Angar didn’t find the Parousia Protocols all that long. He learned a lot. Why Theosis functioned as it did made much more sense now, answering many of his lingering questions.
Theosis demanded blood, forging men in war’s fire, but that still left a lot of contradictions.
Curiously, he looked at Spirit. “These protocols seem to clash with the Seven Edicts. Free will against mandatory compliance.”
She floated ahead, unstopping. “If you ever reach a cathedral grand enough to house an Enlightened Scribes library, seek out the original. What you’ve read is like the millionth revision. When Nexus and I merged, the first version was the product of a deal we struck in desperation.”
She glanced back at Angar, her face etched with solemnity. “Theosis was different then. The initial protocols were about hope, inspiring a freed people, together, making things better, not sacrifice and slaughter. They spoke of what Theosis would do as much as not do, with no mention of Holy War or Crusaders, because there were no Crusaders back then.”
After a pause, with her voice heavy, as if the weight of eons pressed her words, she said, “The Seven Edicts came much later, after teetering close to the edge of oblivion far too many times, learning the harsh realities of empire management, and the full extent of how much blood and sacrifice this horrible war would demand. Needs must, even when it’s not the devil driving.
“He sees the Parousia Protocols as too constricting, too helpful to his enemies. He believes he could help so much more without them. He uses crisis, the Senate, and Imperial Law as an excuse to skirt them a little now. Not unlike he did back on the ship with that task he gave you.”
Angar absorbed this information as best he could. A few minutes later, he asked, “Do you call Theosis ‘he’ to separate him from yourself? Technically, you should say ‘we,’ right?”
Spirit’s shoulders tensed slightly as she floated onward, “Yes. I’m a ghost in a machine, but I’m still me, even if I’m just an echo of my former self, a shadow of who I once was. Theosis is not me, nor am I him. My union with Nexus created something entirely new.”
“Understood. Couldn't ‘it’ work too then?”
“Theosis has always felt masculine to me.”
“Oh.”
“Work on moving meditation some more, please,” Spirit said, ending the conversation.
And on they traveled. Silently. He noticed his skin was itching a little less.
Spirit was the next to speak, surprising Angar. “I’ve been waiting for you to ask about Glory Points. You have over 69 to spare. Any suggestions?”
Angar had been thinking about this stuff for a while. Ground Current had the Rage Upgrade which halved Energy cost from 2 to 1, but that option wasn’t selected for Tempest, which would’ve halved the Energy cost from 4 to 2.
It made no sense, but he was glad an Ability Upgrade hadn’t been wasted on a second useless Rage Upgrade.
He said, “Yes. A few. I have a question first. With my Capstone, I’ll never run out of Energy Points or Charges. The Rage Upgrade of Ground Current seems a waste. Any chance I can take that back? Un-apply it?”
“No. Well, yes, but it’d have a cost, and you don’t want that anyway. For build choices, always think long term. What happens if you ascend to Tier 2 and level 34?”
Angar contemplated this a good bit before replying. “I get a new Class Option. There’s some great Classes I’d love to have, but if it were up to me, I’d pick another Ability from Divine Storm and use the Class Option and 140 Glory Points on two Ability Options for the Sacred Upgrades.”
“Which?”
“Lightning Strike.”
“Good,” replied Spirit. “That’s what I’d suggest as well, but your math isn’t correct. Unless you plan on holding off for level 42, you’d need an Ability Option to select it, so 210 Glory Points.”
Angar cursed under his breath. He had 279 Glory Points. He was thinking he’d spend 75 of that on three Ability Upgrades he really thought Lightning Strike needed after he ascended to Tier 2.
He hated being wrong, and being wrong about such an obvious thing bothered him. He even remembered her saying he needed to keep 210 points in reserve.
“Sorry,” he said.
“No need to apologize. You're new to this, and you’re learning fast. What’s the biggest weaknesses of your current build?”
