Chapter 211: Until it's done
Mercury knew he was different now than just a few minutes ago. His whole existence had been almost stripped back down to nothing. That led one to make a few realizations about themselves. His Skills were tested to their very limits. But he shoved aside all those thoughts.
He had won a
[
[
[
[Mastery Error. Overwhelming odds overcome. Imminent death cancelled via item. Additionally Mastery granted. Soft Cap eliminated.]
[
[
[Cheap evolution cost due to vastly exceeding mastery required for evolution.]
Mercury grinned, a hungry glint in his eyes. But there was more.
[
[Compatible Skills detected. Evolutionary Fusion requirements confirmed. Initiate Evolutionary Fusion of
Those were the Skill evolutions he had gained access to. Since the
[Your understanding of
It was only three letters different, but Mercury felt it. He had understood himself a little more in those last moments. That ferocity that came about when he was pushed to the brink, the undying desire to live on. It felt like that part of him was dangerous, but…
Right now, without activating
Not equally, of course. Not everyone deserved to be crushed the same way that Ul'den'tyrel of Yearning did. And of course, often his anger was unfounded or unproductive, but in this case?
Mercury felt he could let himself be a little angry.
At that, the mirror of his mind smoothed over, because
The mopaaw took a deep breath, finally finding himself calm. "Hey, Appy, where did that wish go?" he asked.
[It increased mastery gains and adjusted your affinities. Congratulations. You have some of the highest affinities to willpower recorded in mortals. Same with affinities to survival, learning, growth, understanding, and so forth.]
Nodding, Mercury answered out loud, talking to his helper. "That explains the strange evolutionary cost. Say, the fact that one Skill costs six-six-six points…"
[Channelling additional computing power. This came about due to a rounding Error with your affinity and the original cost of 2000 points. However, the influence of your mythology and subconscious on these numbers cannot be understated. The evolution may result in a demonic or devil-aligned Skill.]
Mercury nodded. "I see. Could it also be a substitute for something eldritch?"
[Accessing database. Definition found. Inquiry confirmed. Yes, it could, due to a lack of known numbers specifically related to the eldritch, a generally occult number may have been picked. Adjusting estimates. Resulting Skill may be "sinister" rather than belonging to any singular school of thought.]
"Right," Mercury noted with a faint smirk. "Thanks, Appy. Recommendations on evolution?"
[Skill point gains usually slow down around your level. Recommended: Taking more
100-year results, huh? Mercury didn't quite enjoy that idea, actually, especially since he needed rather… immediate power right now. The affinity boosts were very welcome, though. He must have been slowly raising them. Despite that, Skill evolution costs were going up, so this boost was rather welcome.
"One last question," Mercury said, letting a pause hang in the air. "You remember the past fight, Appy?"
[Of course, dum-dum. If you die, this consciousness dies too. Our fates are linked.]
"If you die, will I die, Appy?"
[Insufficient data. System intelligence has never been eliminated before.]
Mercury paused, then shook his head with a faint smile. "That's reassuring, actually," he said. "Thanks for your help, and sticking with me."
[This intelligence is invested in the individual's success and wishes for them to rise to greater heights. Recommendation: Take a little more time and some fewer risks.]
Mercury laughed at the suggestion. "Alright. You're awesome, Appy. Talk to you in a bit."
Briefly, Mercury also thought about why Zyl had not shown up, but the most likely answer was… that he'd tried and simply been slowed down too much by Yearning's incredible mass.
After another short pause, as on cue, Arber turned up, the avatar with the giant pirate hat simply rising from the floor.
"Mercury!" they greeted him. "So you return, matey." Then, the script from last time broke, and their gaze fell on the vomit. "... Rough seas while coming here?"
The mopaaw couldn't help but crack a smile. "You know, you're probably who I missed most about this place."
"Wow, rude," Alice jokingly supplied from next to them. She'd appeared with a gust of wind. Mercury felt the breeze greet him for a short moment before it dissipated. The way she gave life to the things she befriended was really quite something.
Rather than follow that same line of conversation again, Mercury interrupted it before it began. "Alright," he said. "I'm glad to have you both here. Alice. I used an item given by the court of Dust. I've come a day back in time after almost dying."
