Anti-Mage

As Anton stepped through the portal and exited the Dungeon, he realized that a lot had changed since the last time he'd been here, which to him wasn't that long ago, or had it?

The fact that he'd been gone longer than he'd assumed became immediately apparent when what he could only describe as mounted Gatling guns on concrete pillars began to pivot and lock on him. He also noticed that he was in a small fifty-foot-diameter chamber that had been sealed with a pair of large metal doors.

As soon as he'd detected the movement, he'd moved to the double doors and kicked the one on the left.

Note to self, a strength of 3.4 billion actually meant something.

Anton realized this when the door he had kicked launched off its hinges and pulverized the outer wall as it burst through, and continued…well, he wasn't sure how far it had continued; he lost sight of it as it traveled off into the distance. As it had flown away, it had crashed through the next all, trees, and then continued, leaving a hole that he could see through. The attack had negated his Stealth, allowing some of the armored soldiers on the outer wall to see him.

As they began to aim their weapons toward him, Anton had a "Great" idea and released his Aura. Every Sletchi he could see fell over, dead. He'd worry about them in a moment; the Gatling guns were still tracking toward him and about to open fire. To counter that, Anton released some of his void energy and disintegrated both. It was effortless and anticlimactic.

The notifications he received for the thirty-five advanced soldiers he'd killed with his aura indicated that the SYSTEM also believed it had been a bit too effortless. He earned 1,750 Experience instead of the 17.5 million he'd expected to earn. It seemed that each difference in rank, being lower than him, reduced the amount of experience by a factor of 10. Between Advanced and Mythic, there were five ranks, so the 17.5 million had been divided by 10,000. The penalty hadn't affected his treasure; he'd still earned 5,250 silver. Although, because he was outside of the Dungeon, the award wasn't tripled.

Anton left his Aura active as he moved around the makeshift camp that the army had placed on top of the entrance to the dungeon. As he looked at the structures that the military had put up, he wondered how long he'd been away. He walked around and recovered each body. He'd touch them and shift them into his secondary storage area within the Portable Exchange Base. In all, he'd killed 105 Sletchi.

He retracted his Aura and directed his thoughts through his Mark from Keres, the now Goddess of Death, and asked, Any chance you can let me know how long I've been away?

It took a few moments before he felt her voice enter his mind, as if through a very long, thin tube. Took you long enough.

Long enough? How long was I gone?

Roughly, two years. Keres said.

Two years?

Just be glad that relativity only partially applied during your walkabout. If you'd been traveling across the material dimensions at the speed you were, it would have been more like two million, Death said.

Still, two years. Everyone on Terra doing okay?

Everyone on Terra is fine. Caitlyn still out levels anyone there. If issues arise, she is the shield and sword.

Okay, and thank you, Anton said, a weight lifted from his heart.

Now, what have you been up to? Keres asked.

I'd thought you'd ask me about the million deaths that earned divine energy and conviction points for you, Anton quipped back.

I noticed, but when I looked into how they came to be, I could find no information on their homeworld or where they came from. I even asked Conflict about them. He said that the conflict was in the early stages and that he hadn't noticed them before you killed so many of them.

They're not from around here?

As far as we can tell, no. However, I see you've killed some more of them. I can also see that you are now Mythical Rank and they're Advanced. You know, leveling for you is going to be a bit tricky, especially if you continue picking on advanced rank creatures, monsters, and people?

I just figured that out, yes, Anton answered.

Very well. Anyway, I'm going to have to cut this short so the SYSTEM doesn't get bent out of shape, no helping the mortals and all that. Conflict asked me to tell you that the Sletchi, whoever they are, are not part of any conflict that he has initiated, nor does he know where they came from, so he has no interest in them. Me? I'm Death. Everything that dies, if not devoted to another, comes to me before moving on.

I did not know that, Anton said.

