Apocalypse Redux

Chapter 208: Another Round of Aspect Hunting

Fixing his private summoning area would have taken Isaac days and the end result would have been vastly inferior if he’d done it himself.

To Karl, on the other hand, walking here had taken more effort than repairing the mess the Death Knights had left.

“Thanks.” Isaac said “By the way, how were your holidays?”

“Chaotic.” Karl said “Someone decided to use magic to build a kid’s winter paradise and I had my young cousins begging me to do the same.”

Isaac chuckled despite himself “And then what happened?”

“I gave them a little snow to play with outside and went back to drinking Glühwein in front of the fireplace.” Karl said “Now, I’m going to head back to the university … unless this place is going to need fixing again in an hour?”.

“Probably.” Isaac sighed.

“Call me when you’re done, but you’d better have some burgers ready when you do.” Karl called back as he melted into the ground and swam through it like a dolphin through water, shooting off into the distance.

Isaac chuckled as he watched his colleague leave. He himself might be able to walk through walls with casual ease, but Karl’s ability to treat solid objects like a swimming pool was still strange to him. Though apparently, it was a convenient method of transportation.

He made one final check of his kitchen to make sure he could “pay” his colleague later, then looked over his summoning and combat supplies and finally, he got on with the part of his day he was truly looking forward to.

The magic circle was drawn, materials added, mana poured into the magical diagram and finally, it was charged. But unlike normal, Isaac didn’t immediately summon the monster, instead choosing to wait to recover all his mana. This fight was going to be neither easy or quick.

And then, it was time to face the monster. Finally.

The Lich erupted from the circle, immediately casting [Flight] and flying skywards, opening up the distance. It looked like a someone had taken a regular old human skeleton, bleached the bones to the point where they gleamed white, replaced the flesh that connected the various bits with threads of an energy so dark it seemed to swallow the light and finally dressed the whole affair in the clothing of a medieval nobleman.

Isaac’s cloud of blades chased the monster, a rainbow of colors covering them as they were empowered by various [Strikes].

At the same time, he unleashed a [Far Strike] from Balmung, empowering the attack with as much mana as he could to reinforce the spectral blade extension.

[Chain Lightning] flared from the skeletal caster’s hands, the arc of plasma jumping from metal blade to metal blade, knocking them off target and obliterating the enhancing [Skills].

It took the Lich a split second to cast its next Spell. Sure, it could cast more spells while old ones were in effect, but spellcasters couldn’t string attacks together nearly as quickly as melee fighters could. That tiny delay between attacks was most casters’ biggest weakness, but this time around, it wasn’t enough of time for Isaac’s follow up strike to land.

The skeletal monster used its already cast [Flight] to avoid the initial cut and when Isaac brought around the glowing blade extension of [Far Strike], it hammered a [Force Bolt] through his [Skill]. It promptly shattered.

Isaac sighed. He’d expected that, but it wasn’t exactly a good thing to have it confirmed. [Far Strike] was the [Skill] that scaled the worst with his Level increase and was just too fragile to stand up to combat at this point.

No matter, there were other ways to deal with a flying enemy.

Isaac activated [Flight of the Poltergeist], hiding his mass from the universe and making it, as far as the rules of physics were concerned, functionally zero. So when flames burst from the bottom of his feet, he shot skywards like a bottle rocket.

The Lich backed up, a [Magic Missile] launching from each of its bony fingers, the bolts of arcane energy curving around to come at him from every possible angle.

Isaac hurled Balmung at it, the force of the throw flinging him in the opposite direction, the bolts passing through the empty spot he’d occupied mere milliseconds before.

The Lich flicked its fingers and the missiles’ glow increased as they were recharged and empowered. When Isaac had dodged, the [Magic Missiles] had been on their terminal approach and therefore, their tracking function had been disabled. Now though, they’d been stuffed with enough power to chase him to the ends of the Earth if need be.

Another burst of fire sent him flying upwards, extending the amount of space he had to evade.

At the same time, Balmung flew towards the Lich, its speed suddenly redoubling as he applied [Remote Wielding] to accelerate it.

