Unwilling Eldritch Horror of Fortune

“You see,” Rogue said slowly, “I am officially a Sponsor for the Trials, but I’ve never had a chance to actually participate in any of the previous sessions, so I'm really just a Sponsor in title only.”

“Was there a problem?” I inquired.

Rogue looked at Q before answering, “Well, normally nothing goes wrong when we Sponsor an Aspirant, but when I tried previously…”

Rogue looked embarrassed to continue, so Q finished for him, “Every single person that Lord Rouge had tried to connect with have all unilaterally gone insane, and died shortly after. This has happened on three separate occasions, with three different species of Aspirants. Unfortunately, Central regulations state that if Rogue does not Sponsor an Aspirant successfully after the third attempt, then those rights are revoked, and he will be Blacklisted from all Central Training Sites due to a breach in his Contractual Obligations.”

“So you wish to Sponsor me, in this case?”

Rogue looked at me sheepishly, “That would be ideal. If you can, of course. Being Blacklisted from my disciple's workplace would be problematic.”

“But I work as a Lord Arbiter, would that not be a conflict of interests?” I said, not quite sure if things like conflicts of interest were even things in this weird alien world.

“Normally yes…” Q stated, “But the Origin Matrix has judged you to be an official Aspirant, so it’s not necessarily impossible for Lord Rogue to offer you Sponsorship. However, many others will file complaints if you do so since the Sponsor will obtain a portion of the Aspirant’s rewards in the future, along with the ownership of his soul after Trial completion. This would be… problematic given Lord Walter’s situation.”

“Yes.” I agreed, I did not want to give up my soul, “I spent 10 cycles creating this soul, and I am not about to let that go.”

“No no!” Rogue quickly replied, “Those claims are technically voluntary on the part of the Sponsor, correct? I don't technically have to take anything from Walter here if I choose not to.”

Q thought for a second, and slowly nodded, “That is correct, although none would ever revoke those rights.”

“Well, I choose to do just that. I wish to revoke all rights on Aspirant Walter’s soul, rewards, and other claims and choose to Sponsor him completely at my own expense. The only thing that I require on my end is the access rights to participate in the Earth Trials and of course the VIP lounge privileges.” The old Xollon looked over at Q, “Would that be acceptable now?”

Once again Q thought for a while, “Yes, if you choose to do that then none of the others should have an issue with it. Are you fine with that arrangement, Lord Walter?”

It was a risk to take in this one-sided sponsorship, given the fate of everyone else who had one with Rogue, but I should be fine with Noe’s help. Probably. Plus, having another ally who thought they owed me a favour could never hurt in the long run. This gamble didn’t seem to have too many downsides, so I agreed.

“Thank you!” The Xollon said, a wide smile plastered on his face, “I, Xollo’rolga’mathu’ath, known as the Crawling Chaos, offer my exclusive Sponsorship to Aspirant Walter, at my own expense, and under the stipulation that all rewards, gains, and claims to his soul and body remain his own.”

“Notification.” Noe said, “An offer of Sponsorship is being made through the Trash Matrix. Does Host Watt accept this offer?”

Yes.

“Acknowledged.”

I felt a huge wave of darkness envelop me. Power beyond anything I've ever imagined possible was flowing into me. I was barely able to stay conscious.

“Host Watt has accepted the Sponsorship of [The Crawling Chaos], and the title “Spawn of Chaos” has been obtained..."

Noe stopped for a moment and made some clicking noises.

"Error, the title “Spawn of Chaos” has significant overlap with Host’s Soul Title, resolving conflict now…

More clicking noises ensued. Was it doing some calculations in the background?

"Unit Noe has integrated the title “Spawn of Chaos” into Host’s Soul Title. Host Watt’s Soul Title has obtained +3 levels.”

 

Primary Soul Title: Level 4 Xollon Idol

Progress to next level: 4/5000

Progression requirements: Have 5000 individuals idolize you.

 

Title Passives:

• N/A

Title Skills:

• Idols Voice (Soul Passive)

• Secondary Xollon Form (Level 4 Soul Active):

Transformation Time: 40 minutes

Cooldown: 21 Hours

Remaining Cooldown: 0 – Skill Ready to Use.

• The user assumes the Secondary form of the Xolloid Race. The user gains all the physical characteristics of the race and will have all physical stats will be increased by 4x for the duration of the skill. Cooldown and use time will improve proportionally to Xollon Idol’s level.

 

Interesting, so this sponsorship gave me an immediate 3 levels in my soul title and increased my transformation time by a factor of 4 while decreasing its cooldown by another factor of 4, all while giving me more stats when I was in the Secondary Xollon Form. Not a bad harvest for helping the old dude, and I wasn’t going insane.

Just as those words slipped from my mind I started to feel something strange. The corners of my vision started to distort and turn red, and some hazy images were dancing before me. These strange scenes looked familiar, but the more I stared at them, the more my mind burned with crazed visions. I saw the sky darken and warp in my narrow vision while strange forms started to emerge from unseen shadows. I heard whispers in ancient languages that I couldn't understand, but somehow the message of those whispers was crystal clear. The world will end in Chaos. Run, I had to run, get out of here while I could, while my sanity was still-

“Abnormality in Host Watt detected. High levels of Mental contamination detected.” Noe’s voice said, it sounded so far away… “Unit Noe suggests that Host Transform into the Secondary Xollon Form immediately to remedy the situation.”