Now you do. Oh yes, my last bit of advice. While the gods and those powerful can lord over those of lower rank, if you should go out of your way to kill enough without provocation, the SYSTEM will react. It is very reticent on stating what it considers intolerable but know that there is a limit at which point every death will begin awarding negative Karmic Luck. So that you know, the negative Karmic Luck that the Sletchi had accrued is most likely responsible for the windfall of experience you received that allowed you to reach Mythical Rank.

So, what, I'm just supposed to let them attack me?

No, even the SYSTEM recognizes that everyone has a right to defend themselves. Just don't commit any war crimes against those so much weaker than you that have not attacked you first.

Are there any other hidden parts to this rule that I should be aware of?

Within one rank, it is usually safe. So, Legendary or higher rank individuals that you fight shouldn't get you in trouble. Now, really, I must go, Keres said as the connection broke.

So, there would be consequences if he went around and started killing those of lower rank indiscriminately. Good to know. Then his mind came back to how long he'd been out of pocket, Two Years? When he'd arrived, there were five people in the entryway. Were they the guards, or a party getting ready to enter the Dungeon? He should check that out.

Anton made his way back to the entrance and stepped through the curtain. As he did, darkness came from behind him at the speed of light and interacted with the portal.

***

The Goddess of Death, Keres, watched as Anton stepped into the dungeon portal as the event horizon of the artificial singularity that the Sletchi had created near their technological portal anchor spread out at the speed of light and enveloped the planet Adros. While there had not been any sentients near the dungeon entrance, there had been some primitive people on the other side of the planet who were all just ripped apart by the tidal forces that had just been released.

She considered worrying about Anton, but knew he'd be alright eventually. Instead, she dispelled her scrying spell and spoke, "SYSTEM, was the destruction of Adros sanctioned?"

A moment later, a nondescript man appeared before her in a gray business suit reminiscent of 20th-century Earth with a blue power tie.

"Nice tie," Keres said

"Thank you," The SYSTEM said. "To answer your question, no, the destruction of the planet was not sanctioned. The fact that the Sletchi had such technological marvels is also troubling."

"And Anton?"

"Some would say that he was unlucky to have been on the planet when the device was utilized. They would be mistaken. In fact, his luck must be working overtime because he was within a quantum gateway when exposed to the gravitational forces of the artificial singularity. As you may or may not know, the portal to the dungeon was destroyed, and the link to the dungeon was severed. Had Anton been outside the dungeon, he would have been within the event horizon of the singularity and probably would have been able to leave at his current rank. If he had been inside the dungeon, with the anchor being destroyed, he would have been ejected into the Labyrinth when he finished the dungeon, or died. Of course, he couldn't die, and nothing in that dungeon would give him pause, so, eventually, he would have been ejected.

Keres listened as she stood by the SYSTEM's representative and watched the planet get sucked into a single point, slowly at first and then more quickly as time passed. When the planet's destruction was a forgone conclusion, she turned to the SYSTEM, "What is to happen with the singularity?"

"As you know, it will destabilize this system, eventually, as the solar winds, asteroids, and such feed it, but that will take millions if not billions of years. Not to worry, I will replant the seeds that started this planet elsewhere. The Multiverse is infinite after all," The SYSTEM representative said.

"And Anton, what of him. I felt my link to him…well, it didn't sever, but I can't reach out to him."

"Hold one, please," The SYSTEM said as the body froze. A few moments later, he looked at Keres. He is currently outside of the SYSTEM and this Multiverse."

"This Multiverse? There is only one Multiverse," Keres said.

"Yes and no, let me explain…

***

Anton woke and immediately felt that something was wrong. His Notification Icon flashed. He opened his Notification window and found rubbish. Within a second, his hyper intelligence allowed him to figure out that the Notification was from right to left and inverted, while all letters were also inverted and backward. Once he determined that he was able to read the Notifications.

WARNING! Incompatible Biological Entity Present.

WARNING! Attribute values are incompatible with the current environment.

WARNING! Remaining within this environment will damage the integrity of your body. Please Exit this Environment NOW!

