Anti-Mage

(Author’s Note: This chapter coincides with Pandora Chapter 42 and Infinitium Chapter 271. While you do not need to read either of those books to find out what is happening, I thought that sharing where the books intersected might be helpful. Now, back to our favorite Anti-Mage, Anton)

Before Anton could even take a moment to look around, the world went quiet, and everything froze. Even Anton froze was in place. He was unable to move any part of his body except his eyes, which he shifted to see that Caitlyn wasn’t moving either. She was just barely within his visual range, and he quickly noticed that not even her eyes were moving. She seemed to be completely frozen.

As Anton stood there, unable to move, a Notification popped into his vision.

LIMITED SYSTEM RESET COMMENCING.

SYSTEM Genises and Variation Initiated. While One SYSTEM does oversee all Realms within its domain. Individual Realms may be governed by sub-SYSTEMS or no SYSTEM at all if the magical density of the Realm is too low.

Animae are now incorporated into Complex Souls automatically.

Souls are now classified as either Basic or Complex.

Basic or Common Souls are found within creatures and constructs created by magic. The energy of Basic Souls can be captured and utilized for those with the skill and magic to do so. This energy can be stored but fades naturally over time or through use. If not captured and used, the energy disperses and is reabsorbed into the magical density of the Realm into which the energy was released.

Complex Souls are found within entities born through natural means. What is defined as natural is unique to each form of life.

Note: Basic Soul scan transforms into Complex Souls. Again, the process is unique to each type of creature and will not be detailed in this message.

What happens to Complex Souls after death will not be detailed by the SYSTEM. Individual Creatures must find this out for themselves.

Other minor changes have been made to increase SYSTEM Functionality but will not be detailed here.

Additionally, Macro changes to Realm availability and the distribution of divine entities have already occurred. Therefore, a Limited Iteration Reset is required.

Limited Iteration Reset

An Iteration is the cyclical point of reference, defined as the point at which all energy and matter within the Multiverse and all adjacent dimensions have reached a point of Entropy.

After an indeterminable time, the Multiverse is reborn. That point of rebirth is the beginning of the next Iteration.

The current Iteration is the 9th Iteration to have occurred.

A Limited Iteration Reset will repair all damaged Prime Realms and incorporate changes to SYSTEM functionality.

Anton sighed to himself; if the SYSTEM was going to repair itself before he was able to move again, that meant he was going to be here for a while, which was going to suck. His thoughts were interrupted when the world around him shimmered as the day-night cycle shifted rapidly, and the Sun rose in the West and crawled across the sky to the East, slowly at first and then more quickly as the world appeared to be running backward.

Anton watched the day and night cycles flicker faster and faster. After two minutes, the flickering slowed until time was once again frozen, and a new notification appeared in his vision.

Reset to Temporal Convergence Complete.

Adjustments have been made; Copies have been removed.

Limited Iteration Reset Complete

Both Caitlyn and Anton lurched forward and caught themselves as the force that held them released. Anton looked around and noticed that, unlike the last time he’d been home when everyone was gone, the streets were now filled with people. When he looked over to what he expected to be an empty driveway his father was washing the family mini van. A moment later, his father looked over his way, turned off the hose, and called out, “Anton, I didn’t see you there; when did you get back? Better yet, who’s your friend?”

Anton was taken aback for a second but recovered quickly, “This is Caitlyn. We’re just walking over from Hampton Inn by the Airport. You know it’s not that far, and after our journey, we needed to stretch our legs.”

“If you kept to the roads, that’s just about a mile,” his dad said while he continued to wash the van, “Well, don’t just stand there. Grab a sponge and help me finish washing the van so we can go inside together.”

Anton walked over, followed by Caitlyn. He reached down into a bucket filled with soapy water and grabbed a sponge. Caitlyn stepped back and out of the way while she looked around. Anton was pretty sure she was making sure there were no threats in the area. Anton took his sponge and started scrubbing the left side of the minivan while his father worked on the right side.

