Vivid Stars Online

Two VTOL planes arrived early in the morning, dropping off forty troops and the expert I was due to see. The troops wore heavier, palace guard-style armor and came heavily armed with high-quality rifles and support weapons.

They were on another tier compared to my troops, and that was even before I factored in the Psion that led each of their four squads. This was the true power of the Altheian army, and I couldn’t help but be a little jealous.

The troops began marching toward the waterfall cave entrance almost immediately, while the Corruption expert stayed behind. He was a tall, nondescript man clothed in cowled robes.

Somewhat to my surprise, he didn’t feel like a very strong Psion, instead only emanating a weak presence. “My lord,” the man said with a deep bow as he approached. “I have been informed that you came into contact with the source of the Corruption?”

I nodded in response, noting that the cowl hid a ceramic mask covering the man’s face. “That is correct,” I said, fiddling with my watch to send a quick message back to the palace. This was not what I expected, and it was best to confirm that this was actually the man I was supposed to meet.

“Then please allow me to perform a thorough examination. I should be able to determine what damage the contact has caused. If you have a private location that would be best.”

My watch chimed, and I spotted a confirmation message out of the corner of my eye. It was from the same contact I usually used and looked legit.

“Of course,” I responded with a nod and a gesture toward the frigate’s boarding ramp. “This way, and please call me Jared, there’s no need for formalities,” I continued, trying to be as leading as possible.

“Of course, My Lord,” the man responded, apparently ignoring my request. “I would extend you the same privilege, however, I am afraid my identity is restricted to extremely high clearances. If you would simply refer to me as Doctor while I am here, then that would be best.

“Right,” I responded, nonplussed. The man wasn’t being rude about it, in fact, he was unfailingly polite, but it was still odd being seen by someone with a hidden identity. Then again, I’d seen how seriously they took secrecy around here when it came to anything Psionic.

It wasn’t hard to imagine they would take the same precautions with their researchers. If a foreign state captured or turned them, then they would have the very secrets the Kingdom was going so far to hide.

Taking him aboard the frigate was a minor risk, but it was the most secure location I had access to. The town hall was an option, but it would mean traversing through half the town and informing the Mayor.

Depending on how this went, it was possible I might not want too many people to know about the issue. I had little idea of what Corruption really entailed, but the Duchess had seemed very serious about it.

That said, I didn’t want the man to see too much of the ship, so I brought him to the closest intact room. Linnea was still on bed rest, but I had two of my soldiers on guard duty. I left them guarding the door as we entered and sealed the room.

It was another risk, but I doubted the soldiers would do much good if this man meant any harm. It felt a little arrogant to think, but anyone who’d come prepared for me wouldn’t have trouble with a couple of regular guards.

“Not ideal, but it will do,” the doctor said with a nod as he pulled a bag from under his robes. From within it, he extracted several small devices, one of which looked quite like my scanner.

“If you will please take a seat, then I will begin the examination,” he said with a gesture toward the ground. “It should only take a half hour at most.”

Following instructions, I settled down and waited as he fiddled with each device. I could feel hints of them with Technokinesis but decided not to push too hard on the details. The bits I was receiving didn’t show any danger, and if this was secret military technology, it was probably best not to steal any secrets.

The examination that followed was simple, even boring in places. For much of it, I simply sat there as he scanned me, occasionally using my powers when asked. The tensest part was when he asked me to use my new skill, which I did hesitantly.

“All done,” he said at last, a hint of concern in his tone. Given the full face and body coverings, it was the only way I had to discern any emotions from him.

“I am sad to say that I have confirmed the presence of Corruption within your body, My Lord. It is one of the more common varieties that grants additional power by hindering your health.”

I already knew that, I thought, trying to hold my frustration in. Tell me something useful.

“How dangerous is it and is there any way to heal the condition?” I asked, trying to get more details out of the man.

He shrugged in response, the first mannerism beside a gesture that I’d seen. “It could be said that anything affecting your health is dangerous but in its current form, there is no danger beyond that. The major risk is that it will continue to grow in strength, draining you further and further until you die.”

That certainly felt like a risk I didn’t want to take. “So how do we get rid of it then?” I asked, pushing further on the point I was really interested in.

“Oh, that’s simple enough,” the doctor responded with another shrug. “While the impact of the Corruption is felt in your body, it is truly a parasitic existence that feeds off your Psionic energy. Starving it for around six months should do the trick.”

My body went stiff as I processed the implications of what he was saying. “Does that mean no Psi powers for six months?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

“No powers, no energy stores, and no proximity to strong ambient Psi Energy,” the doctor said with a firm nod. “Corruption is no joke, and even a single instance could set back our progress for months. In the few successful treatments I have overseen, we have used a Psionic blocker to ensure starvation was reached.”