Well, that wasn't possible. Where was he? Wasn't he supposed to know where he was as a Planeswalker intuitively? A new Notification appeared that he could read normally.

The title "Fons Genesis Knowledge" cannot activate.

SYSTEM access is not available.

Limited functionality mode engaged.

Shit!

Anton opened his Status screen and watched as every attribute and resource pool began to drain at roughly one point per second. He closed his Status screen and looked around. Everything was weird. The colors were, for lack of a better description, backward. It was almost like he was in a location that was the exact opposite…

With that thought, Anton activated his Void Core. Instead of flowing out into his mana channels like he expected, he felt a change. A comparison to that change would be if lightning struck him in the middle of his chest and energized his whole body. The Inverted backward SYSTEM Notification he'd seen a moment ago appeared unbidden in his vision and before his eyes shimmered and became legible. He realized immediately that the Screen hadn't changed; he had. As he realized this, he tried to reach into his Mindspace, something he hadn't tried to do in a while.

He noticed that his Primary Core, Evolutionary Core, and Void Core had rearranged themselves. Where they'd been floating near each other with his Primary Core and Evolutionary Core in close proximity. The Void Core off to the side somewhere. Now, though, his Primary Core was rotating around his Evolutionary Core with the Void Core on the opposite side of the Evolutionary Core. The Evolutionary Core had become the nucleus between the positive and negative cores within him.

As Anton realized this, he felt an imbalance in the structure of his cores and had just enough time to notice that energy was being pulled from his Primary core around his evolutionary core and into his void core.

Anton's had just enough time to think What the… before darkness claimed him.

***

"Where did he come from?"

"I don't know, he just appeared."

"Just appeared?"

"Yes, just appeared, Theresa. One second, there was no one there; the next, there was."

"Did he fall from the sky?"

"Does it look like he fell from the sky?"

"How would I know, Bonnie?"

"Well, if he'd fall from the sky, the ground, or at least the grass would be smashed down a bit, wouldn't it?

"You know, Bonnie. Sometimes you can be such a know-it-all bitch."

"I try to please," Bonnie said with a laugh. "Also, his breathing has changed; I think he's coming around."

"Really?" Anton heard Theresa ask as he opened his eyes and looked around. As his eyes focused, he wondered what he'd been doing a moment ago, then it all came back to him. He expected the world to be bright, with weird colors, but everything now looked normal. The sky wasn't odd, and he no longer felt like something was trying to tear him apart at the atomic level.

"Sir, are you okay?" the girl with Theresa's voice asked.

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"I am, thank you." As Anton spoke, he noticed that both young girls and women were now fixated on his every word. It was almost like they were enamored with him. It only took a moment for Anton to put two and two together and realize that his exceedingly high Charisma was probably to blame.

He did have a Malleable Body; could he turn down his Charisma? For a moment, he focused on the self-image he had of himself when he was eighteen and then willed his body to take on those attributes. He felt his skin ripple for a moment and then settle. He didn't seem any different, that he could tell, but the girl's fixation on him lessened, and they released the breaths they'd been holding. Damn, High Charisma could be a problem.

"Where am I?" Anton asked.

"You're in Whitehorse," Bonnie answered.

Anton's mind immediately filled with information that let him know exactly where he was. North East of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Secondary School on one of their school soccer fields. If this were Whitehorse, he was on Earth. How did he get to Earth? Bonnie asked another question, which Anton chose to ignoreas he tried to pull up his Status Screen and received a number of error messages.

SYSTEM Link not present.

Limited SYSTEM Functionality available.

Available Status

Name: Anthony Nicholas Thomson

Birthday: September 13th 2013 (Friday the 13th)

Apparent Age: 27

Race: Human

:

Primary Core: Trinary, Mythic

Evolution: Trinary, Mythic

Void Core: Trinary, Mythic

Classes

Common / Mimicker / 96

Uncommon / Mimicker / 84

Rare / Mimicker / 79

Advanced / Planeswalker / 77

Master / Psionicist / 76

Epic / Spellbinder / 75

Legendary / Void Caller / 75

Mythic / Mimicker / 74

What the hell was a Trinary, Primary, Evolutionary, and Void Core?