Yes! I thought while I still could, Transform me, Noe. Now, while I can still run, have to ru-

I felt my mind clear as soon as I was fully in the Xollon form, those strange, blasphemous images that plagued my mind from earlier dispersed as if they were never present in the first place. I shook my head, or mass of tentacles now, and focused on my surroundings again. I frowned because I couldn't even recall why I had been so afraid just a moment ago.

The first thing I noticed was Xalla’s gaze fixated on me, and the looks of surprise and slight concern on the faces of the others.

Rogue was the first to speak up, “Is your guise alright?”

“Yeah…” I said, “That was strange.”

Big Bob spoke up next, “Amazing! From what I saw just now, your Human form was almost overwhelmed by the transfer; but you’ve managed to suppress that now.”

“Notification.” Noe interrupted, “Congratulations Host Watt for upgrading your Soul Title for the first time. As a congratulatory gift, Unit Noe has provided 3 Soul Title Preview Tickets for Host Watt’s executive use. These tickets will allow Host Watt to experience what it is like to have your Soul Title fully unlocked for 24 hours, and serves as a motivational tool to enforce further growth.”

 

Soul Title Preview Ticket (x3): For 24 hours, the host will assume the full form of a Xollon, with none of the regular restrictions applied.

 

Well, that was a pleasant surprise, after all the crap that the useless Origin – no, I mean to say Trash Matrix, gave me - Noe really was the best! Now how should I choose to use these tickets? Should I save them all for a rainy day? As a last resort in case things went really pear-shaped? I quickly thought against that idea. No, if I was ever in a situation where my only hope of success relied on me using one of these tickets, then I probably screwed up a long time before that. What I needed was not a short-term solution to one problem, but an investment to make sure those problems never arise in the first place.

An idea started to form in my head about a potential use for at least one of these tickets… but I wasn’t sure if I liked where that was going.

“Walter, you ok?” Xalla said, taking me out of my thoughts, “You were zoned out for a second there. Did the Sponsorship not work?”

“No.” I answered, “I was just checking to see if anything had changed.”

“You should have felt something, like a surge of new power.” Bob said, “Maybe you have to return to your human form to notice the change?”

I canceled my Soul Title skill and reverted to my normal body. Thankfully I wasn’t plagued by my earlier visions, but aside from the 3 levels I got from the Sponsor, there didn’t appear to be anything different about me. I was hoping I got a new skill or passive out of it, but apparently not.

“Nothing.” I said; I couldn’t exactly say that my luck system integrated the Sponsorship into my Soul Title, “But maybe that’s because my guise is still in its prototyping phase. I haven’t ironed out all of its flaws yet.”

“Hm.” Bob mumbled, “That shouldn’t be the case. Your human soul, albeit a tad lackluster and basic, seems flawless... the transfer of power should have worked. Here, let me try to give you a temporary sponsorship.”

“Notification.” Noe said again, “The being called [The Light of Final Judgement] wishes to offer Host Watt a temporary Sponsorship via the Trash Matrix. Does Host Watt accept?”

Accept.

“Acknowledged.”

Once again I felt a rush of power flow through me, but this time none of that mental contamination was affecting me. Instinctively, I held out my hand and a huge wave of brilliant fire erupted outwards. It seemed like it would engulf the whole room, but with a casual wave of Big Bob’s hand, the flames disappeared, and he frowned.

“Notification.” Noe said, “The Light of Final Judgement has stopped the temporary Sponsorship of Host Watt.”

And just like that, the power I felt then went away as quickly as it came.

“It seems to work fine, it must be something about the Lord General’s power.”

“Wait.” Xalla interrupted, “Isn’t this system all about borrowing power from the Sponsor? So if an Aspirant was to acknowledge a sponsor from Lord Babylon, then they would gain Heavenly might.”

I guess I found out Big Bob’s real name now, and between his title and the name Babylon, I was getting suspicious as to who he really was. I wasn’t liking my guesses.

“Right.” Bob agreed.

“Then doesn’t that mean that Walter’s borrowing the powers of a Xollon?” Xalla continued, “But Walter is a Xollon, so wouldn't that mean that he's just… borrowing power from himself? That wouldn't make any sense and would explain why he doesn't feel any different than usual.”

Big Bob thought for a second, before ultimately agreeing with Xalla's assertion, “You’re right, of course nothing would happen, but isn’t that a problem for Walter? He would have to take on a sponsorship with no tangible benefits.”

"To be fair," Xalla added, "My mentor's not gaining anything from this either."

"Not true my dear disciple!" Rogue added in, "I get to visit you now that I get to keep my job here, and the pool in the VIP lounge is to die for!"

Xalla rolled her eyes again.

Big Bob smiled, “Since Walter's gaining next to no benefits from his exchange, then it wouldn’t be a problem if he got another Sponsor from say, an old friend of his, right?”

I wasn’t about to say no to that, having more power would certainly up my chances of surviving through these shitty trials. But unfortunately, like so many other situations I’ve faced so far, it wasn't my decision to make in the end. I choked down a sigh as Q quickly dashed those dreams of mine.