Book 1 Chapter 18: The Ghost Heart and Reward

Chapter 18: The ghost heart and reward

Jaeger had passed out, as his skin and muscle changed to flesh the left over heat caused his blood to tremble. When he woke up a string of noises only he could hear sounded out from his watch.

He lazily swiped a finger off his watch, and then waved that same hand over the air to summon his frog. In the early morning a fog rose into the swamp, and Jaeger realized he had been moved.

Looking around he was in a familiar cabin, one in which he had stayed in for quite a while.

"We took you here…since you said you were here most of the time you went through the trials" Ito was beside him with his blade pointed towards the door across his lap.

Jaeger slowly stood up, and rolled off the bed. He opened the door into the morning mist, and tossed his frog out about 5 feet. It landed on the ground with a plop, and opened its mouth. The mist whirled like they were sent into a vortex, and soon from the fog a cloud rose up. It was like the mist it always leapt in and out of. From it came fog that struck Jaeger's body. He was naked as the clothes he had before had been burned off. The mist recycled through his frog was fresh, and had the exact smell Jaeger needed to wake up from his stupor.

After about 15 minutes, Jaeger took a deep breath and pulled his cigarette out from his frog's inner space and lit it up before sitting down with a blanket over his lap on a chair in front of the cabin.

Ito walked out from the inside, and sat next to him in an adjacent chair.

"What did you gain?" Ito couldn't help but be curious.

Jaeger had silenced the alarms before, but with his mind awake he waved a hand at Ito in response,

"First…bring the engineer to me…with the device." *puff*

"Come out front Jax!" Ito yelled.

The engineer came shambling out from around the cabin. He had a look on his face that was half tired from the ring around his eyes, and yet excited at some discovery.

Ito pointed at Jaeger and the engineer had a look of understanding. He ran over and began to crank the hand crank on the portable generator, sparks of electricity shot out like a tesla onto Jaeger's hand before disappearing. Jaeger pulled his glove back on his right hand, and when two sigils were fully glowing he waved he hand. Ito nodded and the engineer ran back off to wherever he had come from.

"Better?" Ito asked looked at Jaeger's now much more focused eyes.

Jaeger nodded, "Better"

With a swipe of his finger, Jaeger opened the display on his watch while Ito waited eagerly at his side.

'You have been the first to kill a boss of this level.'

'You have been rewarded a choice of 7 different items, the choice will not affect the other rewards.'

'Choose from the following:

- Sword of the Abyss.

- Volcanic Obsidian Great Axe.

- Wind Wand.

- Cloak of the wraith.

- Reality Marble.

- Cloud Lyre.

- Combination wrench.

You can proceed to the next reward only after the choice from the previous list.'

"Will you ever use anything else then that sword?" Jaeger asked as he took another hit of his smoke in contemplation.

"No…I made this blade, and this blade alone my choice. No other…" Ito sounded fierce as he said this, like he had no semblance of doubt in himself.

Jaeger nodded, casting him a look as well as the smoke in his hand. Ito caught it and smelled the cigarrete "is that…is that sugar?"

"Where the fuck did you get sugar from, its vanilla yeesh" Jaeger smirked.

"Sounds nice…I usually smoke clover, but this is good too…" Ito lit up the cigarrete that had turned back into its full form now that Jaeger had finished it.

Jaeger tapped each of the items to see what they did.

'Sword of the abyss: This blade can draw a spirit into itself. The spirit can then be manifested with strikes, or controlled with the blade itself to fight. The limit depends on the user.

Volcanic Obsidian Great axe: A great axe forged from the obsidian of one of the greatest mountains and volcanoes. Tempered by the heat, this Axe is best for those of fire and Earth affinity, great strength, or will.

Wind wand: this wand is in the shape of a fan, and can boost certain aspects of a person as well as send gusts of wind and storms.

Cloak of the wraith: This cloak can conceal its user while in darkness.