He thought deeply before answering, “My regular attacks aren’t empowered? I wanted to address that by getting the Mighty Upgrade for Ground Current at some point.”
“No. Well, yes, that Upgrade would help shore up one weakness, but just a little. Out of 38 seconds of fighting, you have 8 seconds where you can do decent damage, and a little over 8 seconds where you can mitigate damage.
“You want to excel at area damage, single-target damage, and damage mitigation. Eventually. You’re still Tier 1, so we’re talking long term. Let’s stop so you can pull up the System.”
Spirit halted, but Angar ran past her. “No need,” he called back. “I can pull it up while running.”
Floating forward again, shooting past Angar, she said, “You sure? Most can’t run and check their screens.”
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“I can.”
“Okay. Pull up Lightning Strike. Study it and tell me how it’ll benefit what should be your long-term goals.”
“Understood,” replied Angar. He did as told, and the two talked for a while about future possibilities, how Lightning Strike would change things, and many other topics.
As soon as he ascended to Tier 2, his Energy expenditure would increase drastically, so he had to plan around that. It would go up enough he’d eventually want to pick up the Rage Upgrade for Tempest.
Spirit seemed much more willing to talk about this stuff than anything else. He thought that could be due to them no longer being in such a great rush.
“Okay,” said Spirit. “Now, those 69 Glory Points you can spend. Thoughts?”
He had a lot of thoughts. There were many items that could be purchased in the System Store, but his options were very restricted with his budget.
Adroitness increases cost 300, Attribute Points cost 100, Class Options cost 90, Feat Options cost 80, Ability Options cost 70, Skill Points cost 50, Stat Points cost 40, and Ability Upgrades cost 25.
It was possible to purchase System training for 1 point per hour which increased per Tier level of training, but there were a lot of rules and stipulations for this, and he didn’t have time to study it all while running.
So, he could get a Skill Point, a Stat Point, two Ability Upgrades, or a Stat Point and an Ability Upgrade.
When he was done reviewing and ready, Angar said, “I think I should pick two Ability Upgrades.”
“As do I. Which two?”
He remembered Spirit saying she’d like him to have Ground Current’s Enduring 2, but with a PL of 26, Ground Current now had a max distance of 29 meters. He thought that was plenty enough, or it had been so far.
He didn’t want to waste it on the Rage Upgrade for Tempest either. Even if he would eventually want it, he didn’t now.
“I think Ground Current’s Mighty and Merciless 1 Upgrades are the best choices,” replied Angar.
“Why?”
“Because Mighty adds a little lightning damage to every attack for three seconds. More damage is good. From the one helpful line in my Class description, all lightning damage has a chance to stun, but I don’t know how often or for how long. I’d rather have a guaranteed stun I control with Merciless 1 than additional range.”
“Good rational,” stated Spirit, “but I disagree. Five things – the stun chance and duration of lightning damage is a complicated formula, but after resistances and other factors, for your needs, it works out to not much of a chance and not for long.
“Second, 2.6 PL damage per hit isn’t a little, it’s a good deal of damage, but works out poorly when factoring overall damage increase.
“Third, disregarding the range, a full second stun is much more desirable than a half second. The stun effect from Merciless will take on anything that isn’t significantly more powerful than you are, even if it doesn’t last the full time.
“Fourth, you’ll wish there was an Endurance 3 option when you start fighting enemies with ranged attacks and weapons. As a close combat fighter, a decently powerful Heretic with a lancer rifle could take you down without breaking a sweat.
“Fifth, you think too short-term. If there’s something you’ll eventually need, you can’t disregard it like you are with Tempest’s Rage.”
Angar listened intently to all her points. He thought she’d continue, but after a minute went by and she didn’t, he asked, “Does Theosis give power to Heretics?”
"Yes and no. There are stages of Heresy, and some are obvious. If someone is known to be or is visibly a Heretic, it stops. However, they retain everything, and the fell powers of Hell can take over where Theosis left off, empowering them in strange new ways. Which two Ability Upgrades should you pick?”
