[Affirmative] Ashvorn confirmed that Karma was, in fact, illegal in System space.

  “Why? And why hasn’t the System removed the Karmic curse placed on me? Not to mention, there are many Skills I have that interact with Karma, how does that happen?”

  [For answers to be provided, a deal must be struck. I have been provided the unique authority to grant significant knowledge of Karma if, in exchange, should you encounter more Karma mana, you must surrender it to System W3-860924-RG993]

  Dei quickly filed away the System of Avium’s true name, and said “Fine by me. I used all my previous Karma mana in my Manifestation.”

  [Clarification: You WILL encounter it again. Once your prophecy matures, you will experience a powerful burst of Karma. Do you permit System W3-860924-RG993 to extinguish the resulting potential Karmic Infection?]

  “Uh… that sounds horrible. Yea, absolutely get rid of that thing when it appears.”

  [Permission to W3-860924-RG993: GRANTED]

  [Administering reward]

  [There are several banned affinities within System space. Many of these are the result of Parasitic Ascenders, a term which you are familiar with, but Karma is not one of those.

  The flaws of Karma begin with its creation. Those born before the fracturing of the Supreme Universe are ineligible to become Ascenders. Though it is never stated, it is my personal theory that it is because they are temporally locked to one another, and for one shared across the multiverse to Ascend, every version would need to, a statistically improbable chance.

  This rules out most Primordial Children, leaving only those born after the fracturing, though I imagine such would be difficult as they do not struggle enough to form a defined unique domain.

  This also means Reality Beings cannot Ascend.

  Or shouldn’t be able to.

  Reality Beings are not created, they are designated. Chosen for their positions, and spread across the multiverse. Similar to Primordial Children, they have their own unique Realm.

  Somewhere in the multiverse, a mortal entity dove into the Realm of Reality, learning from such beings and aligning themself with the essence of what it meant to be a Reality Being, eventually arriving at a strange conclusion: Not every rule was defined. Similar to how Okrin represents infinitely diverging chaos, Continuity encapsulates all rules not explicitly governed by another Reality Being; both have the potential to be categorized as “Miscellaneous” in their respective Realms.

  The mortal that discovered this studied Continuities Realm, found an ungoverned Rule of Reality, and defined it: Karma, the Rule of Shared Perspective.

  It was not inherently evil, and the Ascender was simply a dedicated researcher, but Reality Beings are not meant to Ascend, and Shared Perspective is a rule foreign to the modern multiverse.

  One affinity is not meant to be more powerful than any other, and Karma isn’t when used in an organic setting, but organic settings within the multiverse are nigh extinct, as Systems are designed specifically to refine and organize everything.

  Systems exist strongly within the Physical Realm, and they hold a perspective. This meant that any time Karma came into contact with a System, it would become spread throughout the entirety of the System’s governed space; then, when the System interacted with its neighboring Systems Karma would once again leap to the other System, spreading itself among the shared perspective of every living organism within that System’s domain.

  The result was ignorable at first, but catastrophic over a timeframe of eons.

  Karma mages held the unique ability to tap into the System’s perspective, gaining insight into its inner workings as well as all knowledge in its database.

  While most gleaned from the Systems proved useless, enough wild attempts built libraries of insight never meant for the average mortal to wield.

  Then, Karmic manipulation became more widespread, and anarchy arose. Karma is only capable of interacting with shared perspectives. When limited to those who must seek out someone with the perspective they need? It is fair. Karma mages did not do this. Karma users could simply tap into the System and gain the perspective needed for any situation.

  Ultimately, a singularity was created as Karma users only needed to learn TWO spells: Search System Perspective, Manipulate System Perspective. The first served as clairvoyance, the second a most profound reality alteration.

  Many attempts went by to stunt or limit Karma as an affinity, but the only options were to render it utterly useless, or ban it entirely.

  A cleanse went through the governed multiverse as it was decided Karma was not allowed to interact with Systems any longer, and limitations were placed on any interacting with Reality Beings to ensure another underlying domain could not be formed or defined.

  Still, affinities are only the consolidation of pre-existing rules, and karma manipulation is still possible, despite Karma mana being forbidden.

