Chapter 3

Everything Costs Something

Once again, I was not allowed to leave the final level of my trial until I assigned my one free standing Attribute point. Just to make sure nothing had happened I attempted to apply the free Attribute point to any of my mental Attributes.

Perception 20: Unable to exceed your personal maximum. Intelligence 20: Unable to exceed your personal maximum. Willpower 20: Unable to exceed your personal maximum. Power 32: Accepted. Final total 33.

Thus, the next portal opened, revealing the temple area that I had just left all those hours ago. This was a lie of course. No more than a second of time per floor had passed in the real world. So, a little under a minute in real time. Still, I couldn’t help but feel shaky as I left the fiftieth floor of the Awakening Trial. Just like every other time I left the trials my mind was flooded with a screen showing my changes that had been tracked according to the Awakening Ceremony.

Name: Kyle Goldman Age: 18 Race: Half-Human* Mage Class Type: Support Mental Class Type: Psionic

Attributes

Physical Attributes

Attribute Base Plus Modifier Total Strength 12 12 Dexterity 12 + 3 15 Agility 13 + 2 15 Endurance 12 12

Mental Attributes

Attribute Base Plus Modifier Total Perception 12 + 8 20 Intelligence 11 + 9 20 Willpower 12 + 8 20 Power 13 + 20 33

Magic Aptitudes:

Magical Focus Proficiency Percentage Expertise Spirit 99+% (Spell Breaking, Unweaving, Negation, Dampening, Rending) Healing 57% (Mend, Cleanse, Purge) Air 25% (Cleanse, Create) Water 25% (Cleanse, Create)

Psionic Aptitudes:

Psionic Focus Proficiency Percentage Mind Rend 99+% Telekinesis 99+% Pyrokinesis 42% Precognition 0.01% Blessings [Energy Sight], [Increased Psionic Potency]

It was the two additions at the bottom that had me the most worried about my future. Not because getting a bonus was unheard of, but because it meant that if the government ever found out I would not be able to renounce my officer candidacy. Fortunately, I had a plan, just play it cool, pretend like nothing had happened.

“GAHH!”

“Your eyes, what happened to them?” An oddly familiar voice cried out from beside me. It takes me a minute to realize that at one time that voice had been the most important voice in my life. Donald Drapper, old double-D himself. I turn to the friend, and smile. Realizing this, like all the other times would be the last time I would get to see him. He flunked out, or rather didn’t flunk out so much as didn’t make the cut off to become an officer.

My smile fades when I turn to him to see him staring at me with wide eyed amazement and shock.

“What?” I ask.

“Your eyes, they are purple man. Not just any shade of purple either, but we are talking deep electric purple. They look AWESOME!” By the end he is practically shouting, which is drawing even more attention to the two of us. I turn to look at the other students who had come out for this examination all to see that they too have a look of wide-eyed shock on their faces as well.

“What?” I ask again, trying to find out what is happening.

“Dude, I have been trying to tell you. You have purple eyes; they are so cool. How did you get those?” Don asks, slightly calming down but he is still clearly excited by the recent turn of events.

“Where did you get those?” Veronica Corrin asks, as she has been drawn in by the excitement of everything that is happening.

My mind races trying to find out what happened. This has never happened in any of my restarts. It takes my mind a moment to process, then I come to an inevitable conclusion. The Gods set me! Those sadistic bastards! They set me up!

My mind instantly makes the connections between the sudden questions of my having purple eyes. Then I instantly think back to the time earlier when I drank the electric purple drink and felt my eyes burning, while I gained the [Energy Sight] blessing.

I do a quick check, wondering about the second drink, the silver one. The one that also went to my head but seemed to have a more burning quality to it.

“Hey Donny. Is there anything else about me that changed?” I asked, pointing to my head so he knows where to look.

“What do you mean, purple eyes weren’t enough?” He asks.

Hearing that and seeing the shocked look on his face, I let out a little sigh. This is okay if I only received a change in my eyes then that is fine. A few pairs of shades and I can hide this oddity, and no one will be the wiser.

“Hey what is happening to your hair.” Veronica asks in a way that is not helpful at all.

“What do you mean my hair?” For a second, I freak out, wondering if the silver elixir I received as part of the [Increased Psionic Potency] is going to make me bald.

“What do you mean my hair?” I ask. Panicking I reach up and touch my head, all to relax when I feel my luscious dirty-blond locks in their caress. Then I give a slight tug and relax a little as the hair holds firm.

“She’s right, your hair. It is like turning silver or something.” Don says in a way that causes me to panic.

Once again, I am drawn to the inevitable conclusion that I was set up. Those bitches, I think as I inwardly curse the gods. With that, I quickly pull out my wrist recorder and get it to do a selfie mode. As soon as flick on the camera feature, I see the final changes taking place. My hair slowly changes from silver inside out, starting first with my scalp and then somehow moving down in seconds to the inches of dead skin that should have been permanent, that should have provided cover long enough for me to begin a process to dye my hair before anyone knew.

“Wow, what did you do in there? You look like you saw a ghost and it killed you.” Betty Lopin said, as she too came to join the crowd of people who all started to congregate around me. I see her breath catch as our eyes lock. “Your eyes are so hot.” She said, she had no filter that girl. I used to think that was an endearing quality about her, but not so much anymore. No now, I wanted her to shut up, while I tried to figure out what to do next.

“Good, now that you are all out you can begin the application process.” The commanding voice of the Lt. Colonel overseeing us says. He is clearly not impressed with the way we are all gaggling together after the process, clearly thinking we should make room for the next wave of candidates. I turn to see the faces of the kids that are still waiting and see a few familiar faces. I am searching through the crowd when I feel a punch in the gut, when I see her face. She is still just as beautiful as I remember. My ex-wife, well future ex-wife from a past life. I have no way to describe her former relationship to me, reincarnation is tough for determining statuses and defining prior relationships. Suffice to say, I still loved and hated the woman who cheated on me for my older brother.

