CHAPTER 5: hubris

Once I had finished doing my… 'business' with Tamara, I realized, that other than possessing the memories of her last twenty-four hours, I had also gotten her skills. Tamara was athletic, flexible and acrobatic. She was a cheerleader and a stereotypical 'alpha-bitch' and apparently possessed the Charisma to go with it. I supposed it made sense, because otherwise it would be really weird possessing an Olympic Distance Runner, only to discover that I panted and gasped in an attempt to run the four-minute-mile.

However, what made this power deadly, is what happens after the possession.

I detached my soul from that of the girl's body, watching as she plopped lifelessly to the ground, and immediately, I was assaulted with a wall of text.

From gaining an insight from a more experienced perspective, your Dexterity has gone up by 32!

From gaining an insight from a more experienced perspective, your Charisma has gone up by 20!

From gaining an insight from a more experienced perspective, your Strength has gone up by 10!

From gaining an insight from a more experienced perspective, your Vitality has gone up by 14!

From gaining an insight from a more experienced perspective, your Intelligence has gone up by 7!

You have gained the skill – Acrobatics!

Acrobatics (Active and Passive) Lv. 24

This skill grants you the ability to perform excellent gymnastic maneuvers, making you nimbler on your feet, and mitigating effects of recoil damage or Stagger status effects.

You have gained the skill – Cheerleading!

Cheerleading (Active) Lv. 72

This skill allows you to shout and cheer and boost the morale of your teammates and acquaintances, subsequently boosting their attack and defense.

You have gained the skill – Dancing!

Dancing (Active) Lv. 39

This skill allows you to dance. Higher levels include greater masteries of different dance styles, and an improved effect on seduction when dancing with women.

Skill – Housekeeping has gone up by 20!

Skill – Homestyle Cooking has gone up by 20!

I gained the abilities of the people I possessed after possessing their bodies. I retained the abilities even after I had left their bodies – which meant –

"Hello. Who are you?"

I froze, tilting my head to the side and almost cursing my stupidity for having just standing there in the girl's room. The realization of getting her skills and abilities had distracted me enough to fail to notice when the girl had roused from the possession. Considering the fact that she was, as it was, sitting in her room with her panties on the floor and a young stranger in her room – I could only guess the immediate reaction –

"How. Did you. Get in here. Little. Guy."

Which was most certainly not… that.

I blinked, turning to stare at the girl, and ignored the cold shiver that ran down my spine as I made eye contact. Her eyes… they…

They were blank.

Empty and soulless like a sheet of white paper dipped in cream paint. She was there, present, and clearly conscious and alive, but at the same time, it was like she wasn't. Like there was something seriously and completely wrong with her.

'Gamer Vision.'

Bitch Cheerleader

Tamara McClain

HP: 100/100

MP: 0/1

Level: 7

Age: 16

Race: Human

Affiliations: Gargoyle High School

Base of Operations: Gotham City

Alignment: Neutral

Occupation: N/A

Identity: Unknown

Citizenship: American

Status Effects:

(Partially Consumed Soul)

(Muted Soul)

That… could not be good.

Partially Consumed Soul: The soul of this individual has been partially drained and taken, as a result of a forced body possession, aspects of this individual's powers and abilities were transferred to a new host, and those powers and abilities were accompanied with a portion of the individual's soul.

Increases Effectiveness of: Soul Rituals, Soul Drain, Soul Theft, Body Possession, Voodoo

Muted Soul: The soul of this individual has been greatly suppressed and stripped of will and individuality. As a result, the individual's soul has been muted, all their characteristic behaviors and traits, emotions, feelings and passions have been heavily suppressed, leaving a blank slate on the soul on which nearly anything could be written.

Increases Effectiveness of: Soul Conditioning, Soul Bondage, Soul Slavery

I was leaping down the rabbit hole here. It was a slippery, extremely slippery slope, with the nagging sensation at the back of my mind telling me that going any further down this path would send me down a road of no return. Sure, it was one thing to possess a body for shits and giggles – read, masturbation – but it'd be a whole different thing entirely to completely rewrite someone's personality and essentially enslave their unwilling soul to mine.

Soul Possession was… well… dangerous.

I supposed it should have been obvious considering the fact that I was dealing with Soul Magic, which was clearly considered as dark magic, but still. I had a feeling that this had only happened because of the influence of Gamer's Mind which had forced the possession and effectively disregarded the girl's own soul as a foreign entity in her body.