Fuck, I thought, while indicating I needed a minute to think. I couldn’t see how I could manage taking six months away from my full strength. Not only did I have a mountain of exploring to do in my lands, but I was due in Sweden soon.

My entire introduction to the secretive organization that Linnea was part of hinged on me displaying Psionic powers in the real world. I doubted they would be enthused with my showing up powerless or putting it off for six entire months.

There was a chance that whatever the doctor was planning on using to stop my powers wouldn’t affect me in the real world, but there was just as much of a chance that using them there would also feed the Corruption.

I couldn’t see a way where I could fit that in right now. “Is that the only treatment option,” I asked after spending another minute in thought. “This would be a very awkward time to take six months off.”

“I was afraid you would say that,” the man responded with a sigh, showing more emotion than I’d seen from him yet. “Almost no one agrees to that option at first.”

“It is the only treatment that will actually resolve the issue, however, I can give you medicine to try to stop the Corruption from spreading further. Be warned that it is both expensive and must be taken consistently.”

“I’ll take it,” I responded with only a moment’s thought. As much as I didn’t want to spend more money right now, I really couldn’t afford the time off. Doing nothing also sounded like a poor option, leaving this as my only way forward.

“Very well,” he said, pulling a pill case from his bag. “A month's worth of pills, you must take them daily. You will be forwarded the bill for these and the following shipments.”

“What about the shield power I received from the rift?” I asked as I accepted the case. “Will that cause any additional effects?”

“As long as you're medicated, it should be fine,” he responded with a shake of his head. “I would not recommend it if you are off the meds for any reason.”

Sensing that he was impatient to leave, I thanked the man and led him toward the front door. There he bade me farewell with another bow, before leaving toward the waterfall cave at a fast walk.

I guess he’s also the one who’s going to confirm the rift is clean, I theorized as I closed the frigate’s door. With a sigh, I slid down a wall, settling into a sitting position as I considered the results.

It wasn’t as bad as my worst nightmares, but it certainly wasn’t great either. It sounded like a disease as much as anything else, one that could be life-threatening if I treated it lightly.

I also wouldn’t be getting rid of the stat changes anytime soon, not until I could book in six straight months of no activity. It was possible that I would find the time next year or the one after, but for now, I was stuck with it.

That meant I had to seriously consider my way forward. Using my high Toughness to be a front-line tank had been a core component of my fighting style since nearly the beginning.

While I still had a higher Toughness than I thought many classes would have at my level, I wouldn’t be able to treat injuries as lightly as I used to. Even the internal injuries from the rift energy were taking longer than I’d expected to heal.

I might be able to use my new shield power to become just as much, if not more, of a tank, but it would only last as long as I had energy. With Toughness also controlling my maximum energy reserves, that would happen faster than I was used to.

All of which led to deciding on how I should respond to it. I had a level-up ready, but I needed to determine where to put my two free stats. Though I can always see how the trait works, I realized with a start.

I could do the base level-up first, then see if the Strength of Corruption stat was also affecting the new points I’d received. That would be a key piece of information that I needed before deciding.

Nodding to myself, I triggered the level-up and moved through the prompts. As expected, I got five additional General upgrade points but left them alone for now along with my free stats.

Jared Hope

Class: Psion

Level: 12

XP: 200/7800

Statistics:

Brawn: 12

Toughness: 44 (30)

Agility: 12

Perception: 12

Mind: 30

Will: 44 (66)

Free points: 2

Skills:Archeology level 2

Translation level 2

Pistols level 3

Psi Sense Level 4

- Extra Information upgrade (4)

Light Blades Level 1

Technokinesis Level 4

Enhance Cognition Level 2

Skin Hardening Level 3

Scouting level 2

Ethereal Roots level 3

General upgrade points: 5/10

Class upgrade points: 1/5

Traits:

General:

Database of Alien Languages

Strength of Corruption

Psionic Abilities:

Skin Hardening (Novice)

Ethereal Roots (Journeyman)

Enhance Cognition (Acolyte)

Fell Shield (Corrupted Journeyman)

Great Psionic Abilities

Technokinesis (Master)

Status:

Tainted Eyes

Lightly Injured

Full Energy Well

Toughness looks to have gotten the full two points in both the base and the changed stats, but I think that’s just because of rounding. Will went up by three, which suggests that the effect is affecting new points as I get them.

That meant that I would effectively get one-third less out of any points in Toughness I added while under the effect. Those weren’t numbers I liked, so I discarded the idea of putting any extra points in.

Will would get me fifty percent more value, for now at least, so it was a better option. As much as I’d initially shied away from going full power, I did like the extra strength it gave my Psi guns.

Will it is then, I decided as I put the free points in. This brought my Will stat up to 46 (69), a jump of six extra effective Will from just this level. Right until I actually get rid of the Corruption, I thought with a twist of my lips. Then it goes right back down to normal.

I found it to be rather concerning that I wasn’t looking forward to that day.