Chapter 108 - Visions

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Name: Trey Bon

HP 522/522

MP 214/214

SP 170/170

DP 1/1

Rage 0/100

Race: Human

Patron Deity: Alkir, Mistress of Darkness

Guild: None

Class: Infernal Summoner, Horror Crusader

Level 46

Status Alerts:

Remaining Skill Points: 0 Remaining Stat Points: 0 Current Permanence cycle: OFF Current Bound Point: Lawless Lands, Outer Rim Runestone

Buffs:

+300% damage or effectiveness to all infernal abilities (Vatosis Inferna) +3% resistance to all damage (Resilience) +10% resistance to all damage (Dreadlord Vorshok’s Bane) Autoregeneration (Dreadlord Vorshok’s Bane) +15% damage to offensive spells (Aspect of the Devil: Death’s Gaze) Night Vision (Aspect of the Devil: Death’s Gaze) +100% to sight, hearing, smell, reflexes and awareness (Predator) +33% to awareness (Aspect of the Devil: Horns) +30% total damage output (Talsh’Noc’Un, Thirsting Level: 2) +20% damage increase for Strength related weapons (Horror Crusader) +8% defense to all armor worn (Horror Crusader) When enraged, +1% temporary damage increase for every point in the Rage bar (Horror Crusader) +1 Willpower stat gifted for every 2 Strength, Vitality, or Endurance stats placed (Horror Crusader) +17% chance to dominate demons and fallen (Unholy Script of Domination) +99% resistance to soul damage (Rebirth of the Void) Injures people outside your immediate party that attempt to identify you, and notifies you of their attempt (Horror Crusader: Accursed)

Debuffs:

+8% damage taken from all Celestial and Holy abilities (Aversion to Divine) +5% Insanity and aggression (Talsh’Noc’Un, Thirsting Level: 2) When enraged, +1% temporary insanity increase for every point in the Rage bar (Horror Crusader)

Stat Amplifications:

371 Strength

411 Vitality

10 Endurance

9 Dexterity

24 Speed

67 Intelligence

57 Wisdom

0 Faith

0 Luck

442.5 Willpower

7% Insanity

Magics (7of 20 spells learned)

Chaos Ball^^ (Chaos) - Level 30

Summon a ball of chaos to fling at your enemies Upgrade 1> Increase size of chaos ball and explosion radius by 80% Upgrade 2> Increase damage of chaos ball by 6% Upgrade 3> Chance to pierce through magical defenses is doubled

Chains of Chaos^^ (Chaos) - Level 21

Summon chaos chains to bind or impale your enemies Upgrade 1> Spikes are added to ends of chains for better puncturing Upgrade 2> Chains can now use homing on their targets

Shadowstep^ (Dark) - Level 25

Teleport a short distance instantly Upgrade 1> Cooldown reduced by 50% Upgrade 2> In conjunction with Shadowform, mana cost is reduced to nothing

Roar of the Banshee (Dark) - Level 3

Silences enemies for a short time, inhibiting them from casting spells or miracles

Shadow Blades (Dark) - Level 5

Unleash sharpened blades of shadow at your enemy. NOTICE: Your shadowform decreases mana cost for this ability by 80%

Summoner’s Calling: Least Summoning Circle (Dark) - Level N/A

The most basic of summoning circles with a low intensity magic signature that usually (but not always) attracts the weaker denizens of the infernal realms. This broad spectrum spell enables you to communicate with the infernal realms of Hell, Oblivion, and the Void, but offers no protection whatsoever from the creatures you summon. You are able to increase the chance for a random target to appear by using double the mana and circling the center pentagram.

Summoner’s Calling: Minion’s Call (Dark) - Level N/A

Summons a specific minion you already own, or dismisses them to your personal nether realm. Dismissing a demon to their nether realm will heal it over time and allow it to revitalize. However, keep in mind it takes 30 seconds to channel this ability. You may only summon or dismiss 1 minion at a time.

Miracles (0 of 1 miracles learned)

None

Physical Combat (1 of 5 sacred arts learned)

Blades^ - Level 22

Upgrade 1> Dexterity bonus of +3% when wielding blades Upgrade 2> Damage with blades is increased by 4%

Aspect of the Devil: Mask (Chaos) - Level 8

Grants bite attacks and manaless ability to breathe short range hellfire

Aspect of the Devil: Claws - Level 5

Aspect of the Devil: Tail - Level 6

Hand to Hand Combat - Level 7

Assassination - level 5

Light Armor - Level 5

Horror Crusader: Terror Stricken (Sacred Art) - Level 1

*Empower your next weapon strike with terror imbued dark magic. Upon contact

the target will lose all buffs, become terror stricken, and take an additional 250%

of base physical damage from dark magic. Terror may be resisted by a

high willpower. Strike gains +200 Speed.

