บท 34: In His Design
I have bestowed upon you many things Dureaus. One of them is Orbis Designare. The other– Manifestus Realis. Use them wisely my son.
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Orbis Designare– or Orb of Design. One of the many things my mother has given me. Not a very grimdark ability I'll say.
Orbis Designare, is that the blue orb floating around the two dead bodies? They were small like distant stars. Pale blue– saturated in dullness as if impure. Impure in a sense of quality. My heavy steps carried me as I made my way towards the new wall decor. I don't know his name– I know he's human– But he's not a human in the Universe of Vendra.
They are not my people, I am alone here…
As I got closer, the orb springs to life before looping itself into me. No pain, no pleasure; nothing glorifying about the procedure. I do, however, feel new knowledge. Better– I know a new value. The man was specifically worth one orb of design. Mother did mention better foes yield the most value out of this ability of mine.
Walking to the pile of guts and blood on the other end of the circular room, I stopped just before reaching it. I reached deep in concentration, searching for the source of power.
I felt it, like imbedding a string into an object and pulling it in; the orb made its way inside me. A numerical display in my head shows the value of orbs I have, seeing only two is degrading in a way like seeing a small bank account. It seems I don't have to be in close proximity… I'll have to test it more.
Orbis Designare… a fitting name. Like conjuring a mental image of modification and creation– like a blueprint. Activation is easy– just think of a design, what you want in it, where you want in it– all of that– placed into one simple 3D model. I foresee some limitations: one being imagination. Along with the general interface, a catalog of possible mods follows. To show how long the list goes, I see no slider…
The catalog is separated into three categories: Technological, Supernatural, and Biological. Technological deals with the more mechanized section of designing. From Screws to guns to nuclear warheads. Supernatural deals with the more unexplainable side of the world. Ki, Chakra, Faith, ghost, the extramundane of no sense. Biological– a more convoluted portion of the ability– more so than the Supernatural catalog. The Bio catalog is the key to the start of my Legion. DNA structure, organs, the body– freely adjustable to my liking– emotions and way of thinking just by tinkering the brain. The biological catalog is by far focused heavily on the finer details. Imagination is key if I'm to use this ability correctly.
The other limitation is the orbs themselves. The quality of orbs goes higher the harder the foe is to defeat. A little misleading: the orbs grow in size and purity of color the harder the foe. That purity and size dictate the numerical yield. In simpler terms– stronger foe equals a better paycheck. A supernatural ability within itself. I can question how my mother infused such a fine addition in strength, I find no logical reason aside from being reborn; and I'm told that this is but one of many things done to me… how much power did she use? Such power can't come from somewhere–
More of a reason to get a hold of this world for her strength to increase as well as reputation…
Assuming there's no max amount of value I can gain from this, I do wonder: do I have to kill the target… or beat them near death for it to consider defeat?
…
I guess I can test that with them…
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A large group of Hunters entered Dureaus's dungeon. Unbeknownst to him, the mana oozing from the Gate increased tremendously, going from E to B rank within a couple of ours. As for the reason, none can be ascertained at the moment. Such a sudden spike in energy readings left fate of the Gate's location found sooner by the Korean Hunter's Association. Such a spike left them in a concerning state. Going from E to B– or to them– suddenly finding a B rank Gate with enough mana to be mistaken as an A rank Gate– it had to end now.
Twenty; a mixture of high end C ranks to low end A ranks, a massive group to be sure. Well balanced, half being vets just based on scars alone.
As they entered, an unmistaken chill washes over them.
"I feel like I'm being watched…" comments a female Hunter with a mace and shield. A tank if one had to guess. Her voice bassy and throaty, a masculine woman of the trade.
"Eyes peeled!" Ordered a man wielding a bow of ornate design, "Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Don't let your guard down. A reminder that this dungeon is barely B rank on th—"
"Primus fǣr."
The bowman stopped, his breath caught in his throat. His feet were heavy as if chained to a ball. His body is like a statue.
He wasn't the only one. Each and every hunter felt it. An aura of malignant magnitude. For a second, it seemed to be visible to them. A black fire outlined in white ember edges. All contained behind the giant stone doors. To some… it seemed too fragile to hold whatever it is emitting such energies.
"Ak… gha–yrh…" They couldn't utter a sensible word.
They heard it– Primus fǣr– uttered calmly, almost a whisper. Now, they feel more than just eyes lingering on them. They feel a hunger– a greed only a dragon could muster.
Then, as if the gravity suddenly lifted, the pressure declines in presents. Some fell on their knees, some held their throats, some were already unconscious. No words, just gasping breaths filled the silence of the room. Those that were still in grip with reality, looked upon the giant stone double doors.
The room shook, those gazing at the door saw the reason. Yet, as they watched the stone door open, a fog wall obscured the other side. The golden veil gave off dread in some off putting way.