"Hello, are you even listening to us?" Bonnie asked.

Anton sat up. He'd have to consider this once he had a little more time to go over some things.

Now that she was sure she had his attention again, Bonnie asked, "Do you know where you came from, Mister?"

Anton looked around and noticed that there were trees on all sides of the soccer or football field that the school he was near utilized. He'd appeared in the middle of a field on school property, and he was on an Earth that he at least partially recognized. His appearance was likely to raise more questions than it would solve.

Since SYSTEM access seemed to be limited, he was pretty sure that this Earth had not been integrated into the SYSTEM yet. Would magic work here? Shit, he couldn't even see what his hit points or mana were. Would his Mana regenerate, or was that limited as well? Only one way to find out. Anton scanned the tree line. Focused on a point as far away as he could see through the tree line and activated his Teleport spell, which only required one point of Psychic Energy to cast. If he were limited, he would keep energy expenditures to a minimum.

Anton smiled as he reappeared next to a tree and stepped out of the girls' line of sight. Next, he activated Stealth, but was not satisfied at all when he couldn't verify if it were working or not. Okay then, plan B. One of the abilities he'd picked up right at the end was the ability to mimic any creature he'd added to his Evolutionary Core. Any creature or monster, huh?

Anton willed himself to shift into the form of an Air Elemental. Between one thought and the next, his form faded until the only thing left was his sense of self. One thing he noticed immediately was a sense that he was losing something, which was confirmed when a SYSTEM Notification popped up in his vision.

WARNING!

Ambient Mana is increasing by 5,847,296 per second.

SYSTEM Link has been established.

Anton quickly opened his Status and read his notifications.

Yes, he still had, wait, no. He had more hit points, stamina, mana, and psychic energy than he'd had before. Also, his attributes were higher, though his Charisma was currently sitting at an effective 14 "due to user choice," whatever that meant. He scrolled down and checked the latest notifications first. As an elemental, it seemed that he was bleeding .1% of his mana per second into the surrounding environment. Wait, that wasn't good. High levels of mana in any given area was going to be really bad.

Anton willed himself to the ground and converted back into his human form. He pulled up his event log while the mana was still high enough for him to do so.

Mana Bleed Off: 5,847,2966

Mana Regeneration Recovers 3,600,199

Net Ambient Mana: 2,247,097

Mana Bleed Off: 5,847,2966

Mana Regeneration Recovers 3,600,199

Net Ambient Mana: 4,494,194

Damn, that was per second. He'd been bleeding off over five million per second and only recovered 3.6 million per second from his mana regeneration. When he'd realized what was going on and dropped to the ground and ended his elemental form, he'd bleed a total of 22,470,972 mana into the surrounding area, which was causing mutations to the trees and small animals as he watched. If he was going to fix this, he was going to need to spend a lot of mana so his mana regeneration could pull the ambient mana back into himself.

He did have two skills that he might be able to utilize. Mental Assignment and, more specifically, Spell Creation. Maybe he could burn mana into the creation process to speed it along. He had had to be careful, though. He wanted to absorb the 22 million mana; he didn't want to go into a mana debt that he wouldn't be able to recover. So, he needed to either make a Rare spell with 22 Augments. If he could use mana to speed the process along, that would require 22 million mana, which he could then regenerate. Or he could create an Advanced Ranked spell with a single augment, which would require 10 million mana, if this worked.

Anton quickly moved to a tree and sat on the side opposite the two girls he'd run into, and decided to go with an Advanced spell. Echo Location had become very useful, but it only had a range of 60 feet, and it only worked in places that propagated sound. He wanted something a little more like X-ray vision that also upgraded his map. Later, when he was back in an environment that had normal mana levels, he'd adjust the spell to take advantage of his Mythical core, but for now, he needed something that didn't require a lot of power and had a decent range.

