied after all other bonuses.

Eris took another sip of her drink.

“A skill that seems like some variation of that ‘Intuition’ skill Grace has which lets me know what materials are best suited for which effects, a skill that lets me regenerate Mana four times as fast in a pre-selected space, and something that presumably lets me touch any item and then make it thirty percent stronger for the day.”

Eris shrugged.

“Nothing groundbreaking like Malleable Arcana or Benediction, but still some very nice skills. Now- when do I start disintegrating a bunch of artifacts?”