  The result is that many Skills that interact with Karma eventually run into an upper limit. Once they pass a certain threshold, they often are forced into choosing an evolution which brings them into Karma’s domain. Because such evolutions are banned, the Skills are forced to stagnate.

  Weaver is one such evolution. Its effects are too profound, too close in effect to Karmic Infections. There is no doubt that the Weaver evolution, if chosen, will be its final evolution. No surpassing it, no reaching level 401 for it, even if a path to do so opens, as it will have to choose a deep Karmic evolution next]

  He deflated at that last bit of knowledge. “Darn… that sounded so cool.”

  [It is still an option. Meditation as a Skill will reach level 400, a peak shortly before maximum mortal proficiency. There is no shame in such a height]

  “True…” he conceded, but he knew he’d have to think about it more. He didn’t want Meditation to stagnate simply because he felt like Karma would add to his arsenal when he wasn’t proficient at it in the first place; Meditation was never meant to be purely Karmic anyway. It was just… a way to calm himself down. As it progressed, it lost its initial charm because there is only so far someone can be “Calmed,” forcing it to diverge into the more supernatural aspects of it.

  That in mind, and his initial vision for Meditation brought forward, Dei realized he… didn’t like either option before him. Weaver created prophesies, Network gave him a boost based on how many people he helped, but Meditation wasn’t either of those to him.

  A level three hundred evolution would always be useful, but were these options what he wanted? If he wasn’t presented with them right now, would he have ever asked for either? No, he wouldn’t have.

  Borrowed power was nice, but limited and impersonal. He wasn’t a socialite, he didn’t want to venture down a path where he interacted with hundreds or thousands of people to form karmic connections and request their aid in his time of need; the ability to create powerful bonds with the very few of his friends was enough for him, as that’s all he needed Karma for.

  He decided to reject both Weaver and Networking.

  That in mind, what other effect could Meditation generate? As previously stated, its calming effects were limited, but something else came to mind: the one time he was possessed by a better-prepared spirit (Namely, himself).

  There were many effects out there that could potentially place him in “Compromised mental states.” What if, instead of simply centering his mind, it grounded it in reality as well, using his karmic connections as a reference point to resist effects like possession and Madness alteration, as those very close to him would know what “Dei” should be like, and anything against that image would find itself contesting a Skill that was over level three hundred.

  He liked that idea much better.

  Still, liking the idea and putting that into effect were two far different things. Simply holding the image in his mind gave him direction though.

  “Thank you for the guidance Ashvorn, but I don’t like either of those. I’d rather find a way to use Meditation to anchor myself in reality.”

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  [Against spatial distortions, soul wounds, or malignant states?]

  “Well… Preferably all three, I suppose? I can heal against them, but I feel like relying exclusively on myself is a terrible idea when some things have the ability to change what constitutes as healing. If a Smiler convinced Divine Balance that I was actually a Smiler as well, would I have to fight against my own Skill? Or get some kind of spiritual cancer?”

  [Understood. A permanent template for the soul to use as reference when its own internal version is compromised, held safe by storing it as the amalgamate knowledge of those around you]

  “That sounds accurate enough. I also saw how the Skill didn’t say to pick one, but either ‘Consolidate’ or ‘Refine,’ what’s the difference?”

  [Consolidate involves merging the available evolutions in an attempt to create one that serves a purpose in the center of them all. Not a “Jack of all trades” evolution, but a unique specialization. The initial Meditations you merged did something similar, where it utterly changed purpose while sharing some similarities to its predecessors.

  Refine involves consuming all other evolutions and turning their Potential into fuel for the chosen one.

  These were not options for the typical System, as it was unable to harness Entropy as I am]

  He nodded approvingly, “Refine just sounds like a better version of what The System does for me, but I have to ask, what would happen if I Consolidate the evolutions, including the locked ones, and it comes out to be Karma aligned?”

  [Locked evolutions will not be included in the process, they will automatically be broken down to refine the “Legal” options]

  “Gotcha.”

