Vae victis an apocalypse.., p.21
Vae Victis: An Apocalypse LitRPG, page 21
I blinked again, and the classroom was gone.
“Did it work?” Shimi asked.
“Yes,” I answered. It had been so clear, as if I was right there. Except for the details around me, but those were unimportant. It had been so long since I was at school, learning and living free for the first time. As free as one could be, with a chain half a continent long attached around their neck, at least.
I shook my head to clear it. Then something occurred to me.
“Shimi?”
“Yes?”
“Back there, when you saved me, I felt, or heard something. Your skill I think? I’ve been experiencing the same when I gain Carvings.”
He leaned back, his eyes widening. “Huh, yes, that was my skill. You did not hear it, not really. It is more as if you felt its impression on the Way. Not many people can do that.”
“Really?”
He nodded. “You need to be very sensitive to the Way in order to be able to do that.”
“There was almost like an impression of color?”
“Color? Ah, that must be how your mind interprets it, interesting.”
“Is there something different about your skills?”
“There are several types of skills, and each has a different impression,” Shimi started. “There are the basic skills that you gain from advancing through Carvings. They are the most common skills you will encounter. These skills can be improved in various ways, by advancing your Mask is the most common way, but you can also do it by improving your ability to wield the skill. Then, there are learned skills, which as their name suggests are learned and not gained—this was what you felt when I used skills. Most any physical type skill can be learned, though it is incredibly hard to do. Followed by inheritance skills, which are self-explanatory. Then you have Mask specific skills, which are the second rarest of them. They are gained for incredible feats in line with your Mask, for very high-quality Investment, and are exceptionally powerful. The last type are the rarest, they are called waybound skills. They resonate with the Way in such a way to create an effect. They are perfectly executed actions that hold power.”
“What even is the difference between the Way, the Source, and the Weave?” I asked. I hadn’t had the chance to ask Saia to explain it to me in depth.
“The world operates under certain rules, laws that are immutable. I guess that you could call the combination of those rules and laws, along with everything else around us the Way. It is reality which includes everything that exists. The Source is a small part of the Way, one that we can directly influence. It is the energy that can be altered or guided to cause an effect. The Weave is that alteration, the construct that causes the effect. In terms of Masks, every skill is a Weave of the Source.” He paused, his eyes looking at me intently. “Does that make sense?”
“It does actually,” I said. I should’ve asked earlier.
“So what you felt is the skill’s impression on the Way. Not all can sense it, and some powerful individuals have such mastery of their skills that they leave no impression at all. Though most just don’t bother with it, as people who can sense it are rare.”
I nodded, shelving the information for later. Then, I decided to change the topic.
“So, should we move camp to the ruins?” I asked him.
Shimi thought about it for a long while, then nodded reluctantly. “It would seem that we have no choice. It should be safe enough; most of the ruins have been stripped bare this far out from the inner ring.”
I stood up. “Well, we should get to it then.”
I looked on in amazement as the entire camp was stuffed into a big metal chest. It was insane. When Shimi told me to start packing things up, this was not what I imagined. Nearly everything in his camp had what Shimi called a [Size Enchantment] which let him reduce the size of objects and fit them nicely into the big chest that had leather straps so that it could be carried like a backpack.
“This is insane,” I repeated, this time out loud.
Shimi chuckled as he leaned on one of his weapons, what he called the serpent-tongue spear, using it as a makeshift crutch. “Think you can carry it?”
I looked it over for a bit, then knelt and pulled the straps on. With a deep breath I stood up with an effort. I blinked, it was heavy, but not nearly as heavy as all those things were supposed to be. I glanced at Shimi, and he answered my unspoken question.
“[Weight Enchantment].”
“¡Que chévere!” That was so cool. I looked at it in awe.
“We should hurry,” Shimi said, and I had no reason to object.
We started the trek through the jungle at a brisk pace. I tried to take us over the easiest to traverse terrain, though a lot of the ground was covered in moss. Even injured, Shimi didn’t seem to have an issue keeping up, though I had noticed that he was visibly sweating.
“What do you know about the Ancient Ones?” I asked as we walked.
“What do you want to know?” he asked in return.
“I don’t know, I guess anything really? What were they like, what happened to them?”
“We don’t have any records of what they looked like, only descriptions and half recovered statues that we used to make recreations. We have an idea, but no real evidence. What we know is that the collapse of their civilization was violent and abrupt. When the Grand Spell brings over a new world, it combines its land masses into one big landmass, like it is arranging a puzzle. We do not know if the Ancient Kirios only ever had one continent, or if its landmasses have been merged into Ish Vimza. Regardless, a lot of it is submerged. We’ve found evidence of ruins scattered all over the oceans. What remains on the surface has been devastated in such a way that we suspect they had a very bloody civil war that wiped them out.”