Miscellaneous

Identification - Level 8

Sneak - Level 5

Traits:

Vatosis Inferna - You are the Infernal Prince. The chosen one, born by creation itself and out of the influence of the gods to one day rule over creation. Will you embrace your destiny and find success? Or will you falter, fail, and die at the hands of your enemies? The future is not yet determined.

+300% damage or effectiveness to all infernal abilities. Unlocks all infernal attributes, including Necromancy, Chaos, Dark, Blood, Abyss, Curse, Void and Apocalypse. 1st Ascension: Lullaby of the Behemoth - This is a trait ability and cannot be leveled up. This trait is entirely governed by your willpower, both innate willpower and stat point additions. Use this trait to call upon the music of creation to shape reality unto your will. How this trait manifests is highly dependent upon the participant. Weeks-long cooldown, may only be used for a few minutes at a time. 2nd Ascension: ??? 3rd Ascension: ??? 4th Ascension: ??? 5th Ascension: ??? 6th Ascension: ??? 7th Ascension: ??? 8th Ascension: ??? 9th Ascension: ???

Earthborn - You are earthborn and experience ‘ON’ and ‘OFF’ permanence cycles. You also gain a 20% increase to any type of XP acquired when compared to your fellow NPCs, and your mana regeneration rate is increased by 30%.

Languages Learned - Ancient Demon, Human

Void Essence - You have been chosen as a suitable host. You are now able to access black magics, skill trees, abilities, and spells unavailable to most other black magic users.

Resilience - +100 HP, +3% resistance to all damage. Mental fortitude increased.

Dreadlord Voshok’s Bane (Heroic) - +10% resistance to all damage. Autoregenerate 1% HP per minute. Autoregenerate lost body parts over time.

Predator - +100% to sight, hearing, smell, reflexes and awareness. Also allows participant to use the ability Consume.

*Consume - Beings that you have killed yourself may be consumed. Doing so gives you a chance to acquire Strength stat points and is largely dependent on the foe’s danger rating. Consume will also rapidly restore HP, MP, and SP.

Aversion to Divine - Participant is associated with the infernal arts. +8% damage taken by all Celestial and Holy abilities.

Horror Crusader - Participant now has the Infernal Summoner subclass of Horror crusader, a berserker / caster mixture that endows a baseline of 2% insanity.

Physical Attributes:

Unholy Script of Domination - Unholy Scripts are written into your flesh. Unholy Script of Domination may be used to dominate the minds of lesser beings - having a high cooldown upon doing so. Stretch forth your tainted hand to touch them, bending them to your will to force mortal races into thrall minion contracts without need of ritual. May be resisted by a high willpower, baseline prior to stat amplifications or otherwise. Also receive a +17% bonus for dominating demons and fallen. Very high cooldown to create charges for thralls. Can store up to 3 charges at a time.

Current Thrall Domination Charges: 2

Shadowform - Allows participant’s body to express shadow properties. Allows Participant to focus and bind acquired items into Shadowform, absorbing them into the participant’s body fitting a maximum weight of 500kg. May summon bound items anywhere within a 5 yard radius of participant. May unbind items when needed. If bound item is outside of a 1000 yard radius from participant, bound item automatically returns to Shadowform.

Stored Items:

Bastion Armor Set Flaming Bastion Greatsword 1000 gold coins Unique thrall evolution stone: Voidling Broodmother (Currently Immature) Soulstone - Hellsteed (x11) Weaver Eggs (x37)

Aspect of the Devil: Death’s Gaze - Permanent no cost upon use Night Vision enchantments afflict your eyes, which are tinged a glowing red. This also empowers all of your damaging magics by 15% damage.

Aspect of the Devil: Claws - Summon and discard demon claws at will. Separate from hand to hand combat. Can cause bleeding, a damage over time effect.

Aspect of the Devil: Mask - Summon and discard demon Jaws at will. Allows participant to use predator’s Consume ability much more rapidly and participant is now able to use Consume during battle. Allows participant to breath Hellfire (Chaos), a medium range area of effect spell that costs no mana. Can cause burns.