When Anton and his father were done washing the car, Anton moved over behind his father and resumed their conversation while he rinsed the vehicle off. “This is Caitlyn. We’re working together at the moment. Caitlyn, this is my Dad, David Ellis.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Caitlyn said with a nod to his dad.

“Speaking of work, how are things going for you and the rest of the family?”

“Well, our oldest, you, should currently be working in Fargo at that auto parts store with his girlfriend Leslie, if I’m not mistaken,” his dad said, though it was worded in such a way that it came across as a question.

Anton shrugged, “It’s complicated. " He said this to change the topic as he was still trying to figure out if time had been reversed or if this mash-up was making things even more complicated by allowing him to be near Leslie and here simultaneously.

“Okay then,” his father said and then continued. “Sara just had her 5th birthday, and we’re getting ready to…”

Anton listened to his father talk about the everyday things his family had been doing for the last week. While his dad spoke, Anton’s mind took in what his father had said. If Sara was five, then it was 2038, two years before he’d been in the Antarctic. He hadn’t found Leslie cheating on him, he hadn’t made his way to Florida, he hadn’t…

Anton calmed himself down and thought about it for a moment. This was just like what had happened in that show Continuum, well, sort of. He’d binge-watched that old series when he was a teen. Rachel Nichols played a time traveler in the early days of her acting career, which, as far as he knew, would still be going strong.

Anton put her out of his mind and considered how Continuum had addressed time travel. Her character had traveled back in time. Each time she’d tried to do so again, she’d created timelines that would eventually deteriorate, and in the end, well, he didn’t like the end of the series, but it made sense for the story. He’d disliked how that series ended so much that he wasn’t even going to think about it. Besides, it didn’t seem like that was what had happened here.

The SYSTEM message said, “Adjustments have been made; Copies have been removed.” If Anton was reading that right, it meant that any copy of him that existed was now gone. How had the SYSTEM chosen which copy to keep? Then he thought about it. His previous self would not have had the abilities he now had, so for him, the choice would have been simple. What about the rest of the world?

Wait, what about anyone from those alternate Earths that didn’t exist in this one? If there was no copy to remove, would that mean that people would begin appearing all over the world? If that happened, then he wouldn’t have really gone back in time. Instead, The SYSTEM had reverted this Universe to an earlier time, adjusted everyone and everything, and then resumed starting it up again. In that case, there would be no chance of paradox. Also, it would make it very unlikely that anyone from the future could travel to any point before the moment the SYSTEM performed the Limited Iteration Reset.

A moment later, the tornado siren went off. Anton, Caitlyn, and Anton’s dad looked up into the clear blue sky and then looked off in all directions. One thing about Minot: it's flat. No matter where you are in the city, you can see the horizon in all directions. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Also, if they had just celebrated Sara’s birthday, it was late May or early June, depending on how many days it had been. Her birthday was on the 28th.

“Why is the Tornado Siren going off?” Caitlyn asked.

“No idea,” Anton’s dad said, “We should get inside.” His dad said as he walked over to the faucet, turned off water, and gestured for Caitlyn and Anton to follow him inside. Once inside, they heard the T.V. announce.

“…We have received multiple reports that strange individuals have appeared out of nowhere in areas they should not be. It is recommended that everyone seek shelter and remain inside until the origin of these strangers can be determined. Local Law Enforcement is responding as quickly as they can, but there are so many reports that we have been asked to pass on that everyone should be patient…”

“What is he talking about, Susan?” Anton’s dad asked his mother as they walked into the living room.

“The programming was interrupted by an emergency announcement. People have been appearing out of nowhere…Anton! What are you doing home,” his mother exclaimed as she rushed over for a hug.”

Anton considered how to respond to his mother’s question as he returned the hug. How was he supposed to tell them that he thought this was just the beginning? As luck would have it, he didn’t have to. A Notification appeared in everyone’s vision.