The monster dodged by the barest of margins, only moving far enough that even applying the full power of his [Skill] wouldn’t have let him land the hit. It had failed to account for the fact that he could change his soulbound weapon into a far larger form and ignite it with hellfire.

Originally, the plan had probably been to move as little as was feasible to counterattack as early as possible. Now though, it had to focus on putting out its flaming robes ASAP.

Using a combination of [Wave Charge] and riding a pillar of flame, Isaac flung himself at the monster, summoning Balmung back into his hand and wreathing himself in a cloak of napalm-infused hellfire. If they connected, the Lich would be lit on fire in a way that would be a million times harder to put out. So it made sure that didn’t happen.

Isaac had nearly reached the skeleton when an opaque barrier blocked his path, appearing less than a centimeter from his nose.

[Phantom Step] placed him behind the Lich while leaving behind the cloak of flame, which had kept all of its previous momentum and splattered against the magic shield. The hellfire clung to it like superglue, completely blocking its view.

The [Magic Missiles], meanwhile , continued to track Isaac … who was currently behind their master. The Lich took a split second to dismiss them, time it would have needed to prevent Isaac from smashing a [Legendary Blow: All the Strikes] right through its shield sphere from its blind spot.

The initial barrier shattered like glass, but the Lich immediately threw up a second, far tougher one. It had sensed him teleport, it had just been too slow to react to properly react.

One problem, though. This one was a half-sphere, exposing its back and allowing the flames that had covered the previous shield to drip onto its clothing.

Being a skeleton, a Lich could easily survive all sorts of things that would kill an ordinary, living being. Extreme cold, being struck by lightning, even being lit on fire would be nowhere near lethal to it. However, they also lacked the same recovery abilities that most life forms, and almost all summoners, had, which meant that taking any damage it took would stick for a long time.

Which left it to put out the fire while trusting the shield to keep Isaac at bay. The defensive Spell might only cover half its body, but it could be adjusted as needed. It was also too tough for Isaac to break in the time it would take to put out the fire with anything short of [I Am The Sword]. The Lich had seen his teleportation trick before, it had also seen all his ranged options and deemed them insufficient to threaten it.

What it hadn’t considered was Isaac taking the time to fling his Kabars into the ceiling of his summoning room while hiding the motion with his body.

Now, if he’d used [Remote Wielding] to pull them down, the Lich would have sensed the [Skill]. It wasn’t classified as a Spell, but it was still worked mana cast well outside the body and projected through the air.

However, all of Isaac’s weapons were a part of Old Reliable, from the humble Kabar he’d gotten off Amazon to the legendary weapon of Balmung, a blade that had felled knights, kings, queens and even dragons. As for Old Reliable, well, it was a part of him, [The Chosen Weapon] having fused to his very soul. And his soul yearned to have all its pieces in one place.

Distracted by having to direct its shield against Isaac, forced to look at him to keep him in view, and being unable to reasonably use its magic to do something other than put out the fire currently consuming it … checkmate.

Five blades punched through the monster’s ribcage. Being a skeleton, that didn’t do much damage, even when the swords were on bloody fire. However, he’d transformed the small blades into their Kriegsmesser forms and their crossguards had caught on the ribs, pulling the monster towards him, straight into another fully strengthened [Legendary Blow]. The combination of the Lich’s momentum, the force of his attack and the follow up strike with the [Aura of the Crimson Dawn], the shield shattered.

The close-quarters [Aura] condensed around the Lich’s shoulders, holding it tight just long enough for him to grasp a hold of it.

A [Force Wave] hammered into his face at point-blank range, flinging him back, a torn-off bony arm still clutched in one hand.

Ordinarily, the Lich would have used that as an opportunity to open up the distance again, but it was still impaled and held in place.

Ignoring the flames licking up its body once again, the Lich waved its remaining hand in an arcane pattern, clearly preparing a far stronger spell.

Isaac grinned as he charged straight at it atop a pillar of fire, Balmung at the ready and glowing a deep crimson from the multiple stacks of [Power Strike] he’d strengthened it with.