Which probably meant that this would happen to every single person I ended up possessing – as Gamer's Mind would continue to detect their souls as foreign influences.

"Um. Who… are… you?"

I turned to the girl.

"I'm…" Should I? Shouldn't I? "Your master."

I waited.

"Oh." She said, simply. "Hello… master."

The devil was probably warming my seat up for me in hell right this instant.

Alright, let's look at the pros and the cons.

Pros – I could possess people, and after I possessed them, I could brainwash them into my forever willing minions, with their souls bound to mine.

Cons – If I possessed someone, and didn't want to brainwash them afterwards, I would effectively be leaving them as hollow, damaged husks of their previous selves with ne'er a shred of individuality or will – who would either end up dying horribly or manipulated and used by the people around them.

I rubbed my nose.

Pros – I could possess people. Hijack their bodies and do whatever I wanted with it, and I gained stats and new skills from each person I possessed.

Cons – I would technically be a slave-master.

… Wait… how was that a con again? Other than the pesky ethical or moral aspects of it – which I had decided that I would not let get in my way ever again –

I couldn't really see the cons.

"Well," I turned back to the girl. "Congratulations Tamara – you've officially become my first evil henchman."

"Oh." She said, plainly. "Yay."

I resisted the urge to shudder at the lifeless intonation.

Okay – how exactly did I do the whole – Soul Conditioning thing again? I could only handle this for so long.

Soul Magic Skill Tree Updated!

Soul Conditioning (Active) Lv. 1

This enables you to rewrite or train a blank or vacant soul in the manner that you wish or desire. You can set their fears, loves, hates, likes, dislikes, and choose their outlook on life as though you were creating a character to be tortured in the Sims. Feel free to go wild!

Was it just me, or was my Gamer interface learning sarcasm?

Soul Bondage (Active) Lv. 1

This allows you to basically chain a soul to yours and ensure control and domination of the bonded soul. Higher levels will enable you to use this ability to imprison ghosts, poltergeists or spirits inside weapons or objects, or to bind them to your will and use them as you so command. Should your soul perish or should you die, the bonded soul will also die, and likewise, should your soul get stronger and more powerful, so will the bonded soul.

Soul Slavery (Active and Passive) Lv. 1

Exactly what it says on the tin. This allows you to completely enslave the targeted soul to your whim. Unlike Soul Bondage however, Soul Slavery essentially compels the captured soul to obey and listen to your every command as though they were words spoken by the Saint Paul himself. Soul Slavery also passively ensures that the enslaved soul will begin to see you as their master, to the point of blind devotion where they would sever their limbs without question should you demand it of them.

Note: Using Soul Slavery on a ghost, spirit, or poltergeist is considered a great ignominy by numerous beings in the supernatural world, as you strip them from their rights to go to Heaven or Hell, and essentially make them your eternal puppets.

Important Note: Using Soul Slavery on a Demon or Angel is considered a hundred times worse, the height of humiliation and degradation, and will almost certainly guarantee you either extreme loathing or extreme fear.

So, Soul Bondage commanded the souls to do as I wished, but Soul Slavery compelled. Then, there was Soul Conditioning which was just a fanciful term for complete brainwashing, and there was the fact that I could enslave angels and demons or ghosts and spirits.

I turned my attention back to Tamara.

"Okay…" I swallowed. "Conditioning time."

It was simple enough, an idea which sprung to mind. Make her as close to 'me' as I could possibly get. If I could get one companion, just one, from whom I wouldn't have to hide the whole Gamer business, and who would understand where I was coming from, possessing similar though-processing – it would make my life a hell of a lot easier.

And of course, I was planning on cheating again – naturally.

I didn't have the time to wait to let the skill level up, so – it was time to use my imagination.

Soul Conditioning activated, and I could feel the options of the girl's soul, the ability to turn and twist it as though it were a dial on a setting. However, rather than turn and twist, I instead activated Greater Body Possession.

Partially.

The result, was my soul slamming into the girl for a brief second before returning back to my body. The goal of doing this was to successfully imprint my own soul into her body, and gain a secondary opinion and perspective of life, in the form of an older, sexier, different gendered Shadow Clone, with 16+ years of living and experience.

And then… I waited.

Soul Conditioning has gone up by 1!

Soul Conditioning has gone up by 1!

Soul Conditioning has gone up by 1!

Soul Conditioning has gone up by 1!