“I know what two you want me to get now, so I’ll get those.”
Spirit turned around and floated backwards at the same speed. “And which two are those?”
“Merciless 1 and 2.”
Smiling, Spirit said, “Bingo. That means correct.”
Angar purchased the two Ability Upgrades and applied them.
ABILITIES
(Selected Upgrades Bolded. Cooldown and cost reflect selected Upgrades in parentheticals. Ability description does not reflect selected Upgrades.)
From Divine Storm:
1 – GROUND CURRENT:
Transform into charged particles, allowing near-instantaneous travel through the ground up to 3 + (0.5 x PL) meters. You are mostly immune to damage and effects during this travel.
Cooldown: 30 seconds (15 seconds)
Cost: 2 Energy (1 Energy)
Upgrades:
Enduring 1: Increase travel distance to 3 + PL meters.
Enduring 2: Increase travel distance to 3 + (1.5 x PL) meters.
Fervor: Gain immunity to most attacks and control effects for 1 second after exiting the ground.
Merciless 1: Stun all targets within 1.5 meters of your exit point for 0.5 seconds.
Merciless 2: Stun all targets within 3 meters of your exit point for 1 second.
Mighty: Add 0.1 x PL lightning damage to your close weapon attacks for 3 seconds post-exit.
Rage: Halves cooldown.
Zeal: Halve Energy cost.
Sacred Upgrades:
(A) Geomagnetic Phenomena 1: Strike all targets within 1.5 meters of where you exit the ground with a lightning bolt dealing PL damage, suppressing any permanent regeneration effect targets may have for 1 second.
(A) Geomagnetic Phenomena 2: Strike all targets within 3 meters of where you exit the ground with a lightning bolt dealing 2 x PL damage, suppressing regeneration for 2 seconds.
(C) Geomagnetic Phenomena 3: Lightning damage from Geomagnetic Phenomena 1 and 2 forks to a new target within 3 meters inflicting half damage, then forks to a new target within 3 meters inflicting a quarter damage. Additionally, for 2 seconds after use, allows an additional use of Ground Current at no energy cost if a target moves more than 4 meters away, but the cooldown is reset and only Enduring 1 and 2 apply to this use.
2 – TEMPEST:
Hold your hands together or your close weapon with both hands and spin rapidly for 3 seconds, dealing an extra PL physical damage per hit to all targets in range. You can move while spinning.
Cooldown: 1 minute (30 Seconds)
Cost: 4 Energy, 1 Charge
Upgrades:
Enduring 1: Spin duration increases to 4.5 seconds.
Enduring 2: Spin duration increases to 6 seconds.
Fervor: No Charge required, but cooldown increases to 4 minutes.
Merciless: Hit targets are slowed by 50% and your speed is boosted by 50% for 2 seconds. Does not stack.
Mighty 1: Deal 1.5 x PL damage per hit.
Mighty 2: Deal 2 x PL damage per hit.
Rage: Halves cooldown.
Zeal: Halves Energy cost.
Sacred Upgrades:
(A) Thunderstorm 1: Lightning extends 3 meters from the tip of your weapon, dealing 0.5 x PL damage every second. Mighty 1 and 2 increase damage to 0.75 x PL and PL respectively.
(A) Thunderstorm 2: Thunderstorm now starts at 0.33 x PL damage, but lightning damage increases by 0.33 x PL each second and range is extended by 1 meter per second. Mighty 1 and 2 increase initial damage to 0.5 x PL and .66 x PL respectively.
(C) Thunderstorm 3: Mitigate 90% of incoming damage and resist 90% of negative effects while spinning. Additionally, lightning damage from Thunderstorm 1 and 2 forks to a new target within 3 meters inflicting half damage, then forks to a new target within 3 meters inflicting a quarter damage.