He wouldn’t make it in time, he knew that. Spellcasters might not be able to spam their attacks, but at range, they were stupidly dangerous. However, they were also rather vulnerable to distraction, by significant damage and the like.

In other words, when each of the blades that impaled the Lich suddenly transformed into the largest swords Isaac had and its ribcage exploded, the spell winked out like a light.

And the time it had left after that wasn’t long enough to do anything to avoid Balmung from going straight through one eye socket and exploding out of the back of its head.

A burst of fire from Isaac’s other hand obliterated the remains of its already shattered body, and all that was left of the monster was the half-broken skull impaled on his sword.

Yet the damn monster was still alive … which meant the phylactery hadn’t been in the part of the skull he’d smashed. The sheer amount of damage Isaac had inflicted meant that it would take a little bit of time to recover and start moving the broken remains of its body again. And casting mending spells would take literally days.

Isaac summoned a second copy of Balmung into his left and smashed straight through the skull, reducing it to fragments.

Lich (Lv. 125) has been slain. 3.000 XP gained

Great. The phylactery was normally located somewhere in the skull, but on rare occasions, the damn thing was hidden inside random bones in a Lich’s body. Given how hard the “soul jar” was to find using magic or sensory [Auras], locating it was always a pain in the ass unless it was in the skull.

The phylactery was also why Liches were some of the most dangerous monsters to get loose. When it was summoned, the gemstone that contained its soul was somewhere on its body and reasonably easy to find. However, once the monster killed its summoner, it had the opportunity to hide the phylactery and any would-be Lich slayers would have the devil’s time finding it to kill the monster for good.

Isaac looked around his summoning area. It looked pretty alright for the battle that had just taken place in it, but he knew it wouldn’t be by the time he’d gained the Aspect he wanted, not unless he got very lucky.

But first, he had to wait for his mana to recover, so he did some work on his phone and looked over his notifications.

Unfortunately, his professional email account was once again overflowing. Isaac had publicized the exact abilities of [Blessing of Innovation] as it, while being the ultimate force multiplier, worked best when spread out across the entirety of the scientific community.

And now, everyone wanted it.

Simply put, scientists were a … special lot. Plenty of them could work together just fine, but a lot of them couldn’t, and it was the latter group that desperately needed his [Skill]. With it, they could critique their own work just fine, without, shudder, having to work together with others.

Which left him with a million different requests, offers, bribes even, trying to get him to come to somewhere to help. If he thought he’d been in demand when he’d gotten [Hildebrand’s Heir], he was the belle of the ball now.

Of course, Isaac had announced some ground rules alongside with the fact that he’d gotten the [Skill].

First off, he wouldn’t travel anywhere to grant the [Skill] unless he was already heading that way. For example, he’d dropped by Seoul university during the family holiday for an hour to work together with Professor Kim for a bit. Otherwise, anyone who wanted his help would have to come to him.

Secondly, there would be no multiple appeals, at least not for the same project. His [Blessing of Innovation] was an incredibly limited resource, and there were far more deserving recipients than there were charges to disseminate. In other words, you got one chance to convince him and that was that. Anybody who bugged him would never get any help.

Isaac sighed. He’d given control of his professional email to the team’s IT people, but even with three, four if one including him, people on the case, the number of unread emails was ever climbing.

And then there were the people who’d messaged his other professional email address, the one he used for his company. Those people got an immediate “this is the wrong email” automated response and asked to message the right one. They’d already have a strike against them for trying to circumvent the system, but he’d still be willing to hear them out. Anyone who messaged the company address again anyway would be blacklisted.

But none of those were the real problem. No, that honor went to choice paralysis. For all the people with projects that were interesting intellectually but wouldn’t better the world much, if they did any good at all, there were a lot with ideas that could be genuinely world changing. Of course, there would be plenty of those impactful projects that straight up didn’t work, or weren’t as good as they were advertised, but at least some would hopefully help.

And then, his mana topped off and he was ready to once more fight a Lich.