"What?" the hero asked, confused.
Mercury stared at her. "Look at me. Listen. I've done this fight before. That's the
His words rang out with a gentle ripple. Alice's eyes widened. "Oh, crap."
Then, Mercury's smile widened. "Nah," he said. "Not crappy at all. You see, I know who we're fighting now. I'm gonna fuck them up. Just get me to them."
Alice blinked. "Are… are you sure?"
He nodded. "Very. Let me show you."
Saying so, he drew on
Instead of a light, calm drizzle, it turned into a torrent, a downpour. The raindrops shone with a light silver sheen, and winds rose around him.
"Wow," Alice gasped. "That's… different."
"Right, it is. I also unlocked some evolutions I need to select before we re-do this whole shtick."
Slowly, Alice and Arber nodded. "Right… do you want to get to that right now?"
"Yes. Please, give me a few moments, you two. Trust me on this," he said with conviction. "We're winning this."
"Appy, engage evolutions of
[Evolution confirmed. Engaging. Please pick an option to evolve the Skill into. The price will be the same (666 Skill points), no matter which you choose.]
[1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
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[
[
All three were out. Mercury saw how they were granted to him, but the first two reeked of external influences. No.
[
Mercury frowned. Not this one either. It was better, but again, it would push him into an archetype. Skills didn't usually funnel someone this much… were there external bidders involved in wanting him to pick?
He called up the final Skill.
[
A small smile played along Mercury's face.
[Evolution selected.]
[The individual has acquired the Skill
That was a Skill he could get along with. It took everything he was into account. The fact that it relied on his past was a little strange, but Mercury had learned that to be who he was now, his past mistakes were also important. He could forgive them and still repent by doing better, now. So, he was okay protecting that person.
Taking a deep breath, he felt the evolved Skill settle in place. It was potent, ringing through his astral self. This time, he would not be eroded by yearning. He would stake his existence, and he would prove worthy, because that was part of who he was.
He moved on to
[Evolution confirmed. Engaging. Please pick an option to evolve the Skill into. The price will be the same (34 Skill points), no matter which you choose.]
[1.
2.
[
[
Mercury gave these two a long moment, then picked
Not because he had an issue with death. In fact, once his time came, Mercury would leave, but he did not want to leave with regrets. He smirked. What a contrast to his old life.
[Evolution selected.]
[The individual has acquired the Skill
Once more, the Skill settled in, and he breathed. With these two, there would be no repeat of the last time. His body, physical and astral, had become tougher.
"Hey Appy?" he asked. "The
[Confirmed. Yes, it is. Until the fight with the ruler of Yearning had been completed the individual may not access Skills related to hiding or controlling their own emotions.]
"Right, okay. I can work with that. Why did it not complete?"
[The encounter never was logged as fully completed due to the intention of refighting. When you won, you were losing the bet, and when you had odds greater than 0 of surviving again, the ruler was alive again.]
Mercury hummed for a moment. That was fair. Unfortunate that it did not give him any rewards yet. "What is the difficulty logged at?"
[Due to being determined at the time of setting the
Another nod. That made sense. He could handle that.
Mercury finally turned to Arber and Alice.
"I'm ready."
- - -
A few short minutes later, Mercury found himself back in the twisting, rearranging realm of Yearning. Quartz and amber statues appeared and then disintegrated in front of his eyes. He was once again breathing air generated by relying on
With his skillset, the fact that he was now somewhat familiar with the place meant that it was a lot easier to resist the effects. Things he understood had more trouble harming him through
So, they walked across the shifting grounds, repelling the influence, resisting when the realm itself wanted to split them up, and never yielding to the presence of Yearning, even as it tried to smash Mercury into a pancake against the ground.
He carried himself taller this time, shrugging off the pressure more easily with his stronger spirit. Still, it was difficult, but he did not stumble. Once more he was grateful for the prosthetic, because without it, he would have much more trouble standing upright.
Mercury breathed, and walked forward. This realm… a part of it had come back with him, tethered to his inner world. Now, the whole place felt more malleable. He could feed the influence of Ul'den'tyrel all throughout it, but he could also push against it. Create his own little pocket of authority.