Aspect of the Devil: Tail - Allows piercing and slashing attacks. Damage equivalent to Aspect of the Devil: Claws. May extend up to 25 additional feet. (Non-retractable prior to original 5 foot length)

Aspect of the Devil: Horns - These horns pick up vibrations in the air and in the ground to sense incoming attacks, +33% to awareness. (Non-retractable)

Magical Attributes:

Chaos

Dark

Necromancy

Blood

Abyss

Curse

Void

Apocalypse

Skill Trees Unlocked:

Aspect of the Devil Summoner’s Calling Horror Crusader

Control Limit Slots: 14 of 20 used.

Trey’s Minions:

Napoleon, Primal Imp, Level 25 (1 slot)(Admired) Talsh’Noc’Un, Sword of Ruin, Living Weapon (1 slot)(Content)(Thirsting Level 1) Atharost, Ifrit, Level 52 (1 slot)(Very Friendly) Rivia Ahst, Culn, Level 35 (1 slot)(Forever Indebted) Piggy, Infernal Elf Pet, Level 2 (1 slot)(Infatuated) Juila, Sacrificial Lamb, Level 14 (1 slot)(Devoted) Telipe, Demihuman Thrall, Level 4 (1 slot)(Scared) Grimy, Human Thrall, Level 5 (1 slot)(Curious) Ezdeath, Pureblood Succubus, Level 705 (3 slots)(Unsure) Sithis, Fledgling Abyssal Devil, Level 1 (3 slots)(Very Friendly)

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He sat cross legged on the stone floor of the ancient skyscraper they’d nested in, breathing heavily from the exertions of the sparring practice with Ezdeath. Atharost and some of the others had just gotten back from scouting out a potential dungeon site, but had come up empty handed and were rather sour about it.

Meanwhile, it was now time for him to take a look over Sithis’ abilities. He’d also called Telipe over, and Grimy too. It was about time they put Telipe to work in getting their equipment enchanted, and he wanted to know how fast she’d be able to work… though the way she’d crawled over on all fours while repeatedly barking when he’d called her was a little unexpected. Then there was Grimy, who’d done a lot of nothing outside of eating their supplies since getting here.

Yes, the man was supposed to be teaching Ashe some of the basics of thieving and sneaking about - but he’d taken his sweet time in attempting to try. In fact, he hadn’t seen him try at all - and he’d been utterly useless since obtaining him. That was going to change.

Leaning back against the wall and watching one of the giant spider zombies Taen owned cross the room at a snail’s pace, Trey eventually turned his attention back to the collared demihuman, leatherbound thief, and hulkling archdemon sitting across from him expectantly. “Alright, let’s get this sorted out. Sithis, you’re first. Sorry the sparring practice took so long.”

Sithis shrugged indifferently and tightened his wings to his body as a warm breeze from the balcony rushed in, carrying a foul scent of the dead with it. “This shouldn’t take long. I just wish you to know what I am capable of in case you’re wanting me to take on an assignment.”

Trey continued to take in deep breaths, waving to his three other minions as Rivia, Napoleon and Ezdeath all passed by with a friendly glance his way. It took a lot to take his eyes off the swaying hips of both women, and he could have sworn - as Ezdeath’s long slender tail moved back and forth with each step - that they were trying to actively distract him with the way they walked. Ezdeath was even missing her armor in favor of the more scantily clad rags she’d first been seen in, and it was definitely turning the cogs in his brain. “Yeah, I agree Sithis. Hold that thought and I’ll pull up your status page.

Instinctively his fingers blurred over the screen, having been accustomed now to how it all worked - he didn’t even think about it as Sithis’ information popped up.

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Simplified Status Page

Name: Sithis

Race: Fledgling Abyssal Devil, Archdemon

Class: N/A

Level: 1

HP: 3000/3000

MP: 3000/3000

SP: 3000/3000

DP: 1/1

Skills: Chaos Ball (lvl. 1)(Chaos), Chains of Chaos (lvl. 1)(Chaos),

Shadowstep (lvl. 1)(Dark), Breath of Hellfire (lvl. 1)(Chaos),

Hand to Hand Combat (lvl. 1)

Traits: Flying, Predatory, Apex Predator, Armored, Child of Eleknar, Aversion to Divine, Insightful, Trey Bon’s Minion

Magical Attributes: Abyss, Chaos, Dark

Opinion of you: Very Friendly

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Trey blinked twice, rubbed his eyes, and looked back up to the devil sitting across from him. “You’re a fucking tank… and these are all skills that I have. Is that ‘Breath of Hellfire’ the same as my mask ability?”

