Mask of Humanity

‘There’s a mask on my face,’ Nicolai managed. ‘It’s my mask, my mask is real. It’s, Kleos, it exists. It’s real. It’s making me feel things.’

‘I don’t… I don’t understand.’

‘Back when I was human long ago, and now that I’m human again, I’ve been imagining this mask. Because I’m not human. I’m a monster. But I wear the mask, and I pretend that I’m human. But it’s never real, not really, I can drop it whenever I want. But now, now it’s real. Do you understand? It’s real. It’s part of my Soul. Have you ever heard of such a thing?’

‘I… I haven’t, not that specifically. Souls are not well understood, at least not by me, or the People. But, uh, I have heard that they are not exactly replicas of us, nor simple extensions. They are more abstract than that. They can represent not just who we are, but who we want to be. It seems to me, that this mask you speak of is just a more real version of what you’ve been doing.’

Nicolai sniffled, and considered that. ‘So I can drop it?’

‘Most likely, if you wish. Do you want to?’

Nicolai blinked, unsure. So far, these new emotions and sensations were not unpleasant. At least, not exactly. Just strange. ‘Maybe later. I think I’ll keep it, for now.’ An uncertain smile found its way onto Nicolai’s face, and he wiped the tears away. ‘I’ll just… see what it’s like.’

‘I should add, that’s unlikely to be all. The Soul magnifies you, makes you more real. The good, the bad, and… everything else.’

‘What are you saying?’

‘It’s worth looking around your Soul, carefully. Check everything is in order.’

Nicolai allowed his awareness to move within, and he began to search carefully through his Soul. He quickly found something.

In his chest there was a kind of ember, like a lump of coal glowing with dull red light, ready to flare into life. As his mind moved over it, he recognised it.

The Thrill. Now made real, a part of his Soul. What did this mean for him? His mind kept hunting through his Soul. If the thrill had gained a shape, what of the other…

He found it in his Soul’s stomach. There was a cage of many layers, so many he could hardly see between them. But inside, the darkness lurked, plotting its next escape. He could feel vaguely at its thoughts, a strange, bloodthirsty reflection of himself for which killing was the end-goal, rather than a method to achieve what he desired.

It was stirring in response to his attention, rattling its cage, whispering. No longer was it simply a vague being within his subconscious. Now, it was real and solid, something he could feel, something he knew he would be able to interact with.

Nicolai stared down at it then he gripped the cage and explored it. The cage was not aware, not a disparate part with a will of its own like the dark. He sensed that instead it was the representation of the cage of willpower and restraint he’d built to hold the dark in.

As such he was able to control it easily, tightening or loosening it at will, building it larger or cutting it smaller.

He saw faint strands of darkness now slipping between a few gaps in the cage, and he twisted its configuration, blocking the strands.

One of his most difficult battles, given concrete form within him. Would this make the fight easier, or harder? He’d have to find out, but it seemed to him that things had changed in a good way. He’d always found it difficult to control himself in part because of the vagueness of what he dealt with. Now, some parts of him had taken on a kind of concrete form.

No… this is definitely good. The longer he thought on it, the more important it seemed. Now he could truly deal with the dark urges within him. He could study them and understand them, he could bend them, he could make them truly his.

Nicolai had always felt that in the throes of madness, there were times where he fought even better than normal, reached a kind of beyond. He hated losing control, but there were times it had been worth it. As such, he had no desire to simply remove or destroy what was within him. No. He wanted to master it.

Later. He had other things to do. The dark could remain in its cage. He looked to Kleos then sniffed at the air, distracting himself. ‘Sorry about the smell.’

‘It’s all part of the process. My nose barely works, anyway.’

Nicolai smiled and glanced to his Marked hand, which pulsed with gentle light. He tapped it, and the interface opened.

User Interface 376| Player #53,217

You have completed the Challenge: Integrate your Seed and become a Cultivator.

Claim Reward?

Yes. Under his expectant gaze, a Reward Shrine rose from the stone. Different to the previous shrines, this one depicted something that was far from human, not even bipedal. As it rose from the stone the room seemed to darken, and Nicolai felt a paranoid impulse to take up a weapon.

It resembled a deer. Only, its legs were far too long, and it had clawed feet, not hooves. Its eyes were dark circles, pointing forwards over a snout bristling with teeth. It looked dirty, matted, emaciated, sick.