Not that he did. Not yet, no. Mercury breathed, and pulled on
Until, eventually, it happened.
That same pull that he knew would get them to the amber lake, to Yearning and its branching, ever growing limbs.
Last time he had resisted and recast the influence. This time, he twisted it, strengthened it, and flew further ahead.
When he appeared at the amber lake, it was not in the trap that was prepared for him. He was already slingshotted halfway across the lake, falling through the air. Instantly, he stopped his fall with a platform from his rijn.
Already, the lake boiled and frothed in front of him, as the ruler of Yearning rose. Branches grew, limbs snapping into place, as that same enormous body of maws and heads and arms and legs appeared from all around.
The world rippled with its arrival. But they were prepared, and met it with brutal force.
A dozen javelins, infused with streaks of electricity, slammed into the monster's glassy hide and exploded. Parts of it folded in on themselves, crushed by enormous force. Even more was broken and torn apart by Alice.
Ul'den'tyrel writhed as if surprised, reaching out with its growing limbs, but… this time it was harder. Mercury's
Anchoring them, weaving them into the remaining tapestry of the threads that he had gotten last time, Mercury had begun… ripping this world apart.
His mind were deep in ihn'ar, seeing the gaps where the void was. Thread after thread, plucked out of the fading tapestry and added to his own realm. The gaps enlarged and grew, and from between them, Mercury felt a terrible presence that simultaneously felt like nothing at all.
A moment later, that horrible vacuum sprung into being.
The world ripped open. Claws of pure darkness ripped through the gap, entering into the realm of Yearning. They invaded, defiling this once-sacred grove of depravity.
Mercury couldn't tell what the creature of the void looked like. It had claws and eyes, but that was all the descriptions he could give, his mind struggling to grasp it. In fact, without
It turned to him, curiously, reaching out a claw. He was a star, after all, shining so bright-
He didn't hide. Not like last time. He didn't cower from
The creature paused, its claws only stopping just before they touched Mercury. Its hunger shifted into curiosity, and the clawed hand approached again. But, instead of shearing his face into ribbons, they laid softly against his fur.
Still, his skin split easily, and a thin trickle of blood spilled forth, across his cheek. Mercury held the creature's gaze. "I'm no one, like you," he said, quietly. Barely a whisper, hardly audible over the roaring of the lake. Over the air rushing out into the void. But it heard. "I'm angry like you."
Slowly, the creature took its hand off his face. "I want to change this place. Not quite like you, but… well. You know. You get me."
There was another moment, where the void creature held his gaze. That infinite desire to destroy held at bay by a mutual understanding. It breathed.
After a few seconds, it turned around, slowly, its motions a little like a puppet on strings, as if even reaching out and controlling this body was difficult. And all at once…
Its gentle demeanour vanished.
Mercury could hardly tell what happened next, but it happened. In a storm of violence, the creature descended on Yearning. It cut into Ul'den'tyrel without hesitation or restraint, without care for itself.
Violence was all they could know for a few moments, as the battlefield turned into the place of a massacre. Both the void creature and the ruler of Yearning tore into each other, biting, clawing, breaking, as if reduced to their barest selves. All pretenses of great power were abandoned, and the two fought an animalistic tug of war.
Neither won.
Half a second later, it began raining red blood, translucent white blood, and black blood. Horror descended in seconds, as great parts of bodies plunged into the lake, sending great splashes of amber into the sky.
And then it was over. The void creature dragged itself back through the rift and… pulled it closed behind itself. For a moment, Mercury saw all those holes in the world shut themselves. It was whole. For a brief second.
He pulled at those threads, too, unravelling more of the realm under his power. For as long as he could, Mercury undid Yearning, all the while battling against its ruler with Alice and Daryel. Great explosions rocked the lake, rocked the very realm, and the ruler received great wounds.
None were great enough, though, and eventually, the time came where Alice and Daryel were running out of steam. They had thrown resource after resource against the great mass of flesh, and it was simply not enough.
At that moment, Mercury stepped forward.