Sometimes, I fell in love with my own genius. I watched as the skill went up, and up and –

Soul Conditioning has been maxed out!

I grinned, wildly.

"It's alive! Aaaaliiiivveeee!"

Two of the strangest pair of icy blue eyes opened, and 'Tamara' gave me a coy smile.

"Aw, look at you – you're so cute with that little mask you've got put on your face."

I blinked. "Mask?"

She grinned. A terrifying grin. A cold grin. A grin that told me that something was very, very wrong.

"You think that going through life as though nothing truly matters, as though the entirety of it is a dumb joke with you being the butt of it is the way to go, don't you hon?"

She rose, her hand cupping my small chin.

"But I see it – oh, I see it clearly. Your mind can't break, it can't snap – you can't go insane from the realization that this is truly your reality – that this is your world. But – that isn't comforting is it? No – no – no! It's not comforting in the slightest! Instead… it's horrifying!"

She laughed, spinning around on the balls of her feet, and I unconsciously took a step back.

"You're trapped in an insane death world of gods, monsters and cosmic beings – you're trapped like a helpless damsel in a B-rated horror flick – and you've been stripped of your basic, simple right, to as much as scream."

She was clapping, clapping enthusiastically. Her eyes were wide, her smile was stretched, and her form was coiled and timid, brave and frightful all at the same time. It was a paradox and oxymoron of traits and features, of cowardice and courage, of madness and sanity – all of it, represented in the girl's expressions and movements.

This – this was me? This was what an imprint of my soul behaved like?

No. I wasn't crazy – I mean –

Then, all at once, it hit me.

She doesn't have Gamer's Mind.

"Tamara dear, is anything wrong?" A voice called out from another room.

She rolled her eyes, before sighing, and turning back to me.

"Ugh. My deadbeat parents. I can just hop up there and kill them if you want." She said with a smile, "It wouldn't take long – well, unless I really wanted to drag it out – oh! Oh! How bout I rape my mom while I'm at it? You can watch – she's a MILF, and would be right down your alley –"

It was a strange feeling, disgust. "No! No – don't do that."

She tilted her head. "No? Are you sure? Oh – that's right, you wouldn't get any pleasure out of it – your body being undeveloped and all. Ah – but I can still kill them right? Should I make it messy? They'd probably be useful for a blood ritual don't you think?"

Something had clearly gone wrong. There was no way this was anything close to what I was like. Even without Gamer's Mind. I wasn't insane.

I wasn't.

I wasn't.

"Oh? What's wrong? Come on master! Let's kill them! They don't matter after all! I mean, does anything here even matter?" she said in a sing-song voice, "Let's become gods! Enslave the universe! Turn Darkseid into your butler or go back in time and screw the Virgin Mary! I mean, with how fucked up this world is, it wouldn't be a surprise to discover that Jesus was some time traveler or extradimensional alien! Oh! Maybe both!"

I teetered back.

"Speaking of mothers and fucking, you're not still planning on doing that silly little mission helping that selfish bitch?"

I froze.

"What did you call her?"

She grinned, hopping on her bed and crossing her legs. "You know it, deep down, you've always known it. Eva – she doesn't care about you. Not really. She leaves you day after day to go slurp down dirty dicks and get wet from giving people boners. She drinks herself to stupor and comes back wasted, and you're there, cooking her meals, washing her semen stained undies, and giving her ego the reassurance that she's a good person, like a good, well-trained, pet."

"Shut up." I whispered, my voice almost inaudible to my own ears.

She laughed once more. "Come on! You're smarter than this! When last did she ask you how you were doing? When last did she even bother asking you to tell her about your day? Hell, does she even care about what you do in all the excess free time you have while she's out there experiencing bukkake no jutsu?"

"Shut. Up."

"It's not that she doesn't believe your bullshit truth excuses, and more that she doesn't want to. As long as you're there, re-assuring her that she isn't complete garbage, and as long as you're smart enough to make your way to the kitchen and whip up your own meals, she wouldn't even care if you told her that you were raping kittens for fun. Oh, no – she wouldn't, because she doesn't want her well-behaved pet to be anything but that."

"Shut. Up."

"You think getting a million dollars would suddenly make her become a better person? Really? You think she'd actually stop stripping and fucking and try to 'make something' out of her life? The same woman who left you starving in a crib for hours while some guy fucked her on the couch? The same person who often forgot to change your diapers because she was wasted as fuck? Hell – if not for those nifty powers, you'd be dead. Imagine that – picture it and let it sink in – you would be dead if you weren't a Gamer. This woman, who doesn't give a shit about you, who all but orchestrated your attempted murder, is the one person in the world you're living for? The one person you would do anything to please?"