It also only stood on three of its legs. The other one was raised, extended towards Nicolai, and it transformed halfway down into a mass of sharp-looking tentacles.

Three of these tentacles rose from the mass, to become small, human-like hands, and on each hand rested a shimmering little thing, each of them wriggling and alive where the statue was still and dead.

As had become his habit, Nicolai first touched the statue to Examine it.

Symbiote Reward Shrine (Tier 1)

These shrines appear to grant rewards to Marked who have completed a Quest or Challenge within the game. They come in various types and tiers.

From this Shrine you may claim one Symbiote from three options, and are also granted food for that Symbiote after choosing.

This particular shrine depicts a Mutated Spirit Beast. Once a Spirit Deer, after exposure to dark energies it has mutated into a Not-Deer, a type of Skin-Walker.

Skin-Walkers are amongst the more common Mutated Beasts. They are dangerous and intelligent hunters, and like many Mutated Beasts, they prefer prey rich in Spiritual energies, such as Spirit Beasts and Cultivators.

‘Ever heard of a Not-Deer?’ Nicolai asked absently as he moved slowly around the statue to see it from other angles. It looked dangerous. Vicious and dirty. It reminded him of himself.

‘I’ve killed my share,’ came Kleos’ voice, a mutter. ‘Skin-Walkers and other mutants infest many areas of this world. They can take the form of things they have killed, and some of them are very good at acting.’

‘Think I’ll encounter any?’

‘It’s inevitable, if you live long enough.’

On the three stone hands there were three odd beings, which more than anything reminded Nicolai of his Seed.

The first was a snake the size of a finger, pure white in colour. Its head was raised up with tiny yellow eyes peering about while a red tongue tasted the air. As he watched it began to writhe, its entire body looping over itself and slowly twisting, and as this strange dance continued shadows were drawn from around it to press against it and stain its scales, darkness spreading like brushstrokes until it was pure black, disappearing into the oddly clinging shadows that surrounded it until only the yellow sparks of its eyes were visible.

The next was a vicious looking hornet, electric-blue with occasional dark spots. It was biting at the stone hand it stood on, and as it did so it shook its body and hummed its wings. Before his eyes blue sparks of electricity began to snap over it, then with a surge and crackle of light the energy was vented into the stone through half a dozen tiny lightning bolts that exploded out of it. As soon as this ended the hornet slumped, its body moving as it took deep breaths.

The last one was the strangest, in Nicolai’s opinion. It was simply a handful of water, collecting in the palm, clinging to it.

After considering the three for a moment, Nicolai extended his Soul Sense. The snake felt of dark, clinging shadows, and he sensed that it was observing quietly; for now. Within it there was a sense of waiting for the right moment, an impression that it would strike viciously when the time came.

The hornet was simpler. It was hot, and quick, and angry. A sense of domination and challenge came from it, a desire to crush any obstacle before it.

The water felt, oddly, of hunger. An impression of patience, but that patience covered eagerness. Ready for what might come.

He extended a hand, somewhat warily, and reached towards the snake. There was no reaction from it, the little creature seeming not to see him. He was half-expecting it to lunge out and bite him at any moment, but his finger pressed through the shadows and touched it without issue and he Examined it, and after that the rest of them.

Dancing Pebble Snake Symbiote

Tier: 1

Placement: Heart

This Symbiote allows the Cultivator to gather shadows to themselves, hiding them from others. These shadows are spiritual in nature, capable of blunting the Soul Senses of others who attempt to search within. As such, it can act as an aid to Soul Sense defence.

The user will be able to see through these these shadows, and will use their Soul Sense to control the shadows.

Comes with ten days worth of food.

Blue Hornet Symbiote

Tier: 1

Placement: Heart

This Symbiote allows the Cultivator to generate Blue Lightning via movement, with which they may strike their enemies. The Cultivator may use their Soul Sense to aim the Blue Lightning from a distance, or get close and trigger it via touch. When wreathed in Blue Lightning, the Cultivator moves slightly faster.

Though it is less damaging than Black, White, or Purple Lightning, Blue Lightning is the most effective at stunning of all types of lightning.

Comes with ten days worth of food.