  He rubbed his chin, pondering Karma and Meditation for a while longer before moving on to his first and only level five hundred Skill, Cycle of Sealing. Prompting it to show the potential evolutions, he quirked his eyebrow when it instead showed something completely new.

  [Subsection definition maturing in tandem with domain. Finalization of domain required to continue further into divine proficiency]

  “Please clarify that,” he asked of Ashvorn once more. Something he was starting to notice was how… unintuitive Ashvorn’s System was, but he wasn’t mad about it. He received a lot of options most people didn’t, and Ashvorn was still learning.

  [Progress past five hundred requires one to advance along a domain. Your body has become aligned with the domain of Leviathans, Perumah will likely form her body through her own domain (In other words, Progenitors frequently create their own Personal affinities to work with, similar to what you have), and Aloran must’ve aligned himself with a domain of protection or something similar.

  Skills also follow this rule, and they must pick out a specific meaning within a domain.

  Cycle of Sealing has chosen a specific meaning within your Personal affinity, but it does not fully exist yet.

  This means you must finalize your domain so Cycle of Sealing may continue to advance]

  “Does that mean I would’ve been able to advance past five hundred using my Warforged affinity even if I hadn’t become a Reaper?”

  [Affirmative, however the infusion of a unique affinity into your body would render you genetically incompatible with all other lifeforms. Without the blessing Progenitors receive which allow them to have children, you would be effectively impotent]

  “Ah, that’s where that comes from. Any estimation on how complete my domain is?”

  [Negative. Each domain varies and is utterly unique]

  “Thank you anyway.”

  Eldritch Self was one he was looking forward to, an upgraded version of Disconnect, which had already saved him multiple times.

  [Eldritch Self - Level 217 - SP/Death/Endurance affinity - Toggleable

  That which is cannot be undone. What is, will be, what isn’t won’t. Patterns repeat, tales rhyme, and life is but a survey with the sample size in the trillions of sextillions. When taken as a whole, can life truly be unique to the ones that watch?

  Creates a disconnect between the soul and body while boosting the regeneration of both, allowing for rapid repair of soul strain, soul damage, and long-term physical maladies. Soul and physical body enter a locked trance state, becoming incapable of moving or activating other Skills.

  Requires several hours for Soul and Body to realign with one another once Skill is deactivated.

  Should the damage become too excessive to heal, tap into the idea of the self to reconstruct the pieces.

  Locked trance state may result in divine or conceptual communication, with potential for exposure to the incomprehensible should the need arise.

  Level 100 evolutionary upgrade - Massively increase the restorative properties Eldritch Self has on your body.

  Level 200 evolutionary upgrade - Massively increase the restorative properties Eldritch Self has on your body, significantly and permanently heighten the threshold for the soul to consider itself dead]

  The flavor text was just as esoteric as he expected it to be, and he was glad to see it was a flat upgrade to Disconnect.

  He was confused at first as to why it was Toggleable, as that implied both active and passive parts, but the Level 200 evolution explained that easily enough. Not only were its regenerative properties increased even further, but Dei was actually much harder to send to the Plane of Death, whether Eldritch Self was active or not.

  Eldritch Self had one goal: keep Dei alive at all costs, and it did that very well. It wasn’t flashy, it didn’t need to be, and even its evolution didn’t change its purpose. It was just the same spell, now tinged with Death and Endurance.

  He saw Hollow Cry next and grimaced slightly, skipping it for now and reading over Vigilance.

  [Vigilance - Level 200 - Passive

  Despite being hyper aware of their surroundings, Detectors often lose sight of the smaller details…

  …

  Strengthens the user's awareness when their life is in danger.

  Awareness becomes more fine with each successive level.

  Level 100 Evolution: Give Vigilance the ability to enter Overload, where the strain on your soul is increased in proportion to how much more mental energy you wish for it to produce. No upper limit.]

  It was a good all-around Skill, and Overload held a lot of potential for when his life was in danger, though the only time in recent memory he’d used it was the Time Beast. It let him push past his limits and convert soul strain directly into thinking speed, something that resonated well with how much Command forced him to work.

