Infinite Realm: Monsters & Legends

Chapter 563: Zach

The Plane of Knowledge

Zach turned his attention inward, to his own sheets as he made the choice of his final Class perk. The conversation with Naha put things in perspective for him. The Framework was a powerful tool, a great guide, but it also allowed for a lot of freedom. It was a means to an end, a way to shape a person into something more. Everything about it was geared toward it. It had taken a lot for Zach to realize it fully, all the little clues he had seen along the way had crystallized once he had witnessed what happened in the battle against Ra’azel.

There was a reason why imbalance existed, why it created madness—though he was certain that there was more to discover about that, he wasn’t convinced that the madness that came from such imbalance was completely unavoidable. To him it seemed more like it happened because the people that had tried to wield such power were lacking in some way.

If the goal was for one to fashion themselves in an image, a mantle that meant something, then spreading oneself wide without a proper direction and goal in mind, would obviously lead to things such as madness.

But from what Zach believed, and had observed himself, was that it wasn’t so much the fact that someone utilized a wide array of disciplines and focuses, but that they didn’t understand what they were doing it for. They didn’t have a singular idea of themselves in mind.

Zach’s own madness had lessened with time. Both Naha and he had assumed that was because he had used his skills to anchor himself as well as raised them so that the ratio was no longer imbalanced. But what if it was actually because he figured out the meaning of his life. The direction of his purpose, and it enveloped all the powers and focuses that he had advanced forward.

To Zach, it seemed like it was what mattered the most, to name and understand the meaning of oneself and have it be sturdy enough to handle all the weight of a person’s power, to envelop all the different smaller ideas and meanings that it was made up of.

He looked at his final Class Perk, Akashic Embodiment, and knew that if he had picked Erase Knowledge he would’ve introduced a small imbalance in his being. Perhaps he would’ve been able to rectify that by altering his idea of the meaning of his Soul, or perhaps he wouldn’t and some small madness would seep back in.

He was glad that he decided to talk with Naha, she always knew how to help him put things into perspective, she was his inspiration.

He had already done most of his planning for it, but he took an additional look at his sheets, more precisely, his Skills. He had a lot of Skill Perks, and while powerful, many of them were overlapping, and things that he could even recreate with his Skills alone. A Skill perk was a power that could be used instantly, without much expense of will or thought, while a Skill itself required concentration and a certain amount of willpower.

But ultimately what he wanted was worth it. He navigated to the Oath window and started putting in things that he was offering as a price, namely all but four of his skill perks. The perks that he kept were: For Every Second, Two, Analysis, Grand Step Upon the River, and True Analysis. They were the ones that he believed were more useful to him.

The offerings of gains started appearing in his window, things that the Framework offered, and they were powerful. Because he wasn’t offering just those perks, but also the attribute bonuses that they gave, and that was a lot, he would lose more than ten thousand stats in intelligence with this offering, his highest stat.

But it was worth it. His original plan had been to use this price to ask for an improvement of all his other perks to Eternal tier, or at least as much as he could get. From what he could see, this price was enough to get the perks from his first three Class tiers up to the Relic rarity, then Masterwork for his next three and Eternal for his final three—or rather an upgrade for them since most already were in that rank. That would’ve probably even given him a lot more stats, enough perhaps to more than make up for what he had lost.

But instead of that he focused on something else. He recreated the Erase Knowledge perk and saw if he could ask for that. It was possible, the price was enough for it, though he couldn’t tell if it was more than what the perk would require, but that was fine, he wasn’t going to take the perk as it was. Instead, he started altering it, tweaking things so that it fit more with what Zach’s meaning and his purpose was.

Erasing knowledge outright wasn’t in line with his philosophy, no matter how powerful. It wasn’t his domain, nor was it in his nature to deprive the world of knowledge. He was somewhat worried that someone else might have the same perk, though not very. He didn’t know what requirements one had to have for it, but he was fairly certain that killing the Grand Spirit of Knowledge was part of it, and he doubted that anyone would be able to find another one of those. So, he didn’t like the idea of erasing, but… He did have abilities that sealed powers or Aspects.

Stolen novel; please report.

He played around with it until he realized that what he wanted couldn’t really be fully reflected in a single perk, so instead he expanded, making three.