“Get going!” The Lt. Colonel shouts getting us all to jump and begin to move. “Wait, you.” He says and I feel a sinking suspicion that he is talking to me as we all turn. This is that same sensation that every soldier gets when a superior officer shouts through a crowded room, and somehow each soldier instinctively knows they are the current subject of attention.

I turn and lock gazes with the man. To my surprise he gasps slightly as he takes in my changes. “Goldman, was it?” He asks.

I nod.

“Do you need a minute?” He asks, and for a second, I change my opinion of the old man who has been relegated to this lower than middle-management task of hosting the Awakening Ceremonies for every student within the unified planets. Maybe he just likes kids? I wonder as I shake my head no. Fortunately for me, and the universe he then redeems my long-standing belief that he is a complete tool and likely burned every political connection he made in his career to get posted here as he then follows up his comments with, “good. Now get your spooky ass out of my temple and away from me!”

As he speaks multiple kids around me begin to laugh, even Donny laughs at the quip.

Laughter!

The quip apparently had its intended effect, as it caused all the students who heard to begin laughing. I am about to leave, and in hindsight I should have just left. It wasn’t worth the hassle. Still, I couldn’t help but think this time I am going to do things differently. This time I don’t care what he thinks of me. Before, in my past lives I would have been frightened of his rank. One wrong word from him and it could have been enough for me to get a terrible posting.

Still this time, aided by multiple years of gathering dirt and gossip on people I was well acquainted with the sad pathetic tale of old Lt. Col Mills. A compassionate person would realize he was likely at a loss in his life. That he was in a dead end posting, literally waiting for his career to end so he could retire and be with his wife who he knew cheated on him constantly. This of course led to a severe alcohol dependency, meaning that unless the scourge invasion came early, he would often die of liver poisoning far before being devoured by endless waves of the scourge.

Still knowing that he is in pain and helping him is one thing. What I did with that prior knowledge was completely unhelpful for his mental stability, but oh so worthwhile in the moment.

“Fuck you!” I shout, then pause as I let the words sink in before I continue, twisting the knife. “No wait that’s your wife’s job. No wait, she quit that, instead preferring your neighbor, the gym instructor. Guess you got no one left to fuck you, other than your miserable career! Asshole!”

Silence.

There is a dead silence as everyone just stares at me with a hushed silence. Step one complete, set up myself so there is absolutely no way I can possibly get into the military. Now all I must do is continue down this path of no return, and I won’t even be allowed to join.

“Your military career is over!” He finally shouts after a second of regaining his composure.

I turn away, not caring the slightest at his actions. “No, your career is over. Thus, this amazing posting you found yourself in. Enjoy retirement.” I shoot back.

I feel the energy, more so than anything. Within seconds, hundreds of years of combat training kick in, and I turn to face off against the Lt. Colonel who is in the process of calling forth a fire spell. It is sloppy, crudely designed, and woefully inefficient with his internal energy. I laugh at the pitiful display, reaching out and grabbing hold of the form so it can’t be used.

This is where my primary affinity of Spirit comes in. See I am listed as Support, but the Gods list a Mage Breaker as support. We can also amplify spells and the like, but I prefer to focus on the more civil aspects, namely making real wizards and mages look like morons. In this case the Lt. Colonel is a mage, the lowest classification of magic user. Technically my wind and water elements classify me as an elementalist, one step below a mage. But Even with my lower affinities I could easily wield my elements with better control and power than this officer.

“What? What are you doing?” Lt. Col. Mills asks as shock covers his face. I flood the locked spell with my own energy, making it so that it is now visible for everyone to see.

“I could ask you the same thing. This is a lethal spell,” I pause as I re-look over the design. “Well, it should have been, had you done it correctly. As it stands this would barely create more than a pyrotechnic burst than anything. Is that it, you wanted to burn down the temple with all us kids in it?” I ask.

“What no…I…” He stammers off for a moment.

I look at the crudely constructed spell runes and find that if I want, I can easily alter and change the runes. I change the rate limiting rune to process all mana, or internal energy of the caster. Then I change the directional rune from forward and to the right of me to straight up. Then I change the color and density to make the burst truly spectacular. Then after I am well and truly done, I let the spell go while I turn about to walk away.

SWOOSH!

I can feel the flames jutting out and above behind me. I don’t have to look; I already know spell theory well enough to know what I did. I created the equivalent of a human roman candle, one that burns up in a second.

Once the burst is over, and the emergency alarms start going off as sprinklers begin spraying water over everyone. I turn to the Lt. Colonel and smile as I get in one last jab. “Now I see why your wife cheats on you. You spray your whole load before you even get close to action.”

A low blow, but I was done being civil. No, in this life I would live for me. I deserved a break. I continue to stroll out of the grand temple room as guards and attendees all round on us.

“Come with us.” The guards say. We are in trouble, but I didn’t care. What is the worst that happens, they put a do not enlist on my report? That is fine with me. Even the water feels refreshing, it is after all one of my two minor elements. Thus, I feel a connection to water, even if I can’t use it violently like some true practitioners.

We are all led out of the now flooding room and to a holding area. I sit down, happy at the fact that I have no choice left, but to be kicked out of the military. This is for the best; it is not like the potions of power I drank. No, this time I intentionally screwed myself over so I could only go forward. Step one of living a military free life was already on track. Sure, this might cause a few problems later on down the road, but for now I was content with my choice.

Everyone stares at me like I am some type of freak