Welcome to the SYSTEM

Anton looked over and saw Sara and Jack waving at something in front of them. His mother and father looked shocked and then in awe as they reached out and tried to touch something.

“What is going on?” Anton’s mother asked.

Anton minimized the notification and brought up his Status Screen.

Fundamental changes to the Multiverse have modified both of your abilities.

Anton quickly accessed his ability page and pulled up the ability descriptions.

Anti-Mage

You are the antithesis of magic; this includes beneficial magic and magical energies described as produced by items.

Basic spheres of Magic: Air, Life, Water, Dark, Earth, Death, Fire, and Light - Immune.

Intrinsic Spheres of Magic: Space, Time, and Gravity - 80% less effective.

Higher Spheres of Magic: Mental, Spirit, and Soul – 50% less effective

Supernatural Spheres of Magic:

Putrescent (Abyssal) and Anti (Null/ Negative) - Immune

Absolute (Celestial/Heavenly) – Affects you Normally.

Proper (Positive) – 1000% out to a radius in feet equal to damage received. If no damage is received, Damage equals mana spent.

Divine – Affects you Normally.

Fundamental Spheres of Magic: Order and Chaos – Affects you Normally.

You may break down physical matter given enough time and will for any item or structure produced by Spheres of Magic to which you are immune. Items and Structures created by spheres of magic that may affect you may not be broken down in this matter.

NOTE: Attempting to break down structures created by the Proper Sphere of Magic will cause an extremely volatile reaction.

You may break down one pound of physical material per hour, equal to your willpower attribute. This ability may be utilized on any object you are touching or up to a range of 1 inch per point of willpower. Only the portion of an object or structure within range may be affected in this way.

Living and Undead creatures and plants may not be affected by this ability.

Immortal

Immortal is synergistic with Anti-Mage and returns a cumulative percentage of hit point after death or upon taking any damage, including disintegration. Body and hit points are returned by 1% after 1 second. 55% after 10 seconds. 100% after 14 seconds. Once fully healed the rate at which hit points is returned resets to 1% when new damage is taken and progresses as stated above.

The energy required to regenerate your body is drawn from the Null Realm and fuels the regeneration process. As one of the Supernatural Spheres of Magic, the link that allows regeneration is available anywhere within the Multiverse.

Upon Death, the body and any items touching the body vanish as the items are moved into your inventory, and your body disintegrates. If completely disincorporated or disintegrated, a new body will materialize within one foot of where your previous body was destroyed. You may alter your resurrection point by a number of feet equal to your Perception attribute by concentrating on where you would like to appear while waiting for your body to be created.

Note: The Perk Specter as modified by the Psychic Skill Specter may modify the place and duration before resurrection.

Anton read over the description of his Anti-Mage Ability and realized that it seemed to have been adjusted. He was still immune to all basic spheres of magic, but it seemed like some other types of magic could now affect him, one in particular, more than others. Proper Magic, whatever that was, could really affect him. Otherwise, the ability seemed to be about the same

His ability Immortal looked like the description had been streamlined, but otherwise, it was mostly the same. The mention of Perks and Skills made him want to check and see if those had changed, but he waited and pulled up his attributes page. After a quick scan, he was satisfied that nothing had really changed. His class was still Vampiric Pseudo-Specter and his level was 22. When he opened his skill page a flurry of notifications filled his vision.

SYSTEM Message

Skills progression and proficiency have been modified.

Skills now have a maximum level of 100.

Skill levels can be increased through use or by investing Skill Points into the skill.

Skills Proficiency now diminishes over time. Skills that are not used on a frequently listed below, will be reduced by one (1).

Level 90 – 100, not used for one day.

Level 80 – 89, not used for one week.

Level 60 – 79, not used for one month

Level 40 - 59, not used for three months

Level 20 - 39, not used for six months

Level 2 – 19, not used for one year.

Level 1, no skill, once learned, will ever drop below level 1 unless the skill is forcibly removed from memory.

NOTE: Some Abilities may extend or negate skill deterioration.