He had also realized that the perks didn’t need to stand on their own, they could build on what he already had. Finally, he leaned back and looked at what he had written.

Copy Knowledge

Designate up to three targets and a piece of knowledge they possess (can be different knowledge), then copy and gain that knowledge for yourself along with three highest tier perks linked to that knowledge if the target possess them. Range and duration reliant on target power and your stamina, stats, and will. +50% to all stats.

Suppress Knowledge

Designate up to three targets and a piece of knowledge they possess (can be different knowledge), then suppress that knowledge, removing it from their mind along with all powers that the target possesses linked to it. Range and duration reliant on target power and your stamina, stats, and will. +50% to all stats.

Imbue Knowledge

You may imbue up to three Spirits of Terra with the knowledge and powers copied from targets, while your suppression effect is active it doesn’t affect your spirits. Duration reliant your stamina, stats, and will. +50% to all stats.

He added the stat bonuses to offset what he would lose, though he couldn’t go above 50%, anything more required for him to increase what he was willing to pay. He had tried to go more in depth with the perks, but the more hard rules he tried to put in, the more the price increased. He knew some of how the Framework worked, so he was fairly certain that the range he could use these perks at would depend on his mental stamina and intelligence. The farther a target was the more effort he would need to use. The same with duration, he would expend effort and stamina to keep them active.

He had also removed what he believed to be the biggest downside to Erase Knowledge, the more he read that perk the more certain he was that to erase something he would’ve had to be familiar with that piece of knowledge. This way, he didn’t need to know it, he could copy and suppress anything he encountered. But the weakness was that he had to have a specific target and the piece of knowledge as well. And he wasn’t impacting the entire world, which he didn’t feel right about either way.

For his next Oath he went simpler, he sacrificed three of his abilities, [Arsenal Wings: Aspect], [Arsenal Binding Chains: Aspect] and [Aspect True Sight]. He had a few other perks that could help him accomplish similar things, so he didn’t need them anymore. In return he asked for a flat increase some of base stats, to cover his weakness.

And finally, his last price.

From his research he knew that he could offer more esoteric things, it was an Oath after all, he could offer things like promises or pieces of himself, and that was what he did.

Oath of the Pursuit of Knowledge

Oath

Sacrifice

Gain

I seek knowledge, not tools. My prowess I give, for the might of body. Through my purpose, I gain power.

Lose 32 Skill Perks, retain 4.

Gain Copy Knowledge, Suppress Knowledge, Imbue Knowledge and a 100% increase to your willpower strength and regeneration.

Lose three abilities.

Gain +500 and +10% to base dexterity, vitality, and endurance.

Pursuit of Knowledge.

Gain +500% effectiveness of all powers while acting for the goal of pursuing knowledge. The effect lasts for as long as you are focused on a task, and then leaves you weakened with -20% to all stats, and -50% to all regenerative effects. Lasts for the same amount of time the effect was active.

He took a deep breath as he finished, satisfied with what he had done. He glanced over to Naha who seemed engrossed in her own world and smiled, knowing that she was doing the same thing he was.

Zach turned his attention back and focused on his Akashic Embodiment perk, it was time for him to try it and see what it was like. He had waited on purpose, as this test would count under his Oath’s provision, it was for the pursuit of Knowledge, so all of his powers would be boosted, even his links to his Aspects.

Zach’s meaning was the Pursuit of Knowledge, not the Knowledge itself. Perhaps that was why he didn’t have much connection with the Plane of Knowledge, no glimpse or grasp even. He had never felt like he needed to know everything, he didn’t want it to for its own sake, but in order to learn more and be able to help more people.

But now he planned to change that. He might not be close to the Plane of Knowledge, but he held enough understanding about how these things worked to be able to do bring all of he had learned so far and do it. And he was very interested in knowing what the Plane of Knowledge was like.

Still, he didn’t use his perk immediately, instead he tried to focus on a goal. He would hold all the Knowledge of the Plane in his head, and while he wouldn’t remember it, he could use it while in the plane and draw conclusions and remember those. He didn’t know how exactly it worked, but he was about to find out, he just needed a goal to keep in mind. Finally, he settled on the knowledge about focus madness. He wanted to know if he was right, and if others had figured it out too.

With that thought firmly in his mind, he used the Akashic Embodiment, and his mind fell into the Plane of Knowledge.