Hungry Pond Symbiote

Tier: 1

Placement: Heart

This Symbiote allows the Cultivator to absorb some kinetic energy from movements and attacks, building up a store then releasing it to aid themselves. It is a touch based Art, which does not extend to one's Soul Sense.

Where many Arts are quite simple to utilise, the Hungry Pond requires some practise and may not be suited for everyone. However, when used with skill it can accomplish more than one may initially expect.

Comes with ten days worth of food.

Nicolai’s face broke into a slow smile, a dawning sunrise. He’d finally got his hands on some Symbiotes, at long last, after Kleos going on about them so many times. And, he had a choice to make.

Which one did he want?

For all of them, he felt a pull from at least some part of himself. Any of them could be enfolded effectively into his ways of doing things. What he felt from the snake matched up with many of his methods, and the water sounded like it would give him a kind of resistance as well as higher striking power, one that could be controlled and timed precisely. The hornet, he was uncertain towards.

He knew exactly which part of himself the hornet tied most closely too, and he worried it might act as a kind of encouragement.

Nicolai stepped away, and picked Kleos up.

‘Symbiotes,’ said Kleos, when the head was positioned to look down on them. ‘Lucky you. What are they?’

‘Dancing Pebble Snake, Blue Hornet, Hungry Pond,’ said Nicolai. ‘Ever heard of those?’

‘Mmm… yes. They’re all worth about the same; basic heart-types of shadow path, lightning path, and force path. I guess that about sums up what Heaven thinks of you.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Sneaky, aggressive, pushy.’ The head chuckled.

‘It says they’re all Tier 1, and that their placement is heart. What does that mean?’

‘It means they’re perfectly suited to you. You should currently be a Tier 1 Foundation Realm Cultivator, with a Node in your heart. There are three tiers in the Foundation Realm. If it had given you a Symbiote at a higher level, you’d have trouble utilising it. At the same time, most Symbiotes are best suited for a certain area of the body, so these all being heart Symbiotes is another kindness from Heaven. If it had given you a Symbiote that works best in a hand Node, when you don’t have that Node, you wouldn’t be able to use it at maximum effectiveness.’

‘Which would you choose?’ Nicolai asked.

‘The Hungry Pond,’ said Kleos immediately. ‘It’s the most versatile and if the user could learn to use it with skill, its power would go a level higher. The others have a lower skill-cap, but would provide a more immediate boost. I’ve used Symbiotes like the Hungry Pond before, so I wouldn’t take long to get used to it. It’ll be your first time, but from what I’ve seen… I doubt you’d take too long, either.’

Nicolai nodded, considering that. Kleos raised good points. However, he was leaning in a different direction for a particular reason.

His major issue right now was the Chosen, and he suspected he would shortly be spending quite some time interacting with and fighting with other humans. Many of those humans still held an advantage over him: Augments.

Even before, low-tier and medium-tier level 1 augments posed only minor problems to him, due to his deep understanding of them and his skill in combat. Upper-tier level 1’s, and lower-tier level 2’s, was less certain. It would depend on exactly what types of augment, and how many. Even so, he was confident he could at least survive and escape against most.

But he knew he would struggle greatly to survive against even mid-tier level 2 augments, not to mention upper-tier, and level 3 augments… it was probable he would be unable to so much as escape, if someone with such augments and hostile intent came anywhere near to him.

Fortunately he had yet to encounter any, a trend he hoped would continue. Everyone he’d met so far had held augments somewhere on the lower-end of level 1, except one. That cyber gangster he’d encountered so early on, in the Trial of Courage, the skinheaded, tattooed woman. Hers had been level 2.

Only the most powerful or most well-funded could gain level 3 augments, and they were mostly found in the bodies of the truly mega-rich and then, in more limited fashion, in very successful fighters and killers. Less than 0.001% of Earth’s population possessed such augments, so Nicolai was very unlikely to encounter any.

People with level 2 augments were comparatively much more common, in the 0.1%. One out of every thousand. These would be very difficult to deal with, and a little bit of a boost in speed and resilience, or the ability to hide in shadows, was unlikely to provide enough of an edge for him to win.

But all augments held a weakness. Powerful enough electrical attacks could briefly disable them, even level 2 ones. Any such augment would possess electrical shielding, of course, which he would have to break through first, a job that would be difficult. But if he did so, and he possessed some kind of powerful electrical attack, he could turn the fight.