Anton activated his Skills, Spell Creation, focused his intent to create an Advanced-level spell with a reduced mana cost augment, and then threw mana at it. The mana cost followed the same criteria that creating a Mental Power with Mental Assignment did at 100 mana for 10,000 turns, or a total of one million mana if he paid it normally. That was doubled for the added augment and incurred a penalty, which increased the cost to 20 million mana.

Anton paid the mana from his Mana pool and felt the ambient mana stop dispersing as his mana regeneration began drawing the mana from the environment back into himself. While he waited for his Mana pool to absorb as much as it could, he checked the spell that he'd created.

Congratulations! You have created the spell Omnisense.

Omnisense

Rank: Advanced

Sphere/Domain: Space

Range: 250 Feet

Mana Cost: 2 Per Casting

Duration: 2 Turns

While active, you can sense everything within 250 feet of you, which will automatically update your Skill, Basic Map. Skills and spells of equal or higher rank that create stealth effects that thwart magic and/or technology thwart this spell.

Note: The density of barriers and the environment may reduce the range of this spell.

He could have set the spell to have a range of 10,000 feet, which would have cost 5,000 mana to cast. Since he wanted a lower mana cost, he reduced the range and duration until he came up with something that he could utilize if cornered. He wasn't too worried about the long-range stuff, at least not yet.

He was also a little more encouraged about the use of his Stealth skill as he activated it. He considered what to do next because he did not want to be here when people came looking for the strange man who had appeared next to two young women. Speaking of which, he tried to open his Portable Exchange, but failed, as a notification appeared.

WARNING!

Portable Exchange and equipment and items within cannot be accessed from this location.

If that was true, why the hell wasn't he naked? As he stood there, Anton accessed his Notification logs and looked them over.

WARNING! You have been exposed to a naked Singularity

WARNING! Active Void Core Detected

SYSTEM Link Severed

Labyrinth Link Severed

…

…

…

Manifold SYSTEM Link established.

Void Core has stabilized Biological Functions

Trinary Core has formed

***

Trinary Core

Beings with a Trinary Core may exist in any quantum state. This core consists of an Evolutionary Core which acts as an Anchor that the Primary and Void Cores supplement. This structure fundamentally alters the nature of entities with such cores, enabling them to modify their structures to exist within any quantum state within the Manifold Multiverse.

Benefits:

When crossing between Multiverses, any clothing or items worn are automatically converted to the quantum state of the new region. Should a matter-based Trinary creature step into an Antimatter region of the multiverse, the Trinary Core will shield and modify every cell and atom of the Trinary creature and their equipment to suit the new region.

Use of skills, magic, and the like is automatically converted to work in the new region.

Note: Areas with reduced ambient mana may affect the Trinary Cores ability to access the SYSTEM.

Disadvantages: Skills, Spells, and equipment that access regions outside the new region, but are not compatible, cannot be accessed. This is a safety feature imposed by the Trinary Core and cannot be circumvented by any known means.

WARNING! When crossing between incompatible regions, ensure that you do not rush your Trinary Core. While undergoing conversion to the new region, a mishap may occur if the process is rushed.

***

Primary Core is sacrificing Potential to Void Core to balance Trinary Core.

Class Experience and Levels have been equalized.

Common Void Core adds 60 to all attributes

Uncommon Void Core adds 600 to all attributes

Rare Void Core adds 6,000 to all attributes

Advanced Void Core adds 60,000 to all attributes

Master Void Core adds 600,000 to all attributes

Epic Void Core adds 6,000,000 to all attributes

Legendary Void Core adds 60,000,000 to all attributes

Mythic Void Core adds 600,000,000 to all attributes

Congratulation! New Title Acquired, "Manifold Multiverse Traveler."

Manifold Multiverse Traveler

You have discovered that the Multiverse you existed within, with its various planes and dimensions, is not the only Multiverse that exists. This Title informs any new SYSTEM that you come into contact with that you travel throughout the Manifold Multiverse.

Perk: Multiversal Translator granted.