What the message told me was that they didn’t adapt to Masks, so infighting was possible. The message did suggest that their end was sealed when they attempted to assault the Last Intent—the Great Spell—and destroy it.
“You said that the ruins are dangerous?”
“They are,” Shimi added. “One of the reasons why some believe that the Ancient Ones created the Great Spell is because of their artifacts. Most of the finds don’t work at all, but every once in a while we would find something that worked still, though never in the way we could predict and often not in the way we could contain. You see, we found these items that make no sense to us, and have strange uses. Like for the example the rod that I use to protect my camp. It is one such artifact, though our experts agree that the items that do work are no longer functioning properly. Some believe that to be because they were made before the arrival of the Great Spell, and after the rules were changed the Weaves that powered them now no longer worked as intended. Some are incredibly illogical and destructive, but powerful nevertheless. We take great care when entering their ruins, because you can never know what even a seemingly mundane piece of rock actually is, or what it can do.”
That made sense. I had more luck than I thought, since I stumbled through the ruins without a care. Well, I had been drawn into a rift, so there was that.
I turned my attention on our surroundings, making sure that nothing sneaked up on us. We reached the buried ruins before dawn. Even knowing that the crack in the stone was there, I had a hard time seeing it.
“This is a good place,” Shimi said once we squeezed our way inside. He paused and tried to play it off as if he was looking around, but I could tell that he was winded. “This crack is too small for most of the really dangerous monsters to come through. Are there any other entrances?”
I waved at the corridor leading out of the room. “There’s a long hallway leading to another room just like this one with a pool of water, and there are several stairs leading down, but all are collapsed,” I said, debating yet again whether or not to show him the room and the message.
Shimi nodded. “We should stay here then, near the exit. Though I don’t like having a dead end behind our backs.”
We started setting up camp. Soon enough, it became obvious to me that he had no issue seeing in the dark, the same as me. When I asked, he gave me a simple answer.
“A gift from my mother’s side,” he said, his tails swaying behind him. “Not all Tsu-gi inherit the eyes from their Kitsu-oi side.”
“What do you think this place used to be?” I asked, nodding at the corridor on the other side of the room.
“A barracks of some kind, most likely,” Shimi said. “I have seen similar ones before.”
“Really?”
“Oh yes, I used to be a treasure hunter,” Shimi answered. “Though, the make of this place is slightly off from the usual barracks I’ve seen. But then again, the Ancient Ones had many different factions, just like any civilization. I cannot even tell what age this place hails from. Once, this place was probably filled with weapons. Sadly, most of the ruins in the outer ring have been stripped clean long ago.”
Not completely, I thought, but didn’t say anything, not yet.
What he said, though, was understandable. There were few ruins remaining on Earth that hadn’t been plundered over the years.
He placed his rod, wedging it between a crack in the floor.
“How common are these artifacts?” I asked as he turned it, and a moment later the pale blue spherical shield appeared around us.
“They are rare. Only the wealthy and the powerful have access to them. Most would have enchanted items, made by a Masked. Some of those rival even the strongest of the Ancient Ones’ artifacts. Though they require a really high Investment Enchanter Masked in order to create them. We call items like these, the ones that are from the Ancient Ones but still usable, relics.”
“Wow, bacano.” Cool. “So, how does it work?”
Shimi shrugged. “No one knows. That rod was my addition actually. The actual relic part is just a small stone in the head of the rod. I found it as part of a collapsed wall defending a small town. I have no way of knowing if the way it works was its intended purpose.”
“What makes it different from the rest of these items?” I asked as I pulled a smaller chest out of the big one, placed it on the ground and watched it grow.
“Those are not nearly as complicated or powerful,” Shimi said.
“So is there anything that I should know about all these different items?”
“The enchanted items are created by crafters; they are the most common of special items. Next are relics, the remnants of the Ancient Ones, which we don’t understand and can’t replicate. And last are the Invested Items.”
“Invested Items?”
“Yes. Just like people and animals, items can get Invested too. Think of Investment as an exchange. You give something to the Mask, and it gives you power in return. A wielder of the Blademaster Mask might gain Investment by fighting with a blade, gaining combat experience, or just training with it. Some might even spend years meditating on the deeper concepts and what it means to wield a blade. It doesn’t matter what it is, as long as you are giving something that aligns with the concepts of your Mask to it. Now, Invested Items are the rarest of items. It takes a long time for them to come into existence, and they are always powerful. Imagine a blade, passed down generations, wielded by great warriors. Over time, it would absorb part of the Investment from its wielders and the world around it. Usually, their birth comes in moments of great tragedy, or glory. Moments when something monumental happens. An ancient blade, soaked in the blood of hundreds of thousands might gain enough to become an Invested Blade. A butcher’s knife, passed down a family for generations might do the same. What skills they gain depends on the type of Investment that they experience.”