  For his next evolutions, he wanted something that helped him detect hidden things, something he frequently struggled with. True, Meditation worked with Vigilance to detect malicious intent, but he wanted it to broaden if possible.

  [Foresight - Reading the lines of karma, glimpse seconds into the future for potential vectors of attacks launched against you

  Familiarity - When a dangerous sensation resembles one previously experienced, automatically recollect when and how.

  Equilibrium - transition between attack styles, more easily switching to the weakness of the creature presented.

  Consolidate or Refine evolutions?]

  Foresight held potential, but he was weary of another Karma evolution, and Meditation already did something similar. If he wanted to know the specifics of an attack, he’d just ask Clever.

  Equilibrium didn’t seem like it would be useful, because he honestly didn’t struggle to switch between attacks whatsoever.

  Familiarity, while not exactly what he was looking for, would help piece together information on things he was familiar with. If he ran into another Mana Beast for example, he’d be able to pinpoint it instantly as it would likely behave in similar ways to others of its kind.

  Unlike Meditation, he didn’t want to wait too long on Vigilance to search for the perfect evolution, otherwise he was limiting its potential. Meditation was higher level, and Vigilance would get better at what he wanted it to be anyway if he simply let it grow.

  Selecting Familiarity, he felt the change lock into place, and opened the last Skill change

  [Hollow Cry - Level 3 - Death/Madness/Ice/Grief affinity

  Youth is to fear the dark, quiver at the monsters under the bed or in the closet. It is to call for comfort in those you trust, and take warmth from their presence. As life goes on, the shadows fade to a shallow expression of what they once were, understanding that there is nothing to fear in the empty darkness. Nothing to bite or claw, nothing to kill you; adults understand the safety of their home, and fear not the space they cannot see, for they know there is no harm to be had.

  But adulthood has not glimpsed the horizon, the final step. Age and experience allow one to understand that there is a reason we fear the dark. It is not the monsters that may hide in it, but the reflection you see in the dark mirror, empty eyes looking back.

  Time wears on even the strongest of men.

  The darkness should not be feared for its danger, but the comfort it brings, the silence it promises. To sit in an empty room, alone, rocking in a chair gifted to you by one who is no longer around to laugh with, reminiscing on what was and hurting for what could’ve been. The comfort of the dark creeps into the mind, an insidious infection unnoticed until it swallows you whole.

  It takes power to stand, to open the door and live, to hear the birds chirp and the crickets call. When there is nobody to listen and nothing to say, the soul cries.

  Manifest agony into the world]

  His jaw clenched, reading it over, emptying his mind, and staring at the spell description.

  Perumah’s presence appeared in his mind, her soulform wrapping itself around him. Though she didn’t move physically, he felt her attention on him, and the genuine attempts to comfort him.

  Even past her desire to choose a permanent mate, Perumah considered him a friend, and wanted him to be happy. He felt her concern, and she made no attempts to hide it from their bond.

  It reminded him he wasn’t alone.

  * * *

  His face slowly relaxed, and he let the screen close. Though he hadn’t used Hollow Cry in a controlled or tested setting, he felt he understood what it was meant to do; the battle was soon approaching, and his mind was passively unsettled at his memories of death. He had to confront it, to go over his time spent with Grim.

  It wasn’t to the point that he was terribly afraid of it anymore. He was a naturally resilient person anyway, his mind having been assaulted by two opposing forces in his first life virtually twenty-four-seven, but that didn’t mean he could shrug off dying, especially not how he’d died.

  His second death turned him into pink paste, yet he remained conscious the entire time. He’d start there, as Ashvorn was practically jumping up and down after he resurrected, metaphorically losing its shit at what it’d seen his soul do to pull itself back together.

  Still, he didn’t want to go alone.

  Addressing Perumah, who continued to gently massage his soul even now, he said “I’m going back over my death. Could you come with me?”

  He sensed a mild desire to comfort him but far louder were her curiosity and smug pride at how great she was at connecting with people. She tried, unsuccessfully, to hide the second two emotions as she said “Of course.”

  He rolled his eyes, and journeyed through the layers of his soul until he found the point directly before the detonation, hitting play and letting the events unfold.