***

Multiversal Translator

You may understand, read, and speak any spoken language so long as an active SYSTEM Link is available.

If you already speak the native language, this perk has no effect

Note: Trinary Core Detected. Travel to alternate, or negative versions of your original Multiverse does not require a Multiversal Translator to understand languages that are the inverse or backward versions of languages you know. A Trinary Core automatically adjusts your perception and speech patterns to allow you to interact normally.

***

Destination matching origin point discovered.

Manifold Multiverse Traveler directed to the mirror image of the origin point.

NOTE: The destination does not currently have Local SYSTEM access.

Ambient Mana is less than 1%

Hit Point, Stamina, and Psychic Regeneration rates are reduced by 99%.

Mana Regeneration is only available in local areas with increased mana density.

Increase mana saturation to initiate Local SYSTEM access.

Manifold SYSTEM Access available through Trinary Core in areas of Sufficient Mana Density.

Final Note: Contact with Divine Entities between divergent Multiverse Iteration is prohibited by the Manifold SYSTEM. Divine powers that require Divine Energy from outside of the Multiverse you are in will NOT function.

Anton closed his notifications for now. Well, that explained a lot. He had clothes because his Trinary Core converted what he was wearing to the conditions of this Multiverse.

Another Multiverse?

Double Shit!

It also seemed that once he was outside this mana-saturated area, the mana he had would be it, unless he turned into an elemental again and leaked mana like a radiator leaked radiator fluid when it was full of bullet holes. That two million mana he'd released into the local area might spice things up a bit, but who didn't like a good bigfoot legend? Of course, if he continued to do that, things could go badly for this Earth.

So his usage of spells would have to be finite unless he could convert Psychic Energy, Hit Points, or Stamina into Mana. That was fine. For now, even at 1% of his normal regeneration rates, his Hit points would regenerate at a rate of 846 per second. Stamina would be just over 5.2 million, and Psychic Energy would be 520,030.

Since his Flight spell was one of his spells that utilized Psychic Energy, he activated it and rose above the trees again. As he rose, he noticed that some police cars were just now pulling into the school parking lot, which meant that it was time for him to go. He continued to rise until his Notification icon flashed red once and then winked out.

If this Universe were a mirror of his original universe, he was about 500 miles from Fairbanks and the University of Alaska, which had one of only three computers conducting AI research. Of course, this Earth might be different but it would be a good place to start, unless he went down to California. Nah, He'd keep it simple and head to Alaska. Besides, without Access to his Portable Exchange, every single thing that he had put aside for situations exactly like this was in his Portable Exchange.

Anton activated Adaption and began flying north toward Fairbanks, Alaska. He could have increased his speed to 6,818 miles per hour, but decided to keep under the speed of sound. Anton stayed low, flying between two hundred and three hundred feet above the ground. He followed Highway 1 west to Haines Junction and then headed northwest. He didn't stay directly above the roads, but he kept them within sight as he passed Destruction Bay, Quill Creek, and Koidern.

As he continued following the highway, Anton flew by Dry Creek, Beaver Creek, and crossed the border out of the Yukon and into Alaska. The towns of Northway and Tetlin were located to the south of the road, and then he flew over Tok and followed Alaska Highway 2 west. He flew Dry Creek, Delta Junction, and before he knew it, he was coming up on Eielson AFB. At that point, he knew that radar might still see through Stealth, so he veered off to the west and reduced his altitude until he was only fifty feet above the Tanana River, which he followed until he was just south of Fairbanks: total travel time, one hour.

Anton noticed the Lakeview Terrace RV Park from the river and slowly floated over the Park until he found an empty RV that also looked to be in disuse. A quick teleport inside, and he was out of sight and secure in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Now it was time to see what was different between this Earth and the one he came from. To do that, he was going to eavesdrop on the thoughts of everyone he could see with his (Psionicist Mythical Core Based Perk) Telepath. All he had to do was stay out of sight and listen. Once he had a better idea of the political and historical environment, he'd decide what to do next.