After the End: Serenity

After breakfast, Serenity knew he needed to plan out his schedule better. The second class the previous day made it clear there was actually stuff he needed to learn from the Tutorial, and he still needed to sit through a bunch of magic lessons. He had the Affinities he wanted unlocked - which was a huge step - but he hadn’t worked with most of them much. He needed to push them higher to guarantee he’d be able to get the Tier 1 Paths he was looking for.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have a clue where to begin on that. The only thing he could think of to do was ask for help, so he headed down to the weapons training arena.

There were clearly classes already started, but they looked pretty basic. After a moment, he found Kerr and walked over to her. She didn’t have a group yet, but was walking a young man through the very basics of using a sword - starting with how to hold it.

After a few minutes, she had him set up to practice moving from one position to another. It was a combination of training the right moves and simply learning how to deal with holding a chunk of metal in more or less the right way.

Several of the other students had looked up at him, then away. He wasn’t sure why until he realized that they thought he was another instructor. It made sense, since he was dressed like them; he’d never gotten his clothing back.

“Serenity. I wasn’t expecting to see you this soon. We won’t have any classes that are useful for your skill level until near the end of the tutorial, if then.” Kerr had walked up to him while he was looking at the other students.

“That was my guess. It’s not weapons training I’m missing, it’s - the other stuff. I have a pretty good idea what I need in the way of magic, but - the Path I’m trying to figure out also … also has to deal with people. Probably set up a town or something. And I don’t know that stuff.”

Kerr considered for a moment. “No crafting? That’s one of the easiest ways to tie a Path together and not have it be entirely dependent on warfare, without dealing too much with people.”

“Runes and rituals only. Those are the only things where doing it yourself has a big benefit. Everything else - everything else can be made for you. If I can’t get people to work for me who I can at least let know enough to make stuff, I’ve failed somewhere. And even then … even then, there are ways …” Serenity knew all about those ways. They were what he’d had to use for most of his previous life. They weren’t pleasant.

Serenity usually wore his feelings out in the open, and he was mostly happy and enthusiastic. Despite the issues he was having, nothing truly terrible had gone wrong, and he was confident he’d be able to deal with whatever came up. He’d thoroughly enjoyed the bout with Kerr, and that had colored all of his interactions with her.

His face was absolutely neutral and expressionless as he thought about the possible “other ways” to gain cooperation. He had no way to realize just how disconcerting the difference from his usual personality was to Kerr.

After a moment, Serenity relaxed and focused back on Kerr. “I don’t think either of those are going to be taught in the tutorial, so - yeah. No crafting. If I had time it could be useful to get an idea of what the different crafts can do, but that’s something I can do later as well, and I need to spend a lot of time in Trials. At the same time, I know I need some of the stuff I … don’t even know enough to ask for.”

The formal classes were beginning, and Kerr sent her student off to one of them. “I don’t have the classes memorized, but … hm. I don’t know if you’ll be able to get in. On the other hand … how did you get into the Armory yesterday morning? I revoked your permission after you left.” She started leading him towards the kitchens.

“Uh ... the door opened? It didn’t seem to be locked. Maybe it’s the clothes?” Serenity knew many buildings could be set to only allow certain people in, but sometimes shortcuts - like items - were used to make it easier.

“Can’t be. Instructors can get into the restricted buildings stark naked. It’s happened. More than once.”

“That sounds like quite a story.”

“Not really. It’s common for students to set up alcohol stills. I’m sure your imagination can take it from there.” Kerr led him around behind the kitchens, to a small building he hadn’t really noticed before. She indicated he should go inside the building, so he opened the door and stepped in - to face several people who seemed startled to see him.

Kerr followed him in. “It’s fine, he’s with me. Is the full class plan updated yet?”

Most of the watchers turned back to what they were doing, but one woman - who still looked dubious at the explanation - pointed down a hall and said, “In the big conference room. There are a few things we still need to iron out - we still don’t have an adequate Death instructor - but other than that it should be good. There has to be someone with a decent Death affinity among the instructors. It’s almost like Order's Voice was deliberately selecting against them.”

Kerr hurried him down the hall. “Don’t stand there, silly, or you’ll get the whole lecture on how instructors are selected and what the standard roles are and how strange this Tutorial setup is, with extra instructors but a few standard positions missing, and how she’s worked around most everything.” She firmly closed the door behind them when he got into the conference room.

No. It couldn’t be. No Death instructor?