Additionally, any skill deterioration cannot reduce skills below the level obtained with skill points. Only skill levels earned through use can degrade over time.

Anton read over the notifications and smiled. It seemed that there was a use for Skill Points after all. Why that hadn’t been the way Skill Points worked before, he’d never know, but that change made a lot of sense. Skill Points were gained by leveling one's class, and that experience could be directed into specific skills that he’d remember. It also made sense that not using a skill would reduce how proficient one was with that skill and that those at the pinnacle would need to use that skill to maintain their proficiency continuously. He hadn’t dedicated any of his Skill Points yet and now had 464 to use and 224 Psychic Skill Points. He wasn’t sure how many levels he could acquire with skill points, but he’d find out when he had a chance to investigate this further.

Anton pulled his attention from his Status Screen to find everyone looking at him. It was only a moment before his mother asked, “Anton, what were you doing?”

“Dad let’s move everyone into the bunker for now. We may be safe here for the moment, but we probably won’t be in a bit. Also, if you’d like to invite anyone over, do it now. You might not get a chance later.”

“Son?” his dad asked questionly while he looked at Caitlyn.

“She’s good people, Dad. Besides, I think you’ll need her help.”

Anton’s Dad nodded and walked out the front door while his mother guided the children into the basement.

“What’s going on?” Caitlyn asked him.

“Dad has a bunker under the house. He’s probably running across the street to their friend's place and inviting them into the bunker to ride this out. Just follow my mother downstairs, and I’ll make sure my father makes it back,” Anton said.

Caitlyn nodded and helped Anton’s mom get the kids and the animal’s downstairs into the basement. Anton went to the front door and watched as his father reached the house across the street, knocked on the door, and talked to Mr. Kendall. A moment later. Mr. and Mrs. Kendall, their son Rodger and his girlfriend followed Anton’s dad back across the road. Anton held the door for the five. When they were all inside, Anton closed and locked the door and then very quickly went through the house, turned off all the lights, and locked the back door before he made his way into the basement and then into the Bunker before his father closed and sealed the door.

This was almost a déjà vu moment. Anton opened his notifications again and checked to see if the SYSTEM had sent out any more SYSTEM-wide messages since the first one welcoming everyone to the SYSTEM. He didn’t see anything.

Anton turned to Caitlyn, “Caitlyn, have there been any more SYSTEM Messages since the one welcoming everyone to the SYSTEM?”

“Not that I’ve seen. Why, have you seen other messages?” Caitlyn asked.

“The SYSTEM; what are you talking about, Anton?” Mr. Kendall asked.

Anton thought about how to explain everything he’d been through. Smiled and then began, “First, Magic is real….

It took Anton the better part of an hour to explain the little bit he knew to everyone. That was when he found out that while he’d been aware of what was happening after Caitlyn and he left the Labyrinth, for her, they’d appeared with no one in front of them one moment. The next, his father had been washing the minivan in front of the house.

Anton was interrupted when his mother asked, “What about Leslie? If everything you say is true, the version of you that should be here is now gone, and you’re here. If magic is real, did you teleport over here or something?”

“Oh, that’s the part you’ll probably find the hardest to believe. As far as I can figure from everything Dad has said, right now, we’re about two years before I went down to Florida.”

“Are you saying you time traveled, Son?” His father asked.

“Not exactly,” Anton hedged, “Before we go into that, though, I’m going to leave Caitlyn here and check to see what is going on in the general area.”

“You’re not going to leave, are you,” his mother asked, “While the news reports haven’t really detailed much of what’s going on, there have been reports of people disappearing and appearing out of nowhere from all over the world.”

“Not to worry, Mom. I took the time to talk to you, so when I vanish in a moment, you won’t be surprised,” Anton said with a sly grin.

“Vanish?” The four adults in the room asked while Caitlyn remained silent.

“Vanish, as in disappear. I’m going to hop over to Fargo and take a look around.”

Caitlyn interrupted him as she asked, “About how long will you be gone?”

