Prologue
Prologue
~
Trogal the Wise stood atop the balcony of the massive ivory tower he had built during his life meant to store all the knowledge he had picked up while traveling throughout known world and beyond. The multiple kilometer tall tower was chock full of magical tomes depicting ancients magics, scripts detailing the history of the world, notes of some of the most legendary figures that had ever graced the land, the sky and the sea.
It was an unrivalled library, a veritable holy land to all who sought to be more than they were before whether in terms of power or knowledge, they would undoubtedly find it somewhere in the tower. It was truly unfortunate however, that all who tried had failed and returned with nothing.
Some of the more insolent thieves not even returning at all.
Trogal let out a huff of amusement as he thought about all the various ways they had tried to justify themselves. He had heard it all, from the righteous desire born from a will to protect those who could not protect themselves to a hate filled desire to lay waste to all that there was. The tales he had been told were many, hundreds of thousands of reasons to be let into his tower and allowed to peruse it's shelves.
Unfortunately for them however, his title was not just for show.
Whether the graceful gentle saint surrounded by holy light and an aura of serenity or the rage filled demon chased by the tortured souls of it's past sins manifested, he could see through them all. However passionate they may be, they did not truly mean anything they said, they didn't see the world through the same eyes as the true inhabitants did, their every move filled with an undercurrent of apathy and entitlement as if everyone else were merely puppets dancing to their whims.
They called themselves "Players".
Immortal beings that upon death would only come back no matter how many times they were killed, their only price of dodging death being a miniscule amount of strength they had accumulated in their world.
They suddenly started appearing scattered throughout the rural villages on the outskirts of the various kingdoms with no warning one day, most of the villagers were at first suspicious but were quickly pleasantly surprised by their attitude of wanting to help out no matter how trivial the task with an uncanny fervor.
Of course there were exceptions, threatening and harrassing the common folk as soon as they appeared, fortunately they were swiftly detained or killed depending on the severity of their crimes which is how they found out that even if struck down, they would only come back not long after no worse for wear.
Thankfully, the local guards could handle the situation well enough until the mayors were able to call for reinforcement from their respective kingdoms and get the situation under control, however, the kingdoms didn't have an unlimited supply of manpower to send everywhere at the same time. Not to mention the threat of nearby kingdoms seizing the opportunity to attack while their military were spread thin.
This combined with more and more Players appearing day by day with seemingly no end in sight, most of the kingdoms simply chose to recall their troops, not seeing the point of defending what in their eyes were irrelevant common folk.
Fools, the lot of them.
Either way the situation quickly escalated with Players quickly increasing in both power and numbers, spreading throughout the world like they were possessed and unable to sit still for even a second.
The inhabitants' reactions to the Players varied though alot saw them as easy manpower, using their eager attitude for their convenience. This continued for a while until dark forces from a long lost slice of history reappeared in the world wreaking havoc and destruction at their whims and wants, starting what in his mind was the end of an era.
In response to their appearance the population seemingly split in half, some convinced by the seductive promise of power to fulfill their desires joining the demons in their quest for destruction while the other half fought with everything they had trying to protect all they had known, counties, families, friends, homes.
War raged throughout the lands, the Players being quick to choose sides whether good or bad, they still carried out their tasks with an unbelievable eagerness only getting stronger and stronger with time.
Even with this however the truly strong remained passive, they had already experienced the world and was now content at staying wherever they had built their homes watching the world from the shadows.
That was until the "World Update" happened.
The world seemingly expanded in size during the course of a few days with new worlds being connected to theirs, new races, new kingdoms, new regions. The other worlds were just as confused as they were with the sudden merge, however it wasn't long until the situation between the "good" and the "bad" ramped up again, now on a vastly larger scale than before.
Through all this Trogal had remained an observer staying inside his tower no matter what happened content with watching history write itself while he watched on. Well, he 'was' content to remain a spectator until he discovered something quite interesting.
The secret to the Players' rapidly climbing strength.
They had access to some sort of being, system or program issuing 'quests' according to their surroundings ranging from a simple shopkeeper asking for someone to clean their shop to slaying some of the fantastical beasts that roamed the world.
No matter how trivial the task, as long as it was completed according to the requirements they would receive a reward. A few gold coins to massive wealth capable of rivaling some of the kingdoms, hides of common wolves to the strongest material you could realistically get your hands on, a resource that allowed them to permanently strengthen themselves with just the press of a button, legendary artifacts long lost to the river of time.