That was fascinating, but wouldn’t help us much, unless he had a chest full of Invested Items in there. I turned the conversation back to the things that would keep us alive.
“So,” I started. “How do I go about hunting animals and getting us out of here?”
Shimi took a deep breath, and then started to explain as I set up camp.
“The reason I suggested that you hunt an okolon is simple. Every animal or monster has capstone skills. Usually they gain more as they get older and gain more Investment, one for each tier of it. Signature skills, though, are skills that the animal or monster is born with. In the case of the okolon, the [Mist Step] skill.”
I listened attentively as Shimi explained.
“As you have experienced, it allows them to take a single step during which their body turns to mist. The [Mist Step] will be very useful to you.” Shimi paused, then shook his head. “We need to plan your targets very carefully.”
I tilted my head. “Why?”
“You gain skills from the monsters you take blood from,” Shimi answered. “We need to equip you with skills that will ensure our survival. All Masks are shaped by the type of Investment they take in, yours is no different. A warrior constantly in battle will get skills related to battle, a warrior during peace would get skill adequate for the Investment he gained. You gain Investment from blood, but also skills to use. I am certain that you will not keep getting as many slots as your skills, and we still need to make a cohesive build for you. All Masks have logic in the way they gain skills. There has to be one for you. The [Lesser Strength] that you gained from the ferrorn would’ve been its most powerful skill at that age. I am making an assumption that if you kill the beast on your own and drain it, you will get its most powerful skill.”
That actually did make sense to me. I wasn’t sure how, but I was almost certain that he was right about that.
I nodded. “So, what are my targets?”
Shimi’s eyes narrowed, and he seemed to be thinking. Then, he stood and walked to where I had placed the tent and one of his chests. He rummaged through it for a bit and then came out with two items in his hands. One was a smooth crystal cube, and the second was what looked like a cream-colored piece of paper.
“What is that?”
“I should have done this before but …” He shook his head. “This”—he raised his left hand—“is a crystal enchanted with the [Inspect] skill. It will let me see your full Mask title and all skill names.”
I frowned. “You already know everything about my Mask.”
“Yes, but this will give us some additional information that we should be aware of.”
“Doesn’t that then defeat the point of trying to keep Masks a secret?”
Shimi shook his head. “There are ways of protecting against it, and the skill type is very rare. Only certain Masks can gain it and only on high Investments. Most will never encounter anyone who has it, and the higher someone’s Investment, the harder it is to inspect them. I am not really a good example of what an average person is capable of or what means they have access to.”
He offered me the stone, and I took it slowly. Hesitating, I looked down at it. I didn’t know a good way to refuse him. But if I did use this, then he would see my Revelator Ornament.
“Is something the matter?” he asked.
I opened my mouth, then closed it.
“Ah,” he said. “There is something that you haven’t told me. I understand. I have kept things as well. It is only natural. I can only say that I do not wish you harm, Marianna Rojas. I will not survive this jungle without you. If you do not want to do this, then we do not need to press. I shall find a different way to help.” He extended his hand for me to return the device.
How do people trust others? It was so hard for me, I had never trusted anyone. The closest person I ever had was Khalil, and not even he knew everything about my life. I was raised in a den of vipers, surrounded by criminals. I wanted to trust, but I just didn’t know how. I wanted to ask Shimi for advice, to spill everything that I had learned from the message and the vision. But I hesitated. I just couldn’t open my mouth and say it. A nagging voice in the back of my head told me that everyone was always out to get me.
And yes, maybe Shimi was playing the long game. Maybe he was tricking me, playing me in order to get more information out of me. Perhaps I would wake up with a knife in my heart one of these days, or not wake at all. But after a life of such darkness, I wanted to be different. I wanted to take this opportunity to be better than life made me. So, trust. And if he betrayed me, then at least I had tried.
“Trust is hard for me,” I said. “But, I’ll show you, just don’t ask questions, I’ll tell you when I am ready.”
Shim met my eyes, then nodded gravely. “You have my word.”
I took a deep breath. “Okay, so what do I do with this?”
“It is called a Reader. Just hold it, and wait,” he brought the piece of paper close and put it on top of the crystal in my hand, it immediately started to glow and symbols started appearing on the paper. I blinked, and looked at them uncomprehendingly. It was written in a language unlike anything I have ever seen.
Once the page was filled, he took it back and read. “Hmm … well, this at least gives us some idea of what to do.”
I narrowed my eyes, and he offered me the paper. “I can’t read that.”
One side of his lips quirked up, and he just offered the paper again. I took it in my hands and turned to reading. At first it was written in the strange language, but then after a few moments of me looking at it, the symbols shifted and changed, arranging into something that I could understand.
“The Grand Spell translates most things for you.”
My eyes widened, and I read what it said.
Marianna Rojas
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Mask of the Drainer (Weave, Esoteric):