A heavy scoff.

"And I'm the brainwashed one."

"SHUT THE FUCKING HELL UP!"

I didn't know when I lunged from my position. I didn't know when my feet had flown into the air, as I tackled the form of the girl to the ground, my fists slamming into her face in anger. Again, and again and again –

She laughed.

All she did, through it all, was laugh.

I didn't know how long it had been. All I could remember was the sound of taunting laughter coming from a girl's voice. The laughter was colder than anything I had felt before. Like serpents of ice had coiled into a vice grip around my chest. It was in contrast to the burning gorilla hands which I felt squeezing against my throat and preventing me from swallowing.

It was only when I got a notification for 500EXP that I came to my senses, and the stench and sight and sensations assaulted me.

From continuous repetitive action, a skill has been created!

Manslaughter (Active) Lv. 1

The ability to completely decimate your opponent in brutal, barbaric ways. The bloodier and gorier the kill, the more experience points you gain. Evolution of this skill will unlock the 'Style Points' System, which awards special bonuses for combos and your choice of decimation. This skill can also be used as a finisher – and it inflicts the [Stunned] [Horrified] and [Cowed] status effect on any nearby enemies or allies.

A small snicker wanted to escape my lips. A small one. But it died. Stillborn.

Would you like to dematerialize the vanquished foe, or harvest the corpse?

(Dematerialize)

(Harvest)

"Tamara, what the hell is going on! What's with all the nois –"

The woman who entered the room was probably in her mid-thirties. Probably. I didn't know. I didn't want to know. I didn't want her face to be burned into my memory. I didn't even try to look up to see her name or level. I didn't need – didn't want to know. To be reminded.

"For all it's worth, I'm sorry."

Her daughter's blood was literally on my hands, and it was more than enough to use as a foci.

Lesser Summon Vines did the work for me – thick, dark green vines appearing from the ceiling with a clear target in mind. They wrapped around the woman's mouth before she could let out a horrified scream, and I willed the image I wanted in my mind.

CRACK!

A sharp tug of two alternating vines in two opposite directions. The vines themselves weren't even that strong – they could be overcome and torn like silk cloth; but the woman was neither in the state of mind to do such, nor would she have had any way to react to the vines in time.

Manslaughter has gone up by three!

Lesser Summon Vines has gone up by four!

You have gained 250 Experience Points!

Title Unlocked: Murderer

The body dropped lifelessly to the ground, like someone had let go of a large bag of potatoes.

A cursory glance at my minimap indicated another red dot – the last member of the three member family. He was asleep – still peaceful in his bed, and for a second, I contemplated it. Contemplated sparing him. Contemplated that he was not a witness, and that there was no real reason to take his life as well.

Then, I realized that it was the small mercies like this, which drove men to either become great heroes or great villains.

And so, Lesser Summon Vines once more sprung to work. I envisioned them, and with blood as the foci, they rose out of the man's pillow and wrapped themselves around his neck, before tightening. Four more vines appeared, pinning his legs and arms, stopping him from tearing off vine on his neck, stopping the only means of preventing his suffocation; his strangulation.

It was a slow process, even as he struggled, and fought, clawing at his sheets like a wild beast, convulsing and thrashing on his bed with all the desperation of a living being fighting for life. In the end, the foci was far too strong, and his strength was not enough.

He was not enough.

Manslaughter has gone up by six!

Lesser Summon Vines has gone up by five!

You have gained 1000 EXP!

Congratulations! You have leveled up!

You are now Level 3!

You have gained additional 1000 Mana Points!

You have gained additional 250 Health Points!

Achievement Unlocked: No Witnesses

Title Unlocked: Serial Killer

I slumped back, lying on the floor. I felt old, older than I had any right to feel.

"Dematerialize."

I watched as sparkles of light rose and faded from my vision, and as I stood in a house now devoid of any bodies. Other than the bloodstains on the floor and the protrusions in the roof caused by magical vines, there was nothing proving that people had been attacked and had died.

I rose.

It was easy to find the kitchen, as the convenient minimap made me nigh-clairvoyant. I grabbed a bunch of forks from a drawer, and I tossed them into the microwave. I turned towards the oven, turning the dial until it was on full blast, and then I left it open, watching as my vision slightly altered in response to the invisible fumes.