“That we had together! And yes it is.” Sithis replied, chuckling with a brief pause and sideways glance as Telipe randomly barked for no apparent reason. “I didn’t acquire all of them, but I thought you should at least know. The things I did want to note were the traits that my new body has acquired. I was able to gain a third magical attribute, which is not supposed to be able to happen… but Azoth had it as well. It seems, especially after your own acquisition of all the infernal attributes, that the two-limit rule is more of a guideline. The Armored trait gives me a large reduction to physical damage, the Child of Eleknar trait has no description whatsoever, and the Insightful trait gives me a boost to intelligence. Pretty straight forward.”

Trey thought a moment about how hard it would have been to kill Azoth if he’d been able to shadowstep, and he let out a low whistle thinking that Sithis could do it. “Damn son! That’s insane. Are you enjoying your new body thus far? I gotta admit it’s pretty impressive.”

Sithis was obviously very proud of the new body he’d taken. There was no doubt in Trey’s mind that he’d just wanted to share it with someone because he was excited, and he couldn’t blame Sithis for being that way. It was all Sithis talked about recently, and honestly - having an archdemon on Trey’s side was pretty fucking sick. Even at level 1, Sithis’ HP, MP and SP all dwarved veryone else’s - even Ezdeath’s who was a greater demon over level 700. With this new addition to Trey’s front line - he had Sithis, Ezdeath, Juila, himself, Taen’s flesh golem Butcher, and the host of undead at Taen’s disposal. Even piggy would be a front line fighter if she was abused enough, but that was more of a wildcard that depended on her unholy script. Bann, the ghoul, was also a front line fighter - but he was significantly weaker than the rest of them even if compared to the average person he was a formidable killer.

The compliment was all Sithis was looking for, and Trey tried to hide the humor in his smile as they continued to talk about it in detail. It made him very happy to see Sithis so excited, and a little while later the archdemon got up and went over to speak to Atharost about Boxamoth - as the little fire elemental familiar was misbehaving lately and Atharost was loudly bitching about it to Napoleon and Juila.

“Arf arf!”

Trey raised an eyebrow to where the collared, nude, rather stunning demihuman was panting with her tongue sticking out of her mouth a few feet away… and giving sideways glances to Piggy. The infernal elf pet’s glowing red eyes bored into the demiuman girl, and her younger, heavily tattooed body looked like it was about to spring forward. He looked inbetween the two collared women, getting a genuine yet zealous smile that could light up a room from Piggy - and another awkward and anxiety-ridden bark from Telipe as she got on all fours and proceeded to crawl over and begin licking his arm.

Well this was odd, but he wasn’t going to say he didn’t like the degrading behavior. He’d definitely have to talk to Piggy about what was going on, because ever since they’d had that outside play date in the rain… Telipe had been acting over the top with her new role as his dog.

“Grimy.” Trey stated - addressing the dark-skinned thief who was repeatedly flipping a coin up in the air while blatantly staring at Telipe’s prostrated ass as she licked Trey’s arm. “I have a bone to pick with you.”

That got Grimy’s attention, and his head swiveled as he caught the coin a final time to pocket it. “Aye? What did I do wrong?”

From across the room, Ashe was sitting against the opposite wall and reading that grimoire again. She was avid in her studies, trying to acquire the dark attribute the normal way instead of just being handed it like Trey’d been, and he pointed over to where she sat while keeping his eyes locked on the thief. “You’re supposed to be teaching her the skills relevant to thievery and stealth. I was pretty impressed with the way you infiltrated the Fost guild compound a while back, but you haven’t done anything productive since we saved your sorry ass from those acquaintances of yours… Why is that?”

Grimy’s expression fell, and he held up both hands defensively. “It isn’t that I haven’t tried, it’s that Ashe is always busy reading that book you gave her. I’d be more than happy to teach her a trick or two, but she always tells me to wait for when she becomes a fully fledged summoner. She tells me that it’ll be more important whenever she acquires her summoner subclass? I don’t know what she’s talking about, but that’s why I’ve been dilly daddling. She also has been working on the Curse attribute with Napoleon lately-”

Trey’s expression of shock was immediate, and he held up his own hands to interrupt the thief as Telipe’s licking made its way up his arm to his neck. “What do you mean by she’s working on the Curse attribute? Does Napoleon know enough about it already to teach it? What the hell…”

He didn’t bother waiting for Grimy’s reply and called out to where Ashe was sitting. “Yo Ashe! Get over here!”

His good friend lifted her head, snapped the grimoire shut and promptly stood up with a wave back at Izumi who was fidgeting with her ripper pistol. Stepping over a small pile of debris, she crossed the room and smacked Juila’s round, red ass on the way over with a wink the demoness’ way. Juila responded with a slap of her own, and Ashe yelped while clenching her butt as Trey’s minions laughed at the aggressive flirting. “You wanted me, oh great demon lord?”

