Chapter 148: My man Thaggy

Everybody stilled.

“Wait,” said Denzel, pushing to the fore. “What do you mean, ‘hack’? As in, hack hack?”

Yadriel rolled his eyes. “We got ourselves a genius here.”

Mavthua shivered again. The dude was incredibly excitable, James thought. Maybe because his lineage had fragmented? Then again, this shit was crazy.

“Hack/compromise the System through unauthorized access to the root processes/bones. We have discovered/developed a means to bypass the artificial constraints/manifestations of the System’s powers so as to manipulate the fundamental nature of the Void-state branes and express them as we deem fit/optimal.”

“We need Star Boy, stat,” said Serenity.

Kerim raised both palms, went to speak, sighed and closed his eyes. “Slow down, please, Mavthua. You are saying that you have found a means to access the root… coding language? of the System?”

“When the System manifested/invaded Arkhos, we were given an interface/symbiotic integration with powers and enhancements that were dependent on the killing of svaghuathua. The more we killed, the more abilities/enhancements the System made available to us in the form of unspent tokens/points. This happened on your homeworld/you?”

“Yeah,” said James. “Ours were called Benedictions, Arete, Aeviternum. But it was relative. Different faiths and outlooks were presented with different names.”

“The same took place on Arkhos. The points that were awarded are discrete energy packets siphoned/clutched off the Void-state brane by means of the Reservoir Cube’s system. Those energy packets/points are fueled by the unified forces in the universe, namely gravity/electromagnetism/strong and weak nuclear forces. The genius/mastery of the Eluthaarii lies in the technology behind the Reservoir Cubes which can translate/traduce the Void-state energy into a basic/fungible tokens that can be applied to a variety of powers. Thus they can be used to manipulate space-time and the universe’s four forces to defy traditional/observable physics. Flight, teleportation, custom energy fields, the manipulation of physical bodies, and so forth can be created/manipulated.”

Mavthua had regained control of himself, and delivered this last in a steady, calm manner. “These Void-state derived energy packets/points thus can be used/expended to change the normal functioning of the universe by imposing/overwhelming natural systems through an excess of energy as guided by the Reservoir Cubes and the System. However, the Eluthaarii did not wish/desire for us to gain complete control of this power/energy; they thus limited how the points could be spent via a restricted/approved power system embedded in the form of the System.”

“Oh shit,” said Serenity. “So that’s why… I mean, almost all of our powers are limited to hurting demons, right?”

James nodded. “But when we fought Becca she had access to powers that knocked us on our ass.”

“The system was custom tailored and rigged against us from the start,” breathed Kerim. “It makes complete sense now. We were given biblical powers - to heal, to control emotions, to adopt the guise of demons and shadows - but all limited to those that benefitted us only when we used them to follow the System’s program.”

“Correct.” Mavthua shifted his bulk. “But with access to hundreds of Reservoir Cubes, we Zorathians were able to reverse-engineer/dissect the cubes and exploit the moment in the process when they flowed into the System. By short circuiting/interrupting the flow, we were able to break free of the System’s restrictions and custom design our own powers.”

James’s eyes widened. “You what now? You custom designed your own Miracles?”

“Correct. However, it is a vastly complicated process and beyond our ability to fine tune/master. Thus we have leaned on the System’s interface as much as possible while selectively tweaking/redesigning powers to meet our requirements. It is because of this that our clutch leaders/heroes were able to absorb so much power; not only did they have access to communal grounding through the substrate, but we fed the cubes’ power to them gradually.”

Jason ran his hand over his buzz cut. “What kind of powers did you create?”

“The key/fundamental nature of the Void system lies in the conflicting application of points. Abundance/Arete creates a reservoir of power that can be applied to any ability/blessing. One multiplies expended Abundance by the base blessing cost and attempt to overwhelm the enemy. If two powers enter in conflict/opposition then the attack with the most cumulative points behind it wins. Simple.”

Everyone nodded.

“Base level attack powers all begin at 50 points. Rend/Smite, for example. They cost a set amount of Abundance to activate, though a System user can gain more control over the amount expended in time. Smite has a base level Abundance draw of 15. Thus a base-level Smite attack deploys 750 points against a foe.