From what he had seen so far, he didn't think there was anything they wouldn't eventually get their hands on. Despite finding the secret to their strength however, that wasn't the sole reason that he, who had so far been content with allowing the state of the world to continue on uninterrupted, was about to take a more active role.
It was due to curiosity.
Retracting his gaze from the horizon beyond the grassland surrounding his tower he gently gestured with his hand accessing his spacial storage and took out a cluster of unrefined bone white crystal emitting a faint grey light.
Bringing it up to eye level Trogal felt the undercurrent of power contained within what the ignorant masses would call a fairly mundane looking crystal cluster. It didn't shine with the colors of the rainbow, it didn't give of a sense of frightening oppression to whoever was brave enough to step closer.
What was apparent to those powerful enough to get a chance to feel it however, was the sheer malleability of the currently dormant power kept inside. Hidden in the innocently glowing crystal was an unlimited amount of possibilities just waiting for someone to utilize it, to use it's everything to mold an entirely new being to their specifications.
Calling upon his mana with practiced ease Trogal's eyes started emitting a faint glow as he looked at the crystal.
[Appraise]
[Companion Crystal] (Consumable)
[Grade: Special]
[Information: A unique crystal chunk containing a seed of power allowing for the creation of a being to the user's specifications. It contains vastly more energy allowing for further customization compared to the more common assistant crystal, however in exchange, the being created through the crystal will not immediately follow the user's commands, starting as a neutral being. It is up to the user to earn their affection through their own means as there is a risk the being will simply leave.]
[Disclaimer: Trying to program a loyal personality does not mean the companion will like the user from the start, only allowing for easier affection gain.]
A small smile climbed up on Trogal's wizened face. Contrary to what most would have used it for, he found himself curious of what would happen if he were to create something initially quite weak but with unlimited potential to grow and just let it free. What heights would it reach, what legends would it spawn, what changes would occur to the world.
Or maybe it would simply perish before it had a chance to bloom?
---
"...I see."
"..."
"I suppose it was only a matter of time before one of you made a move."
Trogal huffed, covered in bloody wounds and gashes while leaning against his legendary mage's staff as he looked at the army surrounding him from all sides. Normally he would have scoffed at the mere notion of being defeated by such a force no matter which kingdom they were sent from. Unfortunately for him, it seems they had managed to lure out a few of his old acquaintances.
"Hmph, however wise you may be even you cannot predict the future."
"If you'd just let us enter your tower peacefully this wouldn't have happened, khahahahaha."
"I believe that is debatable."
Trogal shakily wheezed out as he felt his vision starting to blur. Glancing at two of the most powerful people in the currently known world Trogal idly thought of their past deeds despite the dangers distraction could cause.
Roland, a man that towered over most standing 243cm tall with short orange hair and a big bushy beard of the same color clad in white full plate armor with accents of gold. A legendary knight most known for wielding an incredibly powerful holy sword which he used to drive back an extremely powerful demon that had destroyed multiple kingdoms during it's warpath. A symbol of power all knights aspired to be, a guardian of the people and a staunch defender of mankind.
Almost everyone knew of him, singing his praises like they were praying to a god.
It Trogal's eyes however, he was a child in the body of a man. Self righteous, jealous, glory seeking, quick to lash out at whatever he took offense to, the few things Trogal would praise him for was that despite his personality, he still protected those who could not protect themselves. Even if not with justice in mind, they were still saved all the same. The other one being such a good actor, having been able to so far keep up his mask enough to not be suspected. Even those who did have doubts about him were quickly accused of slander by everyone else.
Trogal let out a slight chuckle of amusement before clutching his side in pain as his wounds flared up, Roland would probably be one of the most prominent performers of this era had he gotten into theatre instead.
Shifting his eyes to the other one, Trogal was met with a short gangly old man standing 143cm tall clad in a soft, but tightly wrapped black uniform and knee and shin guards that he knew hid various dangerous tools. Raycon, one of the most feared assassins in the current era, the sense of dread he inspired very well placed considering his skills.
The biggest reason to his infamy however was due to his chaotic method of operations. Although he was known as an assassin he very seldom took actual commissions, preferring to roam around without a clear goal. The problem with this was that no one knew who he would target next, his previous hits being completely random seemingly depending on his mood at the time.