I cleared out the master bedroom of all jewels and valuables.

Then I took my time to check the family pictures, and ensure that there were no other members of the family I had missed. I made my way out from whence I came, climbing down from Tamara's window.

I made sure I was back on the ground and on the street, before I conjured up the image of the microwave in my mind.

"Lesser Summon Vine."

A tiny, thread-like vine slowly turned the knob of the Microwave's timer.

I swung open the rickety door to my own apartment complex just as the street was engulfed in orange.

Achievement Unlocked: Playing With Fire

I never liked the wailing of sirens. The sound was annoying, almost irritating, and they prevented me from being capable of thinking soundly – thinking logically.

I went out to experiment a Body Possession – to have some fun and masturbate with a girl's body. Then, I returned a higher level, and with a higher body count. How had I gone from having mildly harmless fun, to completely killing an entire family and blowing up their house? I couldn't even begin to explain it.

Magic – it was powerful. Undoubtedly so. However, I realized that it was also a force that was above my comprehension. Body Possession had led to me wiping a girl's personality. My attempt to 'fix' her by imprinting my own soul on her failed as I realized that Gamer's Mind was literally the only thread maintaining my sanity, and I was essentially forced into killing my inner demon given physical form. Then everything else was just damage control.

Why the hell did I blow up their house?

If I had merely killed them and left the house intact, no one would ever have been the wiser. It would have entered a missing cases file, and would have been destined to be forgotten and abandoned. Instead, I had lost my cool. I wanted all memory of the deed wiped clean from my head. From my mind.

There was a difference between killing a cultist out to murder you, and killing an innocent family of three that meant you no ill will.

I wanted all traces of that place, of that thing I had created by destroying the soul of a girl - gone with the ash.

Except, I'd opened a can of worms that could not be closed anymore. I'd unleashed the domino effect.

With the firefighters, eventually came the police. Once the flames were doused and no burnt cadavers were found, it was only a matter of time until –

I sighed. A small badge icon was right there, approaching my own apartment.

Questioning.

They would have most likely finished questioning everyone in the apartment where the crime took place, before they would decide to move over to the Blue Light Complex in hopes of trying to find out if anyone had seen anything.

The problem, however, was that I was an infant. I couldn't answer the door on my own.

Knock!

Knock!

Knock!

"This is the GCPD – we'd like to ask you some questions, if you would please comply."

I played a sequence of events over and over again in my head. Yet, I realized that no matter what choice I made, answering, or not answering, the results would ultimately end up the same – one way or another.

So, with my best 'innocent' and 'childlike' face, I made my way to the door.

"Hiyah Mistwa Powiceman!"

From putting on a grand performance, the Skill – Acting has been created!

I'd never been to the Gotham City Police Department before. Actually, I haven'r been much of anywhere before. It wasn't like Eva had a car that would help save my legs the hassle of moving far distances. Or, it wasn't like there was any place she would or could take me. I was too young to board a bus or most public transportation systems without raising numerous brows, and I didn't know how to teleport yet.

The ride in the car had been comfortable, although annoying. Having to actually act my age was a feat I wasn't sure how to properly perform, but by how steadily my acting skill kept leveling with each and every pretense at struggling with complex words, and each mispronunciation, I knew that I was doing well. It also helped that I glued my face to the window and stared out at all of Gotham City's exotic looking nightlife with awe that didn't have to be faked.

I couldn't be sure, but I think I came from a third-world country in my past life. I'd never seen a city so beautiful before, or at least, I couldn't remember seeing one. So, Gotham City was a sight to behold, even if the sight had been from the backseat of a police vehicle.

The police department itself was large, and it was a mix and mash of what I could remember from the Arkham Games, from the Gotham TV Series, from numerous animated films, and from the Dark Knight Trilogy. With hanging gargoyles and elevated platforms, with numerous levels and elevators, and officers patrolling every square-inch – it was impressive.

Those Wayne Industries donations sure helped.

"Aw – who's this cute little guy?"

My attention turned to a female officer who had noticed me.

"Found him all alone in his apartment – opposite the apartment complex that blew up."

A gasp. "All alone?"

A nod. "Poor kid must have been frightened to death."

Curious. "What about his parents?"

Resigned. "His mother's name is Eva Cabrera – she's a local whor – err… call-girl. She's probably 'out' for the night and left this fella here on his own."