Please don’t let the Voice be expecting me to -

That would be a good reason for it to be letting him open doors he shouldn’t be able to, but he didn’t want to be an instructor. He needed all of this Tutorial to get even the minimum stuff to start on his Path. There had to be another - wait. Titles. Maybe?

Previous Supreme Existence

You were the Supreme Existence in a previous incarnation, and can remember some of what came before. Your status also grants you the Ghost in the System title. This title is hidden from all but you.

Ghost in the System

You bypass certain restrictions. This title is hidden unless you share it with another.

The Title had clearly changed. “What the heck. I know the Voice likes to be uninformative, but this is a new low.” He flicked the new Title at Kerr. “I’m almost glad though, for a moment I was afraid it wanted me to be an instructor.”

“That’s a heck of a title - wait, why would you be afraid of the Voice wanting you to be an instructor? You’re a Tutorial attendee.”

“Uh … I can get into buildings that aren’t accessible to most people and you’re missing an instructor with a Death Affinity?” It seemed pretty obvious to Serenity.

“Wait - you have a high Death Affinity? High enough to teach? Heck - we’d take anything over 40%?”

He’d forgotten she didn’t know about his Affinity. The best way to answer that question was clearly to share the information.

Affinities: Death: 100% Others: Restricted

“What are you doing playing with weapons? You’d make one hell of a necromancer.”

“No, I’m pretty sure I’d take DeathKnight first. The weapons and heavy armor use is too good to pass up, running out of mana is a bad way to go if you don’t have weapon backup. Plus, it has some useful low-end capabilities. Deathmage would be second, to extend into the strength of the Mage. Beyond that, the Paths open up. But I don’t want to go there. Death is the last thing I want to follow. Yes, it’s powerful and would be easy. But it’s not what I want to do.”

That’s how he’d started last time, after all. It had worked out well. For values of “well” that include the end of the world, anyway. It had given him power, but he definitely didn’t want to follow that route again.

Kerr looked away from Serenity. “It’s your Path. If you feel that strongly … you’re probably right. I … I just know how much we need a Death instructor. Missing a single position weakens everyone, and … a planet that can’t raise its own undead or lay them to rest …”

Serenity froze in place. Kerr was correct. If Earth didn’t have at least some capability to lay undead to rest permanently - which was possible with Death, difficult with Life or Void, and nearly impossible with more other Affinities - they would be in trouble in a number of areas where Death lines met. And without the ability to raise undead, there would be many, many things they could not do.

Oh, they’d eventually figure it out. Especially if he did a little teaching. But - it wouldn’t be soon. Maybe not soon enough.

Yet at the same time, he didn’t want to break his Path just to -

No. I’m being a selfish idiot. Not wanting it to be the same isn’t the same as using the abilities I know when I need to.

The point of his Path was to protect his people. If that meant accepting Death again … so be it. He would still try to reach the more complex Path he wanted, but if he compromised on his ideal of protection, that would be worse.

Serenity could only whisper through the emotional whiplash. “You’re right.”

And you set me up here, didn’t you?

[You are succeeding beyond my expectations]

I’ll take that as a yes.

Serenity wasn’t sure if he should be glad or terrified that the Voice was not only setting things up for him but paying enough attention to him to respond to his complaints. Terrified was probably the rational response, but Serenity wasn’t feeling like being rational. At least it meant he still had a chance to make a difference.

Kerr was looking at him, hopefully.

“Fine, but I have a couple conditions. First, do you have any chalk?”

It didn’t take Kerr long to find some, and he sketched the standard Tier 4 Concept Containment rune on the table. It was smaller than standard, but that was fine; he’d just make sure to tie into it correctly. He looked at it, then added a few extra runes for safety - he really didn’t want to wake his Aspect, and he also didn’t want to leak Death Affinity into the surrounding area. The rune would also prevent awakening any of his other Concepts at the same time.

Kerr looked at it wide-eyed. “You know rune magic? But - how?”

“A bit. I’m not an expert, but everyone should learn some of the basics. It’s just too useful.” Serenity was comparing himself against the people he’d fought for years, not lower-tier people like all of the instructors. Tier 4 rune magic wouldn’t have seemed “basic” to the instructors, much less the ability to modify it on the fly to achieve the effect he was going for - something that usually came much later. It was very odd starting at the bottom again.

Serenity put both hands in the center of the rune. That was enough containment for this. He then reached for his Death Affinity, pulling it around himself like a cloak. He was careful to not allow any to enter his body; with what he was about to do, that would either start to transform him into an undead or awaken his Aspect, and neither of those would be a positive outcome right now. He then concentrated on the meaning of Death and the capability of Death.