He was not the strongest on this battlefield, but he had an important skillset. And that was enough.
Without hesitation, he manifested
Mercury willed the amber lake to freeze over, and it crystallized.
In a second, it froze. Threads of the failing world descended on him, applying pressure, but he leaned on
Taking a deep breath, Mercury stepped forward.
Warping the world to acquiesce him, he moved.
In a single step, he slammed into its translucent scales. Then they parted in front of him, as
The pressure was heavy. It was crushing. It was abhorrent, and he felt him losing himself. All his Skills roared in protest, everything he was roared, but Yearning was simply too-
"Appy. A hundred points into Willpower."
Willpower: 258 -> 358
[The individual's Willpower has surpassed 300! Your manifestation becomes steel.]
Instantly, his domain, made up from all those Skills grew denser. Rather than a thin sphere of influence, it turned into an inviolable declaration of himself. Mercury pitted his entire conceptual weight against Yearning - and pushed the creature back.
That manic glint was in his eyes again. Why shouldn't he be able to do this? It only made sense. He had done it before, in another life. He was stronger, now, his will so much more powerful. And with that thought,
In fact… he had been planning to only use this when he got to the core of Yearning. But why wait? He wasn't afraid, he was angry.
"Hey! Ul'den'tyrel!" Mercury screamed as loudly as he could.
A moment later, the insides of the ruler shuddered and twisted with a ripple of power. For a moment, thousands of eyes opened up on the inside of the translucent skin, staring at Mercury. Then, they were washed away by rainfall.
No, it wouldn't happen that way around. If there was a staredown…
Mercury would do the staring.
Without hesitation, he
Thousands of impressions, of horrifying hunger and desire and pain and despair and fury flooded into him. A consciousness so vast and ancient it almost swallowed him, blew him away like a tsunami might do a park bench.
But it didn't.
Mercury gritted his teeth. He bore with it. "... So fucking what?!" He'd suffered. He'd hated. He'd wanted. But that didn't matter.
A vast ancient consciousness of suffering was still just that. It was an amalgamation of pain and of greed and of a thousand million other things and all of them paled in front of Mercury. Like a raging storm, he rose against the torrent of foreign feelings.
"So what!!"
Every single person out there went through tough shit. What separates the good from the bad is those who hurt others because of it. Some things were fine. Stealing instead of starving was fine. Taking from the ultra-rich was fine. In fact, Mercury was even fine with hating people who pushed others down.
Which is what Yearning was. Like a billionaire whining about not having enough yachts it snatched more people, more places, all to satisfy its undying want. Without deserving them, without earning anything, it just took.
Mercury did the same thing as last time… and rejected Ul'den'tyrel again. He had the power now, the raw force of will to push the ruler back. His mind slammed into their fragmented one with all the force he could muster.
He felt the impact ring out all throughout the giant creature, cracking its skin. His
Violently, he broke through all its defenses. None of them mattered. None of them were valid. It was stupid excuses for cruelty. He
Bit by bit, he cracked that mindset open. He crushed brick after brick, spreading the damage. That fractured spirit came together to resist his strikes, but it didn't matter. They couldn't resist. Even as the bits of Yearning were fused together against his strikes, Mercury whittled them down.
And then, eventually, after dozens of uses of
Ul'den'tyrel was in there. A creature that was so small and fragile it hadn't even hatched yet, and still, despite all that, it had done so much hurt.
The pressure descended even harsher on Mercury, the same pain that last time could have extinguished his spirit, like water on a flame.
Instead, Mercury doused that fury in gasoline.
"Stop. Taking!" He screamed at the creature,
He laid it all out blankly, every bit of experience he had in his life, and rejected that incessant desire to take and devour that Yearning expressed.
Ul'den'tyrel… crumbled.
The ruler of Yearning, a broken throne, and experience that had defied death itself. An ancient monster that clung to life despite its time being over, thought of with terror and reverence, with the fear of getting too close and being turned into an amber statue.
A plague that had ruined hundreds of lives, hundreds of places… all fell apart.
It started small, a thin crack spreading through the walls of that core room, but then it spread. Once the floodgates were opened, there was no stopping it. Crack by crack, piece by piece, the giant creature, part tree, part antlers, part abomination… it broke.