Reality Marble: This small marble in fact contains mystical illusions, and can change the way senses interact in the world. To a point, it can cast a great illusion that changes the way reality is perceived around you.

Cloud Lyre: A lyre of unknown origin, with the power to change clouds. It can manipulate clouds, mists, and fog. It has the hidden potential if a user is great enough, to also buff its user and those around them with its sounds.

Combination wrench: merely a title, this item is only given to those first to defeat a boss of this level. By choosing this item, you can combine two of any of the previous items listed'

Jaeger felt something in his gut, excitement? 'That's…actually real funny, I used to play the lyre in that orphanage before I left…guess they taught me something' Reminiscing memories flooded his mind of his muddled childhood without parents, the man he had been left to and looked after in the city after his parents perished to bring him here. Jaeger tapped the combination wrench. It didn't matter what he choose, he would get two things with this choice.

'You have chosen the combination wrench, choose two items that are compatible amongst the listing'

'Sword of the Abyss + Wraith cloak'

'Volcanic Obsidian Great Axe + Wind wand'

'Cloud Lyre + Reality Marble'

'Hmm…there are skills or abilities that do what the wraith cloak does, and the sword isn't my style. Cool ability…but eh…I don't do axes, nor wind things so…cloud lyre and reality marble huh.'

Jaeger tapped these two and soon the listing disappeared leaving an item in his lap.

"Eh? IS that it?" Ito looked at the instrument that fell into Jaegers lap, however jaeger shook his head.

'Dream cloud Lyre: This lyre can control mists and fog. Its secondary ability is to control the reality marble attached to it; this marble can change the perceived environment and surroundings. When the fog that is controlled and the marble are combined, the fog that is breathed in can solicit certain feelings of those affected or be used as medium for other skills.'

'Poison? Buffs? So the marble can make the fog controlled have an application to it…hmm…' Jaeger looked down at the lyre, it had a total of 9 strings. Two long arms came up from the sides of the lyre and curved like an Apollo Lyre and yet the base in which the string fell over was wide and long like a Pluto lyre. This base had carvings, so intricate that it looked like mist and clouds were spiraling around it at all times.

'it isn't crazy, but my frog just happens to be able to make fog…I'll have to remember how to play though, or maybe I can go beat 10,000 ninja to death with it hahaha' Ito looked at Jaeger's mischievous smile and laughed.

It seemed the lyre was made of some unknown material, and with only godly powers would it break now that the reality marble had combined with it.

A strap went from the top of the left arm to the bottom right side of the base. Jaeger set it leaning on the chair he was on before looking back at his watch.

'By being the one in the presence of the boss, and with the thought in mind to self-sacrifice you have earned greater reward. Choose amongst the following list of 6 skills'

'Mmm' Jaeger smiled, this was another reason why he chose to stay behind and not just because he had the greatest chance of survival.

He wanted to monopolize the rewards! Evil? No, greedy? Possibly.

'Swift Movement: 30% increase in speed and endurance while moving. Lowered 30% speed and endurance for the same duration used, afterwards.

Torrent: whenever you use an ability, or skill, related to magic. Using this skill will push a greater amount of energy from you into your attack. Overdrawing and cause exhaustion.

Summon object: summon an item from a distant place, depends on that in which you can carry personally. The stronger you are, the larger the thing you can summon. Must be marked beforehand.

Mirror manipulator: Travel into an identical mirror image world, where things cannot be affected. To leave, you must find a mirror and go through it. Spirits roam this plane, it is not as safe as you think it is.

Material augment: Enhance a certain material to become stronger or sharper.

Buff other: Apply a buff that would be on yourself to another individual, at the cost of losing your buff for yourself to them for the duration used'

'Well…I guess things don't come without a cost if they are just given to you' Jaeger smirked, his brain processed quite a few things before he settled on choosing Material augment. If he could absorb material and quite closely become it, if it was enhanced beforehand would this not be better?

Summon object was useful, but not with a spatial frog. He could just carry what he needed, it was very niche.