“Stop patronizing me, you dirty wench.” Trey gave Ashe a grin, and then jumped a little as he startled when Telipe began sucking on his neck. The low groaning sounds and the abrupt feeling of her hand sliding into his pants was a lot more forward than he’d been used to from Telipe, and from where Piggy stood at an observing distance next to Juila - she was giving a small nod of approval.

There was definitely something odd going on here.

“How’s the studying going?”

“Great! I’m almost done with reading the book twice over now… and I feel like I’ve almost reached the point at which I’ll be presented the Dark attribute. Apparently it takes a while and a thorough knowledge in order to access it… Unless, of course, you’re the Vatosis Inferna.” Ashe gave him an exaggerated eye roll and a huff, coming to a stop when she bent down and began examining the crowns encircling his pupils. “Really, it isn’t fair.”

Telipe’s furry ears nuzzled against his cheek as she brought her lips up to his ear, and began to whisper so that only he could hear the words she spoke. “I’ve decided I want your babies after all.”

Zing.

Trey’s mini-me shot up in seconds, and his face flushed. Definitely, this was out of place… “We’ll talk about that later, Telipe. Thanks for letting me know.”

Ashe gave the pair a confused frown.

“Anyways…” Trey continued, pushing the demihuman off of him and pulling her hand out of his pants. “Grimy here has been telling me you’re learning the Curse attribute from Napoleon. Is that true?”

Ashe glanced down at the thief and nodded excitedly. “Yes! Napoleon figured out how to obtain it, or at least that’s what he told me… so I’ve been taking lessons from him inbetween studying for the Dark attribute. Once I get those two attributes I’ll likely be granted the option of obtaining the summoner class, and from there the subclass you secured from me with Alkir’s contract. I cannot tell you how excited I am!!!”

Ashe did a silly jig, bouncing up and down on one foot while biting her lip and twirling around. “It’s going to be so COOL!!!”

So Grimy had likely been telling the truth. “Wow. I didn’t realize Napoleon… anyways, I’m happy for you! Are you still wanting Grimy to teach you about-”

“Yep! I told him to hold off on it though while I figure out this magic stuff.”

Yup, he’d told Trey the truth. With a dismissive wave of his hand, he told Grimy to go get some food or do whatever he wanted to do with his free time - and the thief got up without a moment’s hesitation to do just that. Leaving the others behind, he went straight over to Piggy and asked the newly formed demoness what they had left over from today’s meal.

Trey sighed contentedly, happy to hear that Ashe was making progress. “I was just checking to make sure Grimy wasn’t being lazy. It just seemed like he hadn’t done much since getting here. It’ll be nice when you become a summoner yourself, then we’ll have even more minions at our disposal.”

Ashe abruptly nodded and plopped herself down on the stone floor next to him. “I want Juila.”

It took a couple seconds to register what she’d just said, and a loud screech from a bird of prey outside the balcony brought him to his senses. “You want Juila?”

“As my minion.” Ashe nodded adamantly. “She and I interact far more than you and her.”

Trey frowned and folded his arms. “You can’t go poaching my minions just because you become a summoner too! I’m already giving you Grimy, and for the record - Juila can’t be given away because of the ‘everlasting bond’ trait she has. She’s soulbound to me.”

“Oh come on!!!” Ashe threw up her hands in dismay and let out a loud obnoxious wail. “She’s basically my girlfriend already!”

The resulting snicker Trey had was quickly hidden as she glared at him. “Ashe, you realize that she fucks Atharost just as much as you right?”

“But she likes me the most!” Ashe beamed at him mischievously. “She told me herself.”

“Well continue to have your fun-time with her then, but I can’t give her to you even if I wanted to. Which I don’t.”

“What about Ezdeath or Rivia?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Piggy?”

“Nope.”

“Telipe?”

“Not happening.”

“WHY NOT!?”

“For many obvious reasons, you self-serving lesbian slut.”

“OH! Like YOU’RE one to talk, you man whore!!!”

“Get your own harem of minions, god damn it!”

The two of them laughed with one another and Ashe settled down on the side opposite where Telipe sat, leaning against Trey’s shoulder with a huff. “Fine. I’ll get my own.”

“That’s the spirit!” Trey chuckled again, and reached over to give Telipe a pat on the head, where she was leaning forward on all fours - tail forcefully wagging - and tongue hanging out to exaggeratedly pant. “Alright Telipe, Today’s the day that we start using that enchantment ability of yours.”