Still, they were hunters. Took some time but they rallied. Reorganized and energized, they thought themselves ready as they entered the fog door.
Thought themselves ready…
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'So they've entered,' I thought to myself, 'a different approach compared to the two I met some minutes ago. Maybe a time difference, but such a drastic number escalation… is my Gate gaining recognition?
…
It doesn't matter.'
I watched as I let all twenty enter the room. Each one in awe or shock– or both.
"H–how are we supposed to kill that thing?" said a female mage quaking in her robes.
"Do not be intimidated! Size doesn't matter!" said a different male bowman.
'Someone's coping,' I couldn't help but chuckle in my head.
Seeing as everyone's here, I stood in the middle of the room. My arena already had a taste of blood. Some of the individuals glanced at my redecorations of crimson red. Wide eyed and horrified– by the Empress I believe I'm becoming a sadist but that look is quite… gratifying.
…
Maybe sadist isn't the right word because that's more implied towards sexual attributes. Either way, I could feel it. There's some fat cows in the group. I can sense the quality and quantity of the orbs from each of them. More than a satisfying amount for a start. Maybe not to the desired amount to create a firstborn, but something is better than nothing.
'Primus fǣr,' not an innate ability of mine. Oddly enough, the source came straight from Orbis Designare. A fear effect costing only one orb. It seems I'm not regulated only to living or inanimate designs. With enough orbs, I can create one time use abilities of my own. Though, it seems I have to say the words outloud to activate the design… how anime in stature. A supernatural ability, as to how it was cast– Manifestus Realis.
Manifestus Realis is an interesting choice. Orbis Designare allows me to visualize a design to fit a task I want to complete, Manifestus Realis is the means to turn it into reality. I wonder… is Manifestus only affecting Orbis Designare or can I stretch that towards something similar to how the orks function with their belief system they have going on? For now, I have no idea how something in my head with the use of orbs can just turn to reality, but best not question the hand that feeds me.
Another answer for another time; I watched them, amusing how none attacked right away. Judging from the orbs I feel from them I'd wager between B and A ranks– some high Cs in the mixture. I wonder if Bs or As can wound me… not a chance I'd even let them touch my paint.
But I watched, standing with my arms by my side and feet shoulder width apart– just standing normally. Though, by the looks of their eyes, I'd say I'm standing quite menacingly. I may not give them the chance to even scratch the paint of my armor, but I'd at least give them the time to think their last thoughts.
How ignorant for them to waste it on buffs and spells…
"Fatigue!" A male spellcaster shouted.
As he completed his nonsensical shouting to no doubt activate his ability, I felt… nothing. As I watched my golden visors, I assumed it's active by the way the mongrel smiles.
"Protection of Aegis!"
"Critical Spite!"
"Dawn of Endurance!"
One after another, buffs were thrown left and right. It's been fifty-nine seconds since they entered–
ȧ̴̭̐n̴̝̯̔d̸̤̃ ̷̳̐Ì̸̦ ̵̛͕̀g̶̹͛r̶̜̆o̶̗̩͆w̵͎̫̌͘ ̵̯̐̆t̴͓̘̎̕í̶͚̎r̶̦̋ẽ̵͇͌d̵͕̱̎
"Dar–"
Dark something, maybe a debuff on me or a buff on the party. One minute is more than enough to forgive themselves for being born. For being born not under the banner of my mother– 𝔐𝔶 𝔈𝔪𝔭𝔯𝔢𝔰𝔰. Death shall be their punishment.
"HMMF– hmpf!"
The person I cut off mid gibberish– not so important spell casting was squirming as I held him high by the head. My hand fully covered his head. He kicked and tried to pry my armored gauntlet off his face. My palm muffled his voice of protest.
"LET GO OF HIM!" a woman screamed, arrow drawn and looking oh so fierce.
I turned to the party then to her. By their quickened heart rates, they can't fathom the speed in which I stood and now threaten to crush the head of this plebeian. Especially her, the hooded typical ranger with an arrow drawn. She smelled anxious, her heart beating faster than the rest, her eyes strained like no other.
I wiggled the poor fella a bit, like a bottle of ketchup. His broken grunts got a reaction out of her, she shot arrow after arrow– that's when it clicked.
"A… lover…" I spoke in slow revelation. A revelation of my intelligence to speak. A revelation of her horror. I sense the quickening of their heartbeats going faster than ever before.
I wouldn't want to keep two lovebirds separate; in the name of quickly getting them back together, I fastballed him towards her. I sensed the sudden rush of speed quickly taking out the entirety of the man's breath, killing him in flight. The swing of my arm breaking the sound barrier. The woman didn't fare any better. The direct impact was like a bolter round hitting a normal human being: both of them splattered in close proximity of where she stood– dousing some of their party members like a paintball grenade.