Previously, when given the option of taking a charge baton, which would have served a similar purpose, he had turned it down in favour of the shimmer poncho. But this was not only because of the shimmer poncho being more immediately useful at the time and due to its re-usable nature; basic charge batons were not particularly effective at disabling level 2 and up augments—though they were capable of it in principle. Additionally, they were very recognisable objects. Any augmented individual seeing such a weapon would know to be wary and protect their augments.

In the case of a lightning focused Symbiote designed to stun, no one would expect it. Nicolai was sure that he had a greater understanding of Symbiotes and Imbued than the vast majority of humans, due to his luck in finding them, and how rapidly he had become a Cultivator, alongside his guide, Kleos. Though, doubtless there are others out there who have also had their own share of luck. There were many billions of humans on Earth, who he imagined were coming to this new world in a steady stream.

But at least in this castle, he felt sure he was ahead of the curve, and the Blue Hornet would help him cement that lead when he fought against humans with higher augmentation. Not to mention, the lightning would come in handy against various other Earth-tech in a way the baton wouldn’t have been. He couldn’t have hit a drone flying above him with the baton, but lightning was ranged. Finally, he liked the idea that it would make him a little faster, alongside its other use.

As to the other Symbiotes, the Dancing Pebble Snake looked like it could improve his stealth; but was that necessary? With the Shimmer Poncho he was well equipped in that arena, and he was unsure as to how useful improved Soul Sense defence would be. The Hungry Pond, on the other hand, was very tempting to him. He was well aware of the difference that even a small change in force could create in a fight, and its uses could extend to practically every move he made. It would improve his capabilities both defensively and offensively, as he could dampen the effects of any blows he received, and build that charge up to release in a bang. Very useful, so much so that in a vacuum he would say it was the best of them all. But, when it came to facing highly augmented individuals, he was of the belief that the Blue Hornet would go a significant way to closing the gap between him and them.

‘How permanent are these choices?’ Nicolai asked Kleos. ‘Do you predict I’ll be using whichever one I choose for months, or years, or decades?’

‘Perhaps not even months. Symbiotes come and go, and none of these are standout enough to hold onto forever,’ said Kleos. ‘You’ll find more, I’m sure of that. You just need to leave the castle.’ The head paused thoughtfully, then added, ‘Pick whatever you think will give the biggest immediate advantage. Use it to gain more advantages, one after the other, snowballing until you cannot be stopped. That’s what I’d do.’

Nicolai smiled. ‘Wise words,’ he said, feeling in complete agreement. His capabilities were rapidly increasing, the integration of his Seed marking a turning point. ‘There are people of my race who have kind of… machine parts in their bodies. You’ve seen a few, that woman Cait, her arm is like that. A machine that runs on electricity, which is like lightning. On Earth, we use electrical attacks to disable these items. Do you think the Blue Hornet would be effective for such?’

‘It uses Blue Lightning, so it should be especially effective any time you wish to stun or “disable” someone or something,’ confirmed the head. ‘In fact, it should be capable of stunning individuals—at least to some degree—even if they possess some resistance to lightning. If you ask me, you’re unlikely to encounter anything at your current level that could resist it. Stunning things is, after all, the whole purpose of Blue Lightning.’

Nicolai nodded, and set Kleos aside on the table. That done, Nicolai reached for the Blue Hornet.

‘Wait!’ Kleos yelped.

‘What?’ Nicolai paused, his hand outstretched.

‘I’m not sure how these rewards work exactly, but I know how Symbiotes work. Those Symbiotes aren’t acting normal, they’re under some kind of spell, keeping them placid. I’m guessing that will end when you choose one. That Blue Hornet looks particularly aggressive. It will attack you.’

Nicolai slowly drew his hand back. ‘How bad would that be?’

‘You’ll survive. But it might not, if you start grabbing at it and struggling with it. Symbiotes are fragile.’

‘So what do I do?’

‘You need to use your Soul, not your body. Make it think you’re trying to take control of it, then, once it’s all froze up… bribe it.’

Nicolai had to spend a few minutes interrogating Kleos to work out exactly what all of that meant. But after doing so, he eyed the Blue Hornet Symbiote, an eager cloud of butterflies bubbling in his stomach.

He had a plan, but no plan survives first contact with the enemy. Even so, he didn’t hesitate. Nicolai reached for the Blue Hornet.