Annoyance. "Well that's just –"

"That's not even the weird part. This kid – it's like he doesn't exist. No hospital records, medical records, hell, he doesn't even have a birth certificate. Talked to some of the neighbors – they said –"

I felt my heart rate rise as the police officer, Thompson, stopped. He turned to me, before he gestured the female officer away, to what they assumed was out of my hearing range.

The skill – Eavesdropping has been created!

"It's sick. The neighbors say that his mother, this Eva chick, locks him up in the apartment whenever she goes out to work, and leaves the kid to starve. She abandons him to fend for himself, and often brings back different 'customers' and forces the kid to watch her get it on with them."

My blood ran slightly cold. That wasn't – I had watched to discourage her from – it wasn't –

"That's disgusting!"

"It gets worse," he said. "Supposedly, she often takes the kid to 'work' with her. To strip clubs and other places, where he's put on display and played with by her co-workers with peculiar 'tastes'."

The female police officer O'Reilly, shot me what she thought was a subtly look of sympathy and pity, but I didn't focus on it. I couldn't focus on it. My mind was clear. Too clear. Too sharp. All at once, I realized my folly. I realized that I had been living in an apartment where the walls had been far too thin. I realized, that from the perspective of people who weren't aware of my own self-sufficiency and independence, of my intellect, they would assume the worst of my mother's actions. Of my actions.

"So – this sicko, where is she?"

"Two of the guys headed out to book her about an hour ago. The way I see it, she's going to go away for a long fucking time. I've already contacted Social Services, I can only hope the guys there can get the poor kid a proper family – with all he's suffered, he deserves it."

This – this wasn't right. No – this couldn't be right

This couldn't be happening.

It was only until I spotted the familiar mop of blonde hair being dragged forward by two police men that reality seemed to sink in.

"Mom!"

I sprinted for her, without hesitation. I barreled into her stomach, my small, childlike form tackling her with all the force it could muster. All we needed was an explanation – a valid explanation – one that wouldn't make her look crazy as she tried to explain to everyone that a one-year old was capable of bantering with her, and was insanely smart. An explanation that wouldn't end up with me effectively displaying to a court that I had the intelligence of someone easily three times my age, and as a result, put myself on the crosshairs of everyone from Amanda Waller to Lex Luthor.

I needed a solution. A solution that would make sense. A solution that would work. A solution that would –

"Huuuh? Z-Zacky – is that you? Heh – you're – are not planning on sucking my nipples again are you? It kinda felt good last time if I'm being honest – come 'ere and give my babies some love~"

I froze.

Gamer's Vision flared.

Status Effect: Highly Inebriated

She was drunk.

Now of all times! NOW of all FUCKING TIMES!

The scene was observed by numerous police officers, and I could already sense the judging and condemning looks they shot her way, as it stood in contrast to the looks of pity sent in my direction.

Irresponsible –

Incapable –

Degenerate –

Whore –

Slut –

Dirty –

Filthy –

Their eyes and postures conveyed the words that their lips would not speak, and I grit my teeth as I tried to make sense of how this could be happening.

I had a quest – a mission.

I had to complete the mission – nothing would stop a mission from being completed right? I had four years… right?

"Codex: Show Quest – Pulling Your Own Weight."

Pulling Your Own Weight!

Your mother is a young, talented, and extremely beautiful woman, who is wasting away her life as a cheap stripper and hooker in Gotham City's slums, and is barely making enough for herself, let alone for the both of you. Help her out by attaining enough money to steer her off this path of life, and truly become a better person.

Objective: -

Attain $100,000 Dollars via any means necessary

Bonus Objectives: -

Attain $250,000 Dollars

Attain $500,000 Dollars

Attain $1,000,000 Dollars

Time Limit:

Before your mother turns Twenty-Five

(Four Years)

Rewards:

10,000 EXP

Additional 25,000 EXP Per Bonus Objective

Increased Standards of Living

Greatly Increased Reputation with your Mother

Greatly Increased Affection with your Mother

[BARRED QUEST]

Due to consequences resulting from the choice of a magical division [Magical Division – Ritual Magic], this Quest has been Barred from completion, and as a result, automatically failed.

My world shattered.

Hence, it is for this reason, that there is a burden or a great cost required of those who dabble into magic. The requirement may be physical, mental or psychological – as magic does not give freely, and in exchange for turning the fundamental laws of the universe into a lump of clay, the user must pay this price.