Bit by bit, it fell onto the frozen amber lake, bits of skin and fur and scale dissolving atop the icy orange.
Mercury frowned. It wasn't enough to just do that. No, he wanted to do better.
Without hesitation, even if he knew it might hurt, he began to pull. The world, the realm of Yearning itself, came undone under the force of his mind. It wasn't even held together by a ruler anymore, and already, the whole weight of it wanted to descend onto him.
But he'd been prepared. He had already woven the beginnings of the framework when he absorbed the previous threads, when Alice and Daryel bought him that time. Now… even with a world descending, it simply had to rearrange itself and slow in.
Like pieces of a puzzle, thread by thread, it all slotted together. Yearning was being devoured, falling in on Mercury and rearranging itself there.
Except, he didn't devour it all.
Almost all of it, sure, but then, bit by bit, the tapestry he had prepared for it, the framework, was completed. But a few threads still drifted around, aimlessly, with nowhere to go. Too few to really pressure Mercury, but enough to where he could grasp hold of them.
[Your understanding of
Mercury knew Ul'den'tyrel now. He had seen all their suffering, all their struggles, all their desires even. And he hated them for it. All people who took so incessantly deserved to have it all taken away.
But now? There was hardly anything left of this place. Already, the people who had been held in crystal shells were thawing. Finally free, after however long they'd been trapped. Always gasping for air.
Gently, Mercury reached out to the egg, and changed it. Bit by bit. It was a delicate change he made, not enormous, but yet one that would influence the core of Yearning. In fact, it would hardly be Yearning anymore at all.
Mercury didn't feel the need to ask for permission. He had
So, he did what he felt was right. With the marks he had left, with every instance of
All he did was take away a little bit of that desire for ownership, and added a little bit of joy into there. And that was all.
If he changed any more than that, he would also just be taking. He was curious what would happen now, though… Then, it did happen.
Amidst a crumbling, falling realm, from the death of the old, something new arose. The egg in the middle of the decaying corpse cracked, and hatched.
The creature that rose from it was small. It did not have many features. A pair of antlers on its head. Tree-like growths as a body. A glowing orb at the center of its chest, and another as a head, both featureless and perfectly spherical.
A thousand fractured pieces of suffering had been broken down into dust, molten down in the crucible that was Mercury's mind, and reforged. It was a little like smithing, really. He was glad to have learnt that before trying this.
Slowly, he let out a long held breath. As the young fae ruler looked around, Mercury slowly lowered the intensity of
In fact… Before he could move, the young sprite approached him.
Then, it twirled in the air and landed on his shoulder.
Mercury took another breath. He saw notifications.
[You have changed Ul'den'tyrel of Yearning. Get: A Wish. A World]
He smiled faintly. He had already gotten the world. Silently, without saying it out loud… He wished for everyone who had been hurt by Yearning to be okay. A good chunk of it was focused on old Uunrahzil, but he didn't want Daryel's wife to emerge from the crystal as a corpse or something.
This wasn't a monkey's paw type wish, so it was okay. This was a good use of it, he thought.
[Wish granted.]
Then, he faced the little fae again. "Hey there. What's your name, bud?"
[You have sired a new faerie ruler of the court of "Appreciation"! Congratulation! Please choose a name.]
Mercury blinked faintly. He thought people choosing their own names was nicer, generally, but then again, perhaps in faerie culture, people enjoyed being given names? He did not know. "How about… Uldyrel?"
A brief pause.
[Ruler satisfaction acknowledged. Name registered for entity. "Uldyrel, ruler of Appreciation".]
Small parts of what had once been Yearning were still with the young fae. Mercury was happy with this outcome.
Slowly, the two of them floated to the floor, walking along an invisible staircase, as the enormous corpse of Yearning decayed behind them.
And not long later, Mercury stood next to Daryel. The old woman was embracing the fox-lady that he had seen cast in amber only a little bit ago. All signs of dignity were gone from both of them, sobbing their hearts out.
He smiled at Alice and she smiled back.
Mercury didn't feel the urge to go back in time anymore.