“Svaghuathua have offensive and defensive power arrays determined by their iteration. Thus if a Zorathian utilizes/deploys a 50 point attack fueled by 15 points from Abundance, against an Iteration 1 svaghuathua with a 20 point defense fueled by 10 point Abundance, the svaghuathua will perish.”

“Sure,” said James. “Makes sense. But when I made Lord of the Increate I - I mean, we - developed the ability to decide how much of your divine pool - I mean, Abundance - to put into any one power.”

“Correct. But your powers and abilities are still limited by the size of your Abundance reservoir and the base level of your attacks such as Smite. Thus if your Abundance/Arete at Lord of the Increate 1 is 600 and you utilize/deploy Smite, you cannot harm a svaghuathua Iteration 30 demon with a defensive power such as Carapace with a 100 point base and an Abundance of 1,000.”

“Which is what we’d be facing deeper in,” said Jason grimly.

“Correct. Which is why we Zorathian did not develop many powers. Instead we focused on creating a balance between base level cost and Abundance pool. A Lord of the Increate 1 with a 600 Abundance and a 50 point Smite can deploy 30,000 point attack. But if they refashioned/customized their Smite to be exactly half of the available points, 325, and attacked with a 325 Abundance, their attack would be 105,625.”

“Holy shit,” said Serenity. “Same number of points?”

Kerim’s expression was grim. “But over three times as powerful.”

“Excuse me?” Miriam raised her hand from the back of the group. “This is all… theoretical, right? Because haven’t we already spent our powers? Is this for future powers?”

“We ain’t got time for that,” growled Yadriel.

“Incorrect. We devised a means to recover all expended points into a base pool that can be spent anew.”

Everybody gaped.

“You can do a character reset?” asked Yadriel. “Yo, for real?”

“For real,” said Mavthua gravely. “That is what we did for our heroes. We reset their power totals, erased the System powers, fashioned heightened/improved abilities, helped them absorb three Reservoir Cubes, and then respent the points. Each Reservoir Cube contains 9,000 points-worth of energy. Thaguavar the Black entered the Pits with Smite at 12,797 and his Abundance at the same. His every base attack dealt 163,763,209 damage.”

Everybody gaped.

James cleared his throat. “Against my maximum Smite of, what was it? 50 times 800?”

“40,000,” said Kerim softly.

“Wait, hold up,” said Jason. “What about our Miracles? Aeviternum Hurricane?”

“Miracles/Ocean Blessings are vastly more powerful/potent, yes. They have a base power rating of 500 divided by the scale of the area.”

“So my Hurricane was hitting for… say, at max strength… 300,000?”

“Divided over the area it impacted,” agreed Mavthua.

“Still nothin’ compared to that Thaggy the Black,” said Yadriel.

“What about Aeviternum?” asked James. “I could boost my attacks by spending one.”

“Correct. Aeviternum base value is 50 points. You add that multiplier when expending a point.”

Jason punched a fist into his other palm. “Now we’re talking. My Hurricane did 15,000,000!”

“Thaggy could do the same shit, yo.” Yadriel’s grin was mocking. “Bringing his total to… what’s 164 million multiplied by 50?”

“Over eight billion,” said Kerim softly.

Everybody stared in awe.

“My man Thaggy!” Yadriel clenched his fist. “Big dick energy.”

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“What about Gloria?” asked James. “I have that, too.”

“Exceedingly/impossibly rare if earned the standard way. It adds another x500 multiplier. Very impressive.”

“So,” continued James, “that takes my 40k and multiplies it by 50 for Aeviternum and 500 for Gloria…?”

“One billion,” said Kerim.

Ha!” Serenity grinned. “Take that, Thaggy. Not quite there, but close.”

“Thaguavar also had Gloria.” Mavthua was trying not to sound smug. “His total empowered damage was over 4 trillion.”

Everybody stared again.

“4… trillion?” croaked Serenity.

“Glass canon, though,” said Jason, sounding desperate.

“Thaguavar was guarded by a clutch specializing in returning to the egg/defensive powers. He died countless times, but nothing up to Pit Level 25 could stand against him.”