And once again, thirty minutes later. And again and again and a dozen more times, until he’d finally gotten what he’d been looking for.

Aspect of the Lich:

This is the distilled essence of what makes a Lich a Lich. Curse your opponent to let you inflict injuries that last, keep the perfection of your form for all eternity, and more.

Or do you wish to fully transcend the limits of mortality, create a Phylactery and a skeletal body to live for eternity?

Requirements for Activation:

5,000 XP

Open Aspect Slot

Grants:

+20 (15 base +5 bonus from Einherjar race) Magic Power

One of the following Skills:

Perfect Form

Superiority of Undeath

Lich’s Curse

Skeletal Body Manifestation

Phylactery Creation

The [Skills] offered by this Aspect were essentially split into two “sets”.

The first was comprised of [Skeletal Body Manifestation] and [Phylactery Creation], which combined to allow their wielder to change their race into “Lich” and become almost immortal. Becoming a Lich was, in fact, the earliest available method to become functionally immortal. It was also easily the worst one, given that it came with a ton of drawbacks.

The other gave a lot of the same benefits that undeath gave without any of the drawbacks, and those were what he focused on. Two [Skills] to serve as upgrades to his existing Aspect [Skills], and one new one.

Perfect Form (epic)

The Lich is eternal.

The Lich does not degrade.

The Lich is perfection.

However, the Lich’s form can take damage, and as such small chips and cracks mount, eventually, it’ll lose the lofty descriptor of “perfect”.

And if the transformation into an undying Lich were so limited, no one would choose to follow that path, which is why most people who take it include a kind of insurance policy against such a thing occurring.

With this Skill, bit by bit, any damage the user suffers will eventually be undone. Barring interference by curses, hostile Skills or the like, and as long as no additional damage is taken, any damage that does not kill the user of this Skill will be undone within a week.

[Perfect Form] was a powerful regenerative effect, but only if given enough time. Strangely enough, it was also an ability that the Lich as a monster hadn’t had, but then again, the [System] could be weird sometimes.

This [Skill] meant that even without spending a ton of mana, he could recover from anything. Eventually.

Superiority of Undeath (epic)

Needing air, being susceptible to diseases, dying from simple toxins, dropping dead just because of a traumatic injury causing shock … mortal bodies suck, don’t they?

Which is why it’s important to have a Skill such as this.

You will now need barely any air, survive all but the most lethal of toxins, automatically murder any microorganism who try to infect you, your resistance to shock is vastly increased and radiation will not bother you unless you try to go swimming in a nuclear reactor’s wastewater.

In other words, unless something or someone deliberately kills you, you do something incredibly stupid or you are subject to the greatest of natural disasters, nothing will kill you before your time.

(Einherjar Bonus: all resistances are 50% more effective)

And then there was the second Lich ability. It made one of the [Skills] Isaac had gotten from his fish Aspects superfluous, namely, the one that let him breathe underwater, but that was unavoidable. He hadn’t expected to get these undead Aspects as he hadn’t known about the Einherjar racial bonus ahead of time, but at the end of the day, it wasn’t that big of a deal.

He could get several other useful tricks from the fish Aspects he’d get from the future and [Superiority of Undeath] let him do a ton more stuff than just cosplay as an aquatic animal. It was a simple [Skill], but a damn good one.

Which just left the last one.

Lich’s Curse (epic)

Cold, bony fingers reach out from beyond the veil of death to grasp your throat, to squeeze until it feels as though you may never breathe again, until you too will join the being that exists in a place so innately hostile to the living.

This is the sensation of having the curse of a Lich fall upon your shoulders, to have the veil of death surround you while the Grim Reaper takes you by the hand to take you away from this life.

Those who are cursed by this Skill lose their natural ability to heal from injuries, their blood will all but refuse to clot, leaving them bleeding profusely from even the most superficial of wounds.

Furthermore, the Curse halves the effectiveness of self-healing Skills and makes healing potions almost useless.