He tapped it with his finger, and a light suffused from his watch onto his hand. A small dot appeared above where the sigils sat on his right hand.

'Skill acquired, Material Augment: Enhance a material or an aspect thereof. Steel will become stronger, and rubber more elastic. Enhance progress 1%'

"So it is like the master of one skill…hmm…" Jaeger was pleased with this; the material augment didn't say it had a draw back. Of course that would be it would begin at 1% but this wasn't a drawback, he absorbed materials like metal all the time. Hell, he just lived recently because he did very that.

'You have acquired the ghost heart: A heart of a distraught spirit, forced within limbo to continually guard against those seeking power. When the spirit has been captured, and those that have captured it have no ill will… The spirit will give itself up.'

"That's why…fuck…"

Ito heard Jaeger muttering, but shook his head and continued to enjoy this strange flavored smoke jaeger had let him taste.

'Use the Ghost Heart: Apply this to an item, weapon, or object and it will have a random chance of acquiring a skill, trait, or aspect.

Uses: one time, cannot be combined with duplication skills or otherwise double trigger effect abilities or skills.

Bases: The aspect, skill, or trait is based on you as a person. The heart weighs that in which you want, but most importantly what you need. Think wisely on that in which you use the heart on…the next time you acquire a heart, it will have been on the edge of life and death.'

"Hmm…fuck…" Jaeger looked up at Ito a couple times before catching his eye.

"Well…" after explaining what his watch had told him, Ito nodded that it made sense. Sometimes you could get a reward based on the creature, or not. In this case, it was a versatile reward that anyone could use. It was much rarer than getting some random wand that shoots fireballs or controls twigs and mountains.

"What are you thinking about using it on?" Ito put out the cigarette only to find it brand new in his hands, as his eyebrows were raising Jaeger snatched it out of his hand.

As if he hadn't done it, Jaeger lit the smoke and took a deep breathe before speaking, "I am a user of guns…of course applying it to my gun would be great, its already as I would want it to be.

However, the gun is versatile and already has several runes on it. I also…use a chain blade, or rope dart I guess as Craft calls it….i could apply it to that, but to use the heart on it would mean I am dedicating myself to such a weapon…which honestly, I think I might because I love it a lot."

"If you apply it to a support item that would help you just as much, people always think far too much about the weapon in hand then the shield on the back…or so the saying goes." Ito could only give him ideas; he didn't want to directly tell him the paths to take.

Ito looked at the Lyre in Jaegers lap, "You know, bard is also a type of magic user…known for support roles, diverse skills and buffs. If that Lyre is as good as it feels, it wouldn't be a bad idea to keep it as is. You are right about your gun…you can always add to it later, or even get other skills to buff it up…if you dedicate yourself to the chain blade…truly dedicate yourself Jaeger."

"Mmm…" Jaeger picked up the Lyre and began to strum it. Soft melodies were broken by a random cord, but soon he remembered some of the things he was taught and the sounds that came forth were beautiful.

"Damn you picked that up fast…" Ito closed his eyes to listen.

"Well I have an advantage with my brain right now…haha…" Truly, to be able to accelerate a mind was an unheard of skill.

Jaeger slowly stopped strumming, and took out the chain blade. He caressed it, but after a while of hesitation finally gathered some resolve and decided this would be the right choice. He could always find a replacement weapon later on if he didn't like it, for now it would serve him well as a mid-range and close range melee weapon. In other words, he didn't have the choice for anything else right now and it was simply the best at hand.

'Are you sure you would like to apply the Heart of the Ghost to the Chain blade?' His watch asked this several times to verify. Jaeger nodded subconsciously and pressed yes once more. His watch dimmed out, and the heart of the ghost disappeared amongst the list of choices. The chain blade glimmered and floated up as his watch surged with energy. It released a wisp of cool air that surrounded the chain blade and after over an hour the cool air disappeared, landing the chain blade in his hands.