Anton thought about it for a minute and then said, “If the changes to the SYSTEM haven’t affected my skills, I should be able to get over there in 10 minutes, look around for a bit, and then head back. I’ll say about an hour and a half. Ten minutes to get there, an hour to look around, and ten minutes to get back.”

Caitlyn nodded as his father looked at him disbelievingly, “You’re going to get to Fargo in 10 minutes?”

“It’s a bit hard to explain, but basically, I can turn into a ghost and fly over at almost two times the speed of sound.”

“What! You’re a superhero?” Carla, his 10-year-old sister, exclaimed.

“Not really, Sis, but I do have powers. Someday, you might too,” Anton said with a smile, “Now, though, I really need to go over to Fargo and see what’s going on.”

“What do you want me to do here if you don’t come back right away,” Caitlyn asked.

“You’ll find that my dad has a pretty good arsenal here and enough supplies for all of you to survive comfortably for the next couple of years, if necessary. Here is some equipment for you, though, just in case,” Anton said as he pulled out some of the weapons he had from his inventory and handed them to her, as well as some ammunition.

“Where are you pulling those weapons from?” his father asked.

“As I said before, Dad, Magic,” Anton said as he pulled out some ammunition and handed that over as well. That still left him with plenty of weapons in his inventory. “Alright, everyone, don’t scream. I’m about to vanish, and when I reappear, I’ll be stepping out of the bathroom so I don’t scare any of you. Be back in a bit,” Anton said as he activated Specter and vanished.

As expected, Anton watched as the children screamed, and his father came over to where Anton was standing and waved his hand through Anton’s incorporeal body. Anton would have laughed if the shift into his Specter form hadn’t been…different.

He dropped through the dimensional barrier with no problem. What drew his attention to the fact that things had changed was the sparks of white light that showed from the positions of every person he could see. Also, instead of looking at solid individuals, they looked like photographic images of people whose opacity had been reduced by 50%. While he knew he wasn’t solid to anyone who could see him when he Manifested, now each person had a nexus of energy within themselves, and he could see through them.

Anton had an idea of what that light represented. He put that out of his mind for the moment and rose up through the ground level and then the ceiling into the sky until he was about one thousand feet above his house and looked around.

To the north was the runway, which didn’t appear to have any traffic moving around. Below him, in the neighborhoods surrounding his house, he could see people moving around. Each had the same type of spark he’d seen in his family as they made their way into houses and closed the doors.

Anton looked to the south, where the hospital was about a mile away, and thought he saw flashes of light streaking from the hospital into the sky. Well, if he were right about the sparks, it would be easy enough to check by going to the hospital. Anton flew over to hover above the hospital and looked down to find a madhouse of vehicles and people trying to make their way into the hospital with wounded people in tow. Anton was startled as one of the sparks of energy shot up from the roof of the hospital, passed him, and vanished. He couldn’t tell if it was because it was moving incredibly fast or if it had broken through the dimensional barrier and gone elsewhere.

Anton waited for the next spark to fly by and attempted to use Analyze on it.

Congratulations, you have discovered a Complex Soul. Your Analyze skill, Level 1, is too low to determine any other features of this Complex Soul. Level your Analyze skill in order to identify more traits.

So, he had been right. The SYSTEM had changed the dimension his Specter form existed in, and now it seemed to be the dimension that people's souls traveled through upon death. If that were the case, would that mean that this plane intersected other planes of existence as well? If that were true, could he now use his ability Planar Shift to move his Specter form to one of those other planes?

Well, that was nothing he needed to worry about now. Anton turned to the east and increased his speed until he was traveling about 1,400 mph. He should reach Fargo in just over 8 minutes at this speed. He was wondering what he’d find there when he checked on Leslie. This was about one full year before he left in his original timeline. Could she have already been cheating on him at that point?