Cost: 250 mana per target, 50 mana per hour upkeep after the first hour

(Einherjar Bonus: magical healing from other people is 200% more expensive upon the cursed)

Isaac was a speed-based fighter, able to quickly cause a lot of injuries, but not put a lot of power behind his strikes. A powerful regenerator, or someone who was just damn powerful, would be a pain in the ass for him to deal with. With this [Skill], though, any injuries he inflicted would actually stick.

He checked the time and realized it was almost time to go to work, so he briefly looked over his Status and headed over there.

Name: Isaac Thoma

Class: Incarnation of the Promethean Spirit

Species: Einherjar

Level: 114

XP: 47,119/1,150,000

Health Status: Healthy

Mana: 2,800/2,800

Stats

Fortitude

245 (+20)

Perception

400

Strength

290 (+15)

Agility

500

Magic Power

270 (+10)

Magic Regeneration

500

Free Points: 0 Stat, 0 Skill

Aura

Aura of the Crimson Dawn (short range, combat, blood, regeneration)

Aura of the Desperate Seeker (long range, sensory, mental, projection)

Aura of the Eternal Warrior (mid range, combat/mental/sensory, armament)

Central Skills

Form of Horror XXV

The Chosen Weapon XXVIII

I Am The Sword XIII

Grave of Swords XXII

Armory of Ancient Times XVII

Legacy of a True Warrior XIII

Divine Fire VII

Skills

Hundred Faces XXVII

Stealth XXIX

Power Strike XXX

Piercing Strike XXX

Sundering Strike XXX

Blades XXX

Sneak XXVII

Sweeping Strike XVII

Far Strike XXVII

Manifold Strike XXII

Hunter’s Gaze XXX

Phantom Step XXII

Unknown Fear XXVIII

Bestial Regeneration XXVIII

Undying Focus XXIV

Tools of Terror XX

Fleeting Presence XVII

Crippling Blow XVIII

Absolute Blade Mastery XVIII

Compounded Impact XVIII

True Cut VIII

Legendary Blow XVII

Fully Geared XII

Knightly Leader XVI

Analyze Person IX

Continent Strider X

Burden of Power VII

Expert’s Insight VI

Blessing of Innovation III

General Skills

Gralloch XVIII

Alchemy XII

Death’s Embrace VIII

Bloodline of the Survivor (Empower Relatives)

Advanced Bureaucracy VI

Police Procedure VII

Healing V

Quest Giver II

Omniglot (73 languages known)

Member of the Round Table (Shade: Seon Yoo-jin)

Accumulation of Knowledge (unranked)

Aspects

Aspect Skills

Arcane Poltergeist (3 stack)

Flight of the Poltergeist

Ephemeral Form

Haunting Pursuit

Greater Hydra (3 stack)

Hydra’s Regeneration

Redundant Organs

Ignore Injury

Megalodon (2 stack)

Shark’s Body

Wave Charge

Twilight Weaver (3 stack)

Lesser Illusion

Perception Interdiction

Warp Wave

Razor Apparition (3 stack)

Remote Wielding

Immortal Blades

Razor Trails

Lindwyrm (2 stack)

Lindwyrm’s Heart

Moment of Immortality

Least Demon Lord (2 stack)

Moment of Immortality

Grand Hellflame

Space Elemental (2 stack)

Fixed Point

Space Affinity

Lich (3 stack)

Superiority of Undeath

Perfect Form

Lich’s Curse

Death Knight (3 stack)

Death Knight’s Endurance

Ghostly Armor

Armored Echo

It was looking perfect. Both Agility and Magic Regeneration had hit five hundred, making him both a literal speed demon and a nuclear power plant for mana.

But what really but a grin on his face was the fact that today, they’d be preparing to summon a [Raid Boss] and then, tomorrow, it would be time to get another significant boost.

The “Salmon of Wisdom” might not be particularly dangerous sounding, but they still couldn’t take it lightly. It shouldn’t be a problem, though, not with Isaac’s help.

He only remembered to bring lunch to bribe Karl to fix his summoning area once he was halfway to the university, so he had to double back, cook, and ended up being late for the first time in a long while.