Teilpe’s panting immediately stopped, and her ears perked up questioningly. “Really?”

Trey nodded. “You’re going to be working with Ashe’s crossbows first.”

He reached over, plucking one of Ashe’s handheld bows off her hip with an unlatching of the buttoned holster - and gave it to Telipe. “How long will it take you to enchant this item?”

She sat back on her knees, examining the crossbow for a while and looked up at him curiously. “Oh… it depends on what the enchantment is. It also depends on how qualified the person funneling their magic through me is. If the person is practiced enough and the spell is low tier, it can take less than an hour. Otherwise, it can take an entire day - and sometimes it fails.”

Trey turned to Ashe and poked her leg with his tail. “Any enchantments you’d like on that crossbow?”

Ashe’s eyes lit up, and she nodded vigorously - handing the other crossbow over to Telipe as well. “Both crossbows! If we can get some chaos or fire magic into them, that’d be great. Is it possible to fire off bolts with imbued magic?”

Telipe’s tail began to wag again, this time it wasn’t faked. It was nice, being wanted for something other than sex. “Of course! I can etch the enchantments into the weapon so that it lets off residual mana every time you fire a projectile. The bolt wouldn’t be imbued with magic until immediately after it left the weapon. Or, I could enchant the bolts themselves, but that’d take a lot longer because there are many of them. I could even do both, and you’d have double the impact, but again - it’d take a while to do that. It’s why enchanted arrows or other projectiles are so expensive, and again… some of them may fail.”

“What happens if they fail?” Trey asked curiously. “I know we’ve talked about this before, but refresh my memory.”

The demihuman slave gave her master a polite nod. “Of course. Sometimes, depending on the degree of the enchantment, the amount of mana funnelled in, and the stability of the item - the enchantment just fizzles away. Other times it can shatter the item or completely explode, but I’ve never had that happen before because I’ve never worked with amounts of mana that would be capable of an explosion. I’ve seen it happen to one of the masters I worked with though, many years ago. It killed him and his apprentice, knocked me over from across the building.”

Explosions?

“Well let’s keep the amount of mana to a safe level then…” Trey muttered, and then he called Atharost over with a whistle. “Hey Atharost, Telipe’s going to need your help enchanting Ashe’s crossbows. Think you can do it?”

The ifrit was swatting his elemental companion Boxamoth on the head, scolding it for not obeying his orders, and briefly gave Trey a thumbs up. It was a motion Trey’d taught him over the past year, and many of Trey’s minions had picked up on his habits such as this. “Yes, give me a few minutes and I’ll be there.”

With that settled, Trey was eager to find out whether or not Telipe actually cold imbue the crossbows successfully. If they turned out good, and he really hoped they did, he’d have her enchant numerous items across the party. It may take a while, and they may ruin a few of their items in the process, but it’d be worth it in the end.

As Ashe began engaging Telipe with conversation, excitedly asking the other demihuman questions about how it all worked - Trey’s mind began to wander away from reality.

Visions… the visions were back again. He didn’t want them to come, but ever since he’d acquired the insanity stat - he’d been subject to their whims at random.

Four men now stood in front of the gates of hell, three of them he did not recognize…a dark elf with deep gray skin, a high elf, a tall human man, and one of them was his brother Vick. Vick stood in mage’s robes, just like the others, but his eyes glowed gold and he looked out into the terrible scene as Trey’s mouth dropped in shock.

Vick was slightly taller than Trey, with similar handsome features and short brown hair just like his older brother. He’d been the genius of the family, and to see him here… now… in this place… was just off putting. It made Trey’s heart lurch and his stomach churn, and all the emotions he’d suppressed over missing his family flooded back into his mind after almost a year of trying to forget.

Meanwhile - the rest of the vision came into focus. The ground trickled with raging mana that sent flames skywards at random intervals, rumbling to life as the earth beneath erupted. The sky was cast in a shade of dark red and lightning sporadically stretched across the clouds of ash - illuminating the battle before them.

Hundreds of thousands of demons battled one another beneath a floating obsidian castle that was larger than any construct Trey had ever before. Titans of enormous sizes and monstrosities from his worst nightmares raged against one another in a wicked spiral of death on the ground. Hordes of dragons, angels, devils and a huge variety of other flying creatures bathed the skies in swarms of magics, bodies and blood.

“FOR THE SPREE!!!” screeched a strange low pitched voice as a new horde of both flying and ground-ridden monsters of all varieties tore from a hole in the earth that exploded from a nearby mountainside. The already battling armies took pause and the outskirts were quickly intercepted to have a three way battle between the opposing sides, becoming evermore vicious.

