Chapter 116: Prophet of the End

‘Your request for a Party of your peers is denied. We will take your debrief about the boy under advisement, but the church has more concerns in the world than a single Deceiver. Concentrating such a staggering amount of military might into the hands of one man is both a dangerous precedent to set, and against our ethos of uplifting humankind equally. If you are incapable of capturing a single Deceiver, please let us know, and we will return you to your retirement.’

• The High Saint’s Council

‘I understand and will act accordingly.’

• Caddock, level 65 Paladin

***Jason Salazar***

Sacrifice detected…attempting to generate Class Seed… Success

Generating seed….

Glory Eagle

2 resistance, 1 focus, 2 strength.

Glory, Inspiration

…Who doesn’t like Glory?

Jason glanced down at the two remaining sacrifices in his hand, weighing his options. Enchantress in one hand, a branch from the Tree of Empires in the other.

Weighing his options.

He had two tags that leaned towards his Hype Man Class: Myth from Will’s hand, and Glory from the eagle.

If he Sacrificed the Enchantress, he would definitely get some Charm Ability options. Those were super cool. The Tree of Empires…What were it’s effects?

The Tree of Empires was probably the stronger Sacrifice, because he’d never heard of it before, and the church of Granesh likely grabbed the best of the best for their Prophet.

Two points of growth over thirty levels was quite the difference.

But…

But do I want to be trapped in a Class I don’t even enjoy for the sake of better stats?

Jason took a deep breath and set aside the Enchantress sacrifice. There was more to life than the title of your Class. The Church of Granesh had wanted this specific combination for him because they knew it would be amazing.

Deliberately crippling himself because he ‘enjoyed’ the idea of something more felt…childish. When he was an old man, would he appreciate being locked into a decision he had made at twelve? Jason doubted it.

For the sake of old me, I’ll add the Tree of Empires.

It wouldn’t be the end of the world if he didn’t get Charm abilities.

Jason placed the hunk of wax-wrapped wood on the altar.

Sacrifice detected…attempting to generate Class Seed… Success

Generating seed….

Tree of Empires

1 resistance, 2 focus, 2 acuity,

Destiny, Growth, Empire

Class Seeds Acquired, generating Class…

..

….

…..

Class Generated. Speak or think ‘status’ to see your information

“Status.” Jason said, his body practically vibrating with excitement.

Jason Salazar

Prophet of the End Level 1

2 Strength

4 Resistance

1 Kinesthetics

3 Acuity

4 Focus

Charges: 0/4

Free Points: 1

Please choose your Primary Abilities.

“…Prophet of the End!?” Jason demanded. “The end of what!?”

Prophet of the End:

A Prophet of the End is a storyteller whose tales herald the end of the coil, and all the chaos that implies. They have potent buffing and debuffing Abilities, and a deep connection to myth and legend, particularly that of Ouroboros and The Tower.

“What’s a coil?”

If the Tower heard him, it didn’t acknowledge his question, instead it began nagging.

Please choose your Primary Abilities.

A Door appeared against the far wall, a glowing yellow portal that led to his Trial.

…After the Tower refused to elaborate for a long while, Jason sighed and nudged The System to show him his options for Primary Abilities.

Hand of Fate

Scales of Ouroboros

Divine Smite

Withering Repudiation

Relic Seed

Made Manifest

Wildfire Heart

Flagbearer

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Starting from the top…Jason thought.

Hand of Fate

Passive

Active: 1 charge.

Gain the use of an ethereal Hand of Fate. It may passively act as a dowsing rod to locate a hidden objective, or substitute as any number of materials in a scrying ritual. Spend a charge to apply positive or negative luck to an entity. Duration and potency scale with Acuity.

What does luck mean?

*‘luck’ is a complex buff, whereby for the duration, the Ability creates a 2-state quantum superposition for a percentage of events involving the target within a certain radius. For each superposition, The System then chooses the state most beneficial for the target from among the states, collapsing the superposition and enforcing that outcome.

I didn’t get half of that. Jason frowned. Maybe if I knew what a superposition was, I’d be impressed? Dumb it down.

…It makes some events turn out slightly better than they would’ve, within the constraints of what could’ve likely happened. It does not immediately make people start falling on their own swords or suffer brain aneurysms.

…So it’s bad? Jason asked.

Just tempering your expectations.

Nodding, Jason moved on to the next one.

 

Scales of Ouroboros

Active: 5 Charge

Create an ethereal scale somewhere on the body. (max 20). When the user is wounded, consumes the scale and reverts the damage. Scales with Focus.

That’d be great if I could afford it. Next.

Divine Smite

Active: 5 Charge

Channel the wrath of your patron to smite those who oppose you. Scales with Acuity.

Jason let out an exasperated grumble. Why is everything so expensive? I can’t choose this for my Primaries, I’d never be able to use it.

…Well that’s not entirely true, Jason admitted. He’d be getting his dailies at level 2, which was a real feat.

Come to think of it, I have a spare stat point. I could use these at level 1! Once a week, sure, but I could.

I guess it’s an option. Next.

Withering Repudiation

Active: 1 charge

Explain to an opponent in line of sight exactly why you don’t like them. Inflicts paralysis and psychic damage over time as long as the user continues to speak. Language Dependent. Scales with Acuity.

Language dependent. Do they have to understand me?

Yes.

So it wouldn’t work on monsters…or people with cotton balls in their ears?