Though no matter what, when he did act, he left nothing behind. No blood, no traces of struggle, no destroyed furniture, nothing. Nothing except a lifeless body. No one really knew who he was beyond very scarce information, though alot of people speculated him being a previous member of the Assassination Guild that was kicked out for some reason.
"Give up Trogal you won't be escaping today. Reinforcements have already put up a barrier against space magic surrounding the entire battlefield. If give us access to the tower, I might be able to plead for your life. If you don't however, I will unfortunately have to cut you down where you stand." Roland spoke up righteously while doing his best to mask his shaking body.
They had underestimated the old man, the both of them having taking alot of damage during their battle. Holy light softly encompassed his body as he tried to eject whatever curses Trogal had hit him with that was preventing his wounds from healing and making his joints lock up everytime he tried to move them.
*Ptui*
"You really think he will surrender now? The old fool would rather die than let anyone into the tower and I'll be happy to fulfill his wish, the spell defending it will disappear when he dies anyway." Raycon spat the blood pooling in his mouth and snarled as a fierce scowl appeared on his face. He wasn't as badly hurt as Roland, in exchange however, he had to use one of his most previous life saving items. He was caught off guard by Trogal's ferocity halfway through the fight and most likely would have lost both his legs if he didn't act fast enough.
"I've long known that one of you wouldn't be able to stave off temptation forever, it was only a matter of when not if. If not you two, then someone else would have come for my knowledge eventually." Trogal muttered to himself shaking his head, catching the attention of the other two.
"That makes it easer then, if you just hand over the tower-" Roland started but stopped when he saw Trogal access his spatial storage with a gesture of his hand making him frown. The barrier they set up should have blocked any use of space magic being used including spatial storages. Though he was a bit mollified when he saw how unstable it was, Trogal only having time to retrieve a single item before it snapped closed.
"Tanks brace yourselves, knights steady them from behind! Mages ready your spells and priests prepare for healing!" Roland acted quickly shouting orders to the army surrounding them who quickly got into position with Tanks anchoring their shields into the ground, knights acting as leverage from behind while various spells started appearing further back courtesy of the mages, chants soon followingas a green light of healing energy washed over them.
Roland also lowered his body to a more stable position, lifting his holy sword above his head and started gathering energy. The sword started shining softly before getting brighter and brighter with each passing second. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Raycon chucking his current daggers away before retrieving another pair out of his shin guards. They were crooked in form about as long his forearm but gave off a frightening presence, the black metal glinting with a toxic green hue as he disappeared from view in a show of black smoke.
Since they couldn't convince him with diplomacy, it was time for something more forceful.
"This is the end of the road for you Trogal, don't say we didn't give you a chance to end this peacefully." Roland spoke up solemnly while his holy sword had gone from the light of a small candle to a raging bonfire in strength.
"It is truly unfortunate that I will not be able to witness you journey with my own eyes." Trogal seemingly didn't even hear him, ignoring everything around him as he stared at the bone white crystal cluster in his hand with what Roland thought was a very slight sorrow. Like a small child unable to see their favorite play.
"Trogal!"
"Well I was just about to use it either way so I suppose it doesn't make that big of a difference. If I am to perish today no matter what, I will at least carve my mark into history." Trogal mumbled to himself as he felt his hand start shaking from the amount of blood he was constantly losing. Activating the item Trogal saw the crystal dissolve into small grains of light that formed a rectangular window in front of him showing various customization options which he leisurely started browsing through.
The shine of Roland's holy sword reached it's apex about a minute later now looking more like a small sun in it's intensity forcing Roland to squint as he eyed his target who was still gesturing at the air making him scoff. No matter what he did, he was not leaving this battle alive. Roland inhaled strongly and took a step forward as his sword descended with the might capable of defeating tens of thousands of soldiers, announcing the sword's name with a mighty roar as the air crazily whipped around him, Roland released a gigantic beam of holy energy tearing through the ground.
[Excalibur]!
As the beam shot towards Trogal, Roland saw Raycon appearing on the other side of him before slashing downwards with one of his daggers promting a 3 meter long slash of viscious green energy to shoot towards Trogal. Raycon quickly started using both of his daggers forming hundreds of cuts in a matter of seconds locking Trogal in place, unable to move unless he wanted his body sliced into pieces.