The sound about them was deafening, but Trey watched - unable to move or speak as Vick regained his composure and staggered backwards as one of the other men with him caught Vick by the shoulder and whirled him around.

“What IS THIS?” hissed the human man with a terrified look on his face. “WHY CAN WE NOT RETURN?”

“Calm yourself,” stated the dark elf as he bent down to inspect the ground. The dirt beneath held him up, but when pressing firmly against it with his fingers the ground gave way before reforming again. He looked up to the others. “This is a memory. One of Vick’s memories. We cannot be harmed here.”

The high elf stood dumbstruck at the carnage and power about him. His heart pounded fast and he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“This isn’t my memory,” stuttered Vick, baffled by what was happening. “This - this isn’t me.”

The dark elf now looked concerned. “...This is NOT one of your memories? Then how…”

“I have never liked violence,” a strangely familiar voice loomed out from the abyss. “But I must admit, this display in particular was quite impressive.”

The four men turned, Vick’s eyes receding back from a brilliant golden flow of light into his normal green, and a figure appeared from where the voice had come. Standing before them now was a man who’s clothes and flesh were created entirely from golden mana that burned and raged against the dying light of their surroundings. Trey could feel this man’s power flow through him, coursing like fire through his veins - as if it were trying to speak to him.

“Who are you… and why have you come?” asked the dark elf coldly as he peered into the semi-transparent visage of the golden glowing mana. The visage didn’t respond but continued to stare Vick down - leaving the dark elf flustered as he blurted out a threat. “Invasion of one’s mind without permission or a court order is strictly against the laws of Katya, you will be found and you will be punished for your crime. I suggest you leave now.”

The high elf scowled, having regained his composure as he pointed an accusing finger at the golden light. “What have you come for? This is a serious matter. To trap and confine mages of Vuas Academy, and this boy, is nothing short of a life sentence in prison.”

The visage chuckled slightly. “Ahh… Captain Grevus. How I have missed you.”

The high elf turned pale. “Am I supposed to know you?”

Trey tried to scream, to get their attention, but he simply couldn’t do it. None of them realized he was there, watching them, and honestly - Trey wasn’t sure if this was even real. It was probably just another one of those damnable visions again… like all the others he’d experienced thus far… but on the off chance that it wasn’t? He wanted to get Vick’s attention, and he had no way of doing it. Fuck - he couldn’t even see himself, so appearing to the others was going to be impossible.

The visage slowly shook its head no to the elf’s question - its features completely obscured by the golden hood and robe it wore. Even if it hadn’t had that hood, Trey was doubtful he’d be able to tell what the facial features were like - as even the ones currently ‘visible’ were blinding them with the golden glow of mana.

From within the vision of the battlefield - a loud crash brought the men’s attention over to a pile of rubble not far off. Smoke and dust shot into the air from the impact of the crash. From the rubble six flaming wings erupted upwards and a scream of insanity roared back a challenge to the skies.

Trey and Vick both froze in astonishment.

This man in the vision wasn’t even entirely human - more like a mix between angel and demon. And yet, Trey was absolutely certain this man was his brother when he looked upon the man’s face.

It was himself.

“TREY!” screamed Vick as he clambered forward to try and reach out to touch his long lost brother. His fingers grasped at nothing as his hand went through the image and out the other side. A second later Trey was gone, having launched himself back into the air with another scream of rage and hate - power radiating through the air and turning nearby enemies to cinders.

Vick left his hand in the air, stretching up wards in the direction Trey had left and a sadness overwhelming him as he looked on.

“... You knew that demon?” asked the dark elf curiously. “I thought this wasn’t your memory?”

“... That was my lost brother…” muttered Vick. The three other men wearing mage’s robes exchanged worried looks.

Then the vision changed.

Cities burned with corpses lining the streets in the tens and then hundreds of thousands. The skies lit up with strange vortexes of lights and from them came monstrosities of various sizes, shapes, and colors.

The vision switched again. They were above the clouds and looking down upon a city that floated in the sky - white and gold platforms stretched out for miles and beautiful buildings with strange open-air structures littered the sprawling scape. A legion of heavily armored angels stood in formation above it before taking off as one to engage an incoming Spree of flying insect-like creatures.

The vision switched yet again. This time it was Vick himself. He was older now, he had a wife and two children - though their faces were obscured. He sat laughing with his family in armchairs within a cabin standing in an open meadow. A second later and the vision had switched to display all of their corpses littering the ground and a fire raging beside the decimated area about them.