“We’re in.” James gave a decisive nod. “You wanted to know if we’d be up for using the Bifrost - I mean, the portal key - to steal more Reservoir Cubes, right? The answer is yes. 100%. How many do you think we can steal?”

“It is not known/understood how many Cubes are contained in an ever-collapse collection facility. We speculate/hypothesize that it is… many.”

Olaf had been listening carefully from the back of the group, his huge forearms crossed over his chest, and now he stirred. “These ever-collapse are black holes, yah?”

“Correct.”

“So the… Void facility is inside black hole?”

“Correct.”

“So we must go inside black hole?”

“Correct. I have hypothesis/idea for how to insert into facility without being detected. Direct teleportation into ever-collapse is not possible, as Eluthaarii ward all valuable locations such as every level in Pit beyond 18 and their command centers in inter-galactic space, and I do not think/believe it possible to enter coordinates into portal key for interior of black hole without much more time/study. Instead, we shall appear within event horizon of ever-collapse inside a demiplanar space attached to a power-enhanced phase molecule that shall dive into the ever-collapse directly.”

“OK,” said Olaf. “Why not?”

“Wait,” said Serenity, fingertips to her temples. “Isn’t that like going in through the front door?”

“No,” said Mavthua.

“You can fashion a vehicle that can carry us in?” asked Kerim. “Black holes compress everything no matter what it’s made of.”

“We would craft vehicle so that it phases in and out of substrate space,” said Mavthua. “Using theories derived/learned from Void-state dimension.”

“Sure,” said Kerim, throwing his hands up. “Like Olaf said: why not?”

“We’re still in,” said James. “When are we making this happen?”

“Now,” said Mavthua. “I will rejoin/reconnect to clan substrate soon to avoid/disarm growing suspicion. Then we shall reconfigure your points, craft an optimal clutch dynamic, assign new powers, and then activate key portal to teleport directly outside ever-collapse.”

“Say our vehicle carries us into the black hole,” said James. “What happens then? Even with redesigned sheets we can’t fight the Eluthaarii.”

“Eluthaarii do not guard ever-collapse facilities,” said Mavthua. “There are three of them. They monitor distant galaxies, oversee Systems on Pit-impacted planets, and evolve. They leave guard duty to high powered servants.”

“And we can take those on?” asked Serenity.

“We can but try,” rumbled Mavthua softly.

“It’s all we’ve ever done.” James scrubbed at his face. “All right. Let’s get started. What do we need to do?”

“We shall interface you with our System hacking process. You shall oversee the deselection of point assignment. Once you have reduced yourself to your natural/original state, and have all your points in a state of unspent potential, we shall discuss optimal expenditure based on the nature of this mission.”

“Word,” said Yadriel. “Let’s have at it.”

Mavthua’s buddy pointed his huge gauntleted hand at the armchairs. “You must sit. Interface will appear once you grant permission/access.”

“So that’s why you extruded the armchairs, huh?” James smiled wryly. “This was your plan all along.”

“Not plan/contrivance,” said Mavthua. “Hope.”

“Everybody up for this?” James looked around his crew. “Nobody signed up for diving into a black hole. If you want out, no harm no foul. We can portal you home and you can help the others.”

“We’re in,” said Denzel. “Right?”

“Absolutely,” said Kerim.

“Are you kidding me? What else have I got to do on a…” Serenity hesitated. “What day of the week is this?”

“I always dream of flying to Valhöll with Valkyrie,” said Olaf. “Instead, I fly into black hole with my best friends. Better.”

“Heck to the motherfuckin’ yeah,” said Yadriel. “This is all part of my climb to godhood, yo.”

“We’re in,” said Jason quietly, taking Miriam’s hand. “Right?”

Miriam gave a curt nod. “All the way.”

Kimmie took a deep breath and forced a shaky smile. “I spent an eternity flying around the stars not too long ago. I’m up for a return.”

“Then it’s decided.” James sat down on the armchair. It was surprisingly comfortable and contoured itself to his form instantly. “Ready when you are, Mavthua.”

The Zorathian couldn’t nod, lacking a neck, but he shivered instead. “Good/excellent/high approval. Let us begin. Accept the interface and prepare to become a mere mortal once more.”

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