Finally looking up from the floating rectangular window just a second or two before he was pulverized by the energy beam and cut into slices by the energy blades, Trogal quickly cast a few spells in tandem.
[Veritable's Sanctuary]
A huge energy construct of gold in the shape of a massive tower appeared around Trogal shielding him from the first brunt of their attacks, though all three of them knew it wouldn't hold for too long evident by the miniscule cracks that was already starting to spread throughout.
[Energy Siphon]
This spell however wasn't directed anywhere around them, Trogal had already decided that he would perish today so he was gonna make sure to deny them what they wanted. This conveniently enough, would also help him in executing his last act in this world, he may be wise, but no one said the wise was not also petty.
One of the commanders of the army suddenly received a report by the team surrounding the tower of Trogal the Wise using a very costly long range transmission item which made his eyes widen.
"Move! Move out of my way!"
The commanders quickly made his way to Sir Roland's position through the army as fast as he could, shouting as loud as he could as soon as he was in range.
"Sir Roland! The tower is starting to collapse into itself!"
Barely hearing the commander through all the wind around him, Roland's eyes widened as he processed his words before he quickly put more power into the beam making it grow slightly while also letting out a roar as he glared at the figure standing inside defensive spell.
"Are you really going to destroy your tower, Trogal!? Everything you've built through the years, you're fine with turning to nothing!? Stop your madness at once!"
Hearing this, Raycon also intensified his efforts to hack into the energy tower, hundreds of slashes increasing by a fold in quantity.
Trogal ignored them as he closed his eyes in concentration, a few seconds later when he felt that built up being adequate he made the core powering the tower implode, sucking everything, books, tomes, scripts, notes, even the tower itself into itself to the size of a golf ball before isolating it, holding onto it to compress it even more while all the energy was trying to escape.
"Dammit! Damn you Trogal! I curse you to the deepest of hells to suffer for eternity evermore!" Roland just received the news that the tower completely disappeared from the face of the world and grit his teeth in rage. The old fool made this whole excursion completely pointless, not to mention his current injuries. He had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to heal himself that easily which meant his kingdom was going to be in danger for the forseeable future.
"Raaagh!!!"
Roland roared as a white hot burning rage coursed through his body, channeling even more mana into the beam it grew another half meter in diameter, shining even brighter than before as the wind intensified around him.
Trogal opened his eyes, finally content with the amount of energy in the tower core. Glancing at energy tower around him that wasm't far from giving way, he used up pretty much all of his remaining mana to just barely teleport the tower core to his location, only possible with his connection to it doing the heavy lifting of bypassing the spatial barrier.
Holding the glowing blue ball of agitated energy in his hand Trogal prepared himself, he had to do this in quickly since he didn't have much time. A spell circle most would liken to runes and rituals quickly traced itself into the air infront of him, placing the [Companion Crystal] in the center where it gently suspended itself in mid air, he made the spell circle turn vertical and placed the unstable tower core on the underside of the spell circle.
He didn't know if it was sentiment or the natural affection that naturally occurred with creating a whole new sentient being, maybe he felt like it was something akin to his child, or maybe just a whim before his death, but, using a miniscule amount of the energy contained in the tower core, he opened his spatial storage and took out a piece of cloth that would turn into something resembling clothes for whoever emerged from the crystal, he couldn't calibrate it to fit perfectly, but it would have to do for a rush job.
Second, he gingerly took out an old blanket he hadn't seen in what he felt like forever. It was a thin beige blanket made of wool softly prickling against his fingers as he held it. He had gotten it from his mother when he was just a child, when they had nothing, when he was nothing but a snot nosed brat that stumbled along the path of life.
His dear mother unfortunately succumbed to illness when he was very very young, this blanket being the only memoir that remained, reminding of her gentle warmth no matter the situation, no matter how poor they were.
Fortunately, lady luck smiled upon him when he found an old tome in one of his childish adventures venturing on the edge of a forest which started his journey to become what he was today.
He looked at it fondly as the warmth from so long ago once again filled his old heart, a small smile spreading on his face. Allowing himself to reminisce for a few seconds, he soon shook his head and added a small pocket into the spell circle, putting the two items into it and closing it again.