The answer to that question was yes. When he floated into the apartment and found the mailman and Leslie naked in bed, sleeping after what must have been a “strenuous” session…wait, it was only 2 p.m. Sure, it had only been about two hours since the world went crazy, and since they weren’t running around scared they hadn’t even noticed the first notifications. They probably had sex around noon in this timeline, and when it started back up, they were still sleeping. Wait, she was supposed to be at work with him. Was this one of her “sick” days, that bit..

Anton took a deep breath, or at least went through the motion of taking a deep breath as he didn’t really breathe anymore to calm himself down. Once he was a little calmer and more settled, he considered his options clinically and then acted. Anton moved over to where he stashed his emergency go kit and other personal items, activated Spectral Hand to manifest his hand in the real world, and brought all of those items into his inventory. Luckily, he had spare identification, credit cards, and the like that should work in this timeline. Anton even went over to the computer desk and grabbed his laptop, power supply, and carrying case. He’d be able to connect to the internet if it remained active without having to go purchase new equipment now.

Unlike Leslie and the mailman, the rest of the residents in the apartment and pretty much anywhere else he looked were in a bit of a panic and were glued to their televisions. He looked down on her naked form one more time and rose through the roof. Whatever was to come, she’d made her choice, and she could live with it.

Next, Anton went to where he used to work and floated above the counter as he watched his coworkers run around looking everywhere; for him, maybe? He couldn’t tell what they were saying, but he had an idea. Alex, one of the new guys at this point in the timeline, stood off by himself. Anton moved over to him and reached out to touch the spark of energy in his chest. Immediately, a prompt appeared above the spark.

Would you like to Possess this individual, Yes or No?

Anton, could Possess people without Manifesting? That was a huge change. Anton chose “Yes.” His point of view changed, and he could see and hear from the body he was occupying.

SYSTEM Message:

The Psychic Skill Possession has been altered. While possessing another entity, all maintenance costs are taken from the target's Psychic Energy, Mana, and Hit Points in that order. When the target runs out of those resources and dies, Possession will automatically end.

While possession is active, the user's Psychic Energy regenerates at its normal rate. Additionally, the target's consciousness is suppressed. Should they survive, they will have no memory of any actions taken while possessed.

Possession does not harm the target's soul and can be discontinued at will.

“Alex, why are you smiling?” Becky, one of the other employees at the auto parts store, asked.

Anton looked out through Alex’s eyes, “I was just thinking.”

“You can think and help. So, get your butt moving and help us look for Anton, he’s been gone for over an hour, and no one saw him leave!”

For the next two hours, Alex helped them look for Anton and watched the security cameras just like everyone else. Anton had walked into the male bathroom, which did not open to the outside or even have a window. He never stepped back out. There was no record of him ever leaving the bathroom.

Anton also noticed that while they were looking for Anton, the tornado sirens had gone off, and the store had been locked down while everyone moved to the inner part of the store, away from the windows. They were checking their phones while they looked around, but no one seemed to worry about the SYSTEM message even though there hadn’t been any more global updates.

After two hours, Anton’s resource pools were all full, but Alex’s Psychic Energy and Mana had bottomed out. He didn’t have very many hit points, and Anton had no intention of killing the guy, so he sat down in a chair, laid his head against the counter, and released Alex’s body from Possession.

He didn’t reappear physically. Instead, he reassumed his Specter form and looked on as Becky noticed that Alex was slumped against the counter and came over to check on him. When he didn’t stir, Becky called for help. Anton watched for a bit longer until Alex came to groggily and decided it was time for him to return to Minot.

As he floated up through the ceiling and flew west toward Minot, the one thing that had been bothering him crossed his mind again. Why hadn’t there been any more global messages from the SYSTEM, and why were all the electronics working if magic was coming back into the world? Maybe the magical density wasn’t high enough yet. Maybe he was one of the only ones that could use magic right now. All questions he’d need to find answers to if he was going to figure out how to help his family and friends. In fact, if technology continued working with magic, it could allow for some exciting uses of Possession. Anton smiled; this could be a lot more fun than when he’d been in Antarctica.