The splash took them out of their stupor; some wiped the red off their face. The ones that did came to a realization now if they hadn't before. I can't tell if these guys are veterans of the trade or just untrained or tempered, freezing in place like that after what I've done– the woman had more courage then these runts.
Too late for their late realization of their foul existence. I've waited enough and those orbs of theirs are calling to me.
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A massacre, no buff or debuff could contain or give an advantage. The speed, the strength, it's intelligence, they were completely caught off guard. The sudden rush from standing to manhandling a man from their party seemed like a blur. Then it talked, none encountered a boss monster that had the ability of speech.
A midnight blur, the death of two party members woke them up. But that only made them aware of their demise. After the two for one special, their ranged fighters were the first to fire. Arrows and spells flew towards Duraeus, but just as he promised to himself, he weave and dodged with minimal movement. The projectiles were so close yet so far– that's only speaking of touching his armor let alone actually hitting. If seeing a giant splatter of blood didn't demoralize them enough, seeing a giant sway his way out of 'danger' made them wish they were still ignorant of their wrongdoings. From the entrance to now… they truly were fucked as the saying goes.
The fear ability was one of two things to set the stage, the fog wall was the other. By using Orbis Designare and Manifestus Realis, the fog door cost exactly one orb– same with the fear spell. A diluted and confusing cost– one for only a simple fear spell. One would think it would be longer… it would've been if the ability lasted for more than one second.
The fear, the fog, the stature, his imposing stance and silence until the very end– even as he grabbed three of the Hunters and completely closed his metacarpus– watched whilst dodging as the guts and blood drained from his gauntlet– he never spoke another word. He fought in silence. A silence not out of necessity nor for focus, a silence for there is nothing more to say. No words for the pitiful foes, no need for words for dead men. Silence… was all the sentence he needed to convey their doom.
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'~and then there was one–'
More bodies to my collection. The corpses lay scattered; most were in a deluge of red, those that stayed in one piece were missing a limp or two… or more. Me being such a giant left me with such a simple attack pattern. Bending forward just to swing at them I felt was beneath me and taking a piece off anything in the room– wall, ceiling, floor– felt wrong like it would be destroying my mother's sacred place. So I played the 'what would you do if there was a child in front of you' game and ended up punting most of them into the walls for new decor.
What can I say, I'm against destroying the arena… but since they touched it last…
I digress, one still stands only because I want to test something.
A tank– no shield nor sword, the smell of sweat and horrid piss and shit– he was a disgrace to the class of tanks. The fear radiated off him like aura, his eyes wide– eyeballs threatening to leave his sockets if they were any wider. Mouth drooling as if some of his bodily functions like swallowing saliva shut down.
"You… forfeit," I spoke slowly and broken, acting like I'm still learning their language– in this case Hangugeo.
I wasn't sure my words reached him. The moment he heard my vox speakers and my filtered voice through them, I swear he shat himself a little more even if his bowels were empty by the amount of shit coming off him prior to this. But, he did nod his head, giving me the answer I knew would come.
It seems… my test came back positive– wording. As he admitted defeat, multiple orbs of design spawned off him. They floated like a balloon, slowly descending and ascending as it orbited the empty space around it and around themselves.
I may have found a loophole. Mother did say defeat– or somewhere around those lines– yet didn't mention if I could defeat them only once.
I raised my bloodied hand, index finger extended out as I curled the rest and my thumb inward.
"FOR…FEIT!" My vox boomed in absolution.
He shook his head up and down so fast it felt like I had motion blur at a hundred percent. To make my perception take his head shaking motion as a mere blur is astonishing considering my eyes are that of a Primarchs…
Disappointing yet was worth a try. I wondered if making him confirm his defeat again in such a short time span would yield to another orb… guess not. I wonder if a certain amount of time or if only two can be harvested at once from one source.
As for why I think two only–
—CRUNCH!
–I wasn't so sure but shit, would you look at that– another orb.
In conclusion, defeat by surrendering grants an orb and defeat by death also grants an orb.
As for him… don't worry, he forfeited. That makes his life mine to dictate, and his life served well.
With the death around me, I wonder if I could've harvested the rest before I killed the– whoa… that's… that's dangerous. This ability is dangerous for the mind.
…
To see living beings as only sacks of currency, I can't take such a simple desire to take a hold of me. It matters not if I kill others, but the reason shall not be so shrewed by a slave like money or coin. I can't and I won't; if I can't master this how else am I to stand against the temptations of chaos. I shall not be like my brothers that turned–
–and I shall not let them either if I can help it.
I wonder… this greed I'm feeling… is that my dragonic mutation in my DNA– the one my mother added. I need more answers.
For now, as I look upon the numerical value of orbs I currently hold in stock, I can start sketching for future plans. Although… Where should I start?
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