'Damn that took a long time' Jaeger opened up his watch to see what effect he had been given.

'You now have a new effect on a weapon you carry. Chain blade proficiency is at 100%.'

Below this notification was a strange name, 'Chain blade trait: Eldritch Bane: Has an aura that radiates neutrality, when used it takes on the nature of the user wielding it.'

'That means…if I have lightning in me, it does lightning damage…fire…well fire…rubber would also mean elasticity? Interesting.' Jaeger smiled, this meant his weapon was equivalent to his own body! Oooh!

A second title was under this however, 'Summon: You are now interlinked with your weapon, and can stow it in an alternate space, or summon it for use.'

"Not all that useful I guess…at least for now. The other one is what is most useful…seems interlinked to what runes I have on my hand." Jaeger looked at his chain blade and then cast it into the air. It plopped onto the ground and didn't disappear as he thought it was.

Jaeger sighed, "Touch activated…" he picked it up and gave it the thought to disappear and it vanished from his hands.

After a while of relaxing, Jaeger joined the others in the small space behind the cabin. The earth there had been transformed into a space for a fire pit and resource storage like wood. The cabin itself was a couple hundred square feet with 4 main rooms, but there were no bathrooms within. So amenities like this, especially for 7 people had to be made.

Ito clapped a couple times lightly to get everyone's attention, "We have just several days to prepare for whatever the hell comes at us. Jaeger…as you explored the most out of all of us…" Ito said this in such a way to make him seem like an idiot for not doing the same, but he continued, "Could you tell us where you think would be the best place to fight…"

Jaeger nodded, "In fact there are several places. I haven't reached the far edges everywhere…but I have reached the closest edge to the space here, it is merely 50 miles west of us. 55 from the fort bunker…35 from the hermit shack…20 from the caves…10 from the lake…as I am saying these, catch the hint that these are what lay in that direction."

The priest, Tao, looked at Jaeger with a complex expression "What is 'the limit' of this dimension"

"Well….it is a steep edge that falls into nothing. We are surrounded by fog in this space…I climbed down quite a bit, but never once touched ground. It is as if some great abyss lies beyond that edge….it is grey…and no more."

Tao twitched involuntarily but soon calmed, "I see…" He looked west to the unknown place that was just described.

The cryomancer, as Jaeger had learned was named Drek, was the first to voice an idea "Why don't we lead the next one to the edge and bombard it from behind to go right over?"

Jaeger smiled, "If there is no ground…say this creature doesn't need to eat, and it fell for eternity….we would have to wait eternity for it to die? We would never be able to reach it even if we cast ourselves off the cliff…and would starve to death as we fall in our search to find it. Secondly…say it doesn't fall…what if the bombardment fails, or it is a massive creature again? First thing, the person who leads it there would die…or be cast off…those that fail, would have to fight it with an abyss as half the battle field."

Drek opened his mouth, but nodded and shut up.

Kito, the abjurationist spoke up after hearing Jaegers conjecture to Drek's idea, "Should we have several places chosen…in case of a large monster, a ghost, or otherwise?"

Ito nodded, "That would be the best choice…but to go to each place, and familiarize ourselves with it well enough would take time"

Jax looked back at the cabin, "First, there was a lighting system here with batteries…they last about a day and then someone has to crank the hand held generator for a bit to recharge them…the walls are surprisingly 9 inches thick due to the wood used, and the windows are quite sturdy as well…it wouldn't be a hard place to protect or use as shelter. There is a basement as well, and for some reason reminds me of the bunker…it is all concrete, with one entrance on the left side of the house, and one entrance on the right side."

Jaeger nodded, "I never used it though…I didn't want to hole myself up in it, in case I get attacked by both sides. It be a slaughter house down there…" Jax shivered at that thought, but Ito nodded thanks to him, "Thanks Jax…that is valuable knowledge."

Jax rung his hands, it was obvious he didn't want to seem useless now that the fully functioning fort had practically become rubble.