Looking out dispassionately at the army surrounding him and the two monsters on either side of him just a few seconds before the spell couldn't hold on anymore he felt a small amount of surprise at the very nothing he felt towards his impending doom. Most of his thoughts drifting towards the being that would eventually birth from the [Companion Crystal], he had made it so that it would start as a young human.
He felt that it would be the safest bet since despite everything that had happened, humans were still the most populous by far, and although not common, he knew race discrimination was still very much alive.
Rather than equipping the being with initial strength, Trogal had put everything into it's ability to evolve, to constantly improve no matter what. Whether it was in something mundane like being able to cook, knit, or clean, or something more demanding like weaving spells, wielding swords and fighting, even being able to include their body, mind and soul into it since normally it would spawn an altough very powerful but static being filled with various abilities, instead of starting weak but with a terrifying potential for growth.
He hadn't done much to the personality since he felt curious of what would happen if a blank slate was released into the world. Likes, dislikes, hobbies, goals, motivations, personality, all to be shaped according to the being's wants, a blank slate.
The only [Trait] he added being an absolute, boundless and unbreakable will. A will so strong it disregarded factors like distress, suffering and difficulty. A will so strong it could stand against any disaster and not collapse no matter the severity. A will so strong it would not falter against the most fearsome of odds. Capable of ignoring pain, remaining mentally untouched no matter what happens.
A [Trait] he called Invictus, the [Trait] of the invincible, the undefeated.
Feeling the spell cracking like the breaking of glass, Trogal closed his eyes for the last time while simultaneously activating the spell circle he had built before getting swallowed by the sword beam and cut into by the energy blades, his figure faded into the light leaving nothing behind.
The spell circle quickly started glowing, growing in strength by the second as Trogal's grasp over the agitated tower core disappeared. By the time Roland and Raycon ceased their onslaught of attacks, the spell circle almost rivaled the [Excalibur] in brightness and it was only getting brighter.
"Retreat! Quickly get away from that thing!" Roland quickly shouted as he turned around, not wanting to take any chances, Raycon on the other side having already started running the instant Trogal was enveloped by the sword beam.
The army swiftly followed, scrambling to get away in panic as the spell circle started radiating an extremely powerful feeling, arcs of lightning starting to dance across it's surface as it finally finished charging up.
Activating, the spatial barrier surrounding the battlefield quickly started getting destabilized just barely able to remain standing courtesy of the massive amount of mages supporting it. The spell circle continued regardless and with a final flash of bright light, the [Companion Crystal] suspended inside it suddenly disappeared along with the contents in the small pocket of space Trogal added.
Though it didn't work as flawlessly as Trogal had thought it would, it was a rush job after all. This combined with the spatial barrier still interfering with the teleportation spell leading to some unforseen circumstances, something even Trogal despite all his wisdom would not be able to predict.
Having performed the first stage of it's intended purpose, the spell circle proceeded onto the next, all of the remnant mana remaining from the teleportation spell instantly exploding outwards producing a spherical wave of pure destruction ripping through the ground like it wasn't even there and continuing onto the panicking army amongst screams of fear as they scrambled to get away.
Roland swore as he saw the spell cleaving through the soldiers with ease before quickly catching up to him and beyond. Enveloped by the wave Roland felt his body starting to break down, trying to activate his holy energy an effort in futility as it scrambled all the mana in the surroundings. Barely able to hear Raycon scream of soul rending pain in the distance, Roland's last thoughts were filled with regret.
---
The sun was slowly rising above G City as people slowly got up and started their day, further out from the city was a weird mix of barren wasteland dotted with haphazardly thrown junk and garbage and large patches of forests.
Next to a small heap of junk the air suddenly started shimmering before it looked like the reality started twisting, eventually opening up a hole with what looked like an endless space on the other side before a small bone white crystal cluster popped out landing on an old worn out couch, a blanket landing on top of it and a bundle of cloth quickly following before the hole closed again looking like it was never there in the first place.
A few seconds later a soft glow emerged from under the blanket for a moment or two before it got brighter and brighter as the blanket bulged more and more, eventually the glowing stopped while the bundle of cloth magically flew in under the blanket.
Another few seconds later the blanket was lifted by a small hand as a tiny black haired little girl about 4 years old emerged from under it wearing a black hoodie many sizes too large and idly surveyed the surroundings with her dull black eyes.
"Mn."