“What is this…?” muttered Vick. He reached out a hand as if to try and touch the vision of his dead body, but it slowly began to fade away - leaving only the golden visage of the newcomer and a backdrop of black to entertain the observers...

Cocking his head to one side, the vision changed back to the point where Vick had seen his brother Trey - wings outstretched and in a crazed rage. The visage stopped the scene, freezing the play-by-play as the visage continued to observe Vick.

“These are possibilities.” stated the visage. “Possible futures, some more probable than the others. Life, death, prosperity and destruction.”

“Futures?” muttered the dark elf. “Surely you-”

The glowing golden visage snapped its fingers and the dark elf seemed to freeze - as did the human mage. Only Captain Grevus and Vick weren’t affected by whatever this thing had done.

“...Vick, I can’t break out from this…” muttered the high elf with a nervous expression. “He’s trapped us here.”

The visage laughed softly to itself and placed its hands behind its back as the others gazed at it anxiously.

“Why are you here?” Vick asked with a frown. He didn’t like this at all. He felt powerless, and knowing that the other mages were completely useless here didn’t give him any encouragement about the predicament.

“To change the past.” The visage of the golden man smiled slightly from underneath the hood he wore. “You haven’t met me yet, but you will soon. I have come to speed up the process of meeting between us... so that we may try to fix that which was unfixable in the original.”

Vick was confused, but the words intrigued him. He exchanged a look with the captain and crossed his arms curiously. “You claim to be from the future then? You act like you already know me.”

“I already know you, Vick. Or at least, I knew another version of you.” The humanoid visage paused and took another step closer to examine Vick’s features, then turned around to look out at the sight of the vision before them. “I’m afraid that I am not the only one that’s come for you though. There is at least one other. We need to be careful.”

Vick scoffed. “Stop speaking in riddles and tell me what you’re doing here. Stop being so vague. Who are you? I have a pretty hard time believing you’re from the future though, gotta admit it.”

The visage continued to ignore Vick for a time but eventually spoke up again in a near whisper. “You died.”

“I what?” replied Vick uneasily.

The visage turned. “You died. They all died. Permanently. Forever.”

The image was replaced with one of his childhood where he was playing alongside his two brothers and parents. They were using building blocks to make forts for their toy soldiers, it was one of Vick’s best memories as a little child.

“Your entire family… your parents, brothers, cousin, wife, and children, they will all die due to our failures.” The golden visage turned and held up two fingers for the men to see. “There are two reasons for this. Neither of which I can tell you just yet. My very presence here has sent ripples throughout time and even I am unsure of the results. But that brings me to the conclusion. I am here, because I want to let you know that if you do not follow every command that I give… if you do not heed my guidance, you will likely all die again.”

The words struck home and Vick felt strangely compelled to believe them.

“You will need to find the three keys. After the great merger, take the dragon’s head from the stone sarcophagus and it will guide you to the next two keys. Once you have acquired all three pieces you will be able to open my temple.” The visage turned to the elf. “Captain Jax Grevus… we will require your help when the others turn from us. There will come a time when all sanity is lost, and it is then that you will be needed most. You will know what to do when the time comes.”

“This is dangerous…” whispered the high elf as his eyes shifted between the visage and Vick. “This doesn’t seem right. Vick, be very careful about this. This smells of a blood pact, and this is likely a very powerful demon trying to communicate with you. Do not take any offers or deals from this being if you value your sanity and soul.”

The visage laughed as it turned to the elf. “A mere demon? Is that what you take me for? How unnerving. Fortunately for Vick, he doesn’t get a choice. Reading the fates of time is something of a gift that I can repeat, but traveling through it is a one time ordeal that includes all timelines. I do not intend to waste it. There will be no blood pact, but keep this in mind Vick. I am doing all that I do with your best interest in mind. Do this. Trust in us. Find the three keys, and we will change the future for the better.”

The visage then opened up his left hand and a dagger of golden light materialized. A blur of motion rocked Vick’s world as the visage of golden light lunged forward and rammed the blade hard into Vick’s heart. Pain exploded from the wound and quickly spread out to cover his entire body as his veins and arteries all burst in bright light. In front of him, the golden visage completely shattered, mana bursting out from the form before recondensing and racing towards the knife. As the golden mana touched the blade it was funnelled into Vick’s body, adding to the searing heat and pain even further as the earthborn man screamed.

And before the last moments of the vision ended, a single though was transmitted from the golden visage into Trey’s mind: “You must endure, Vatosis Inferna… for they are coming, and they will not stop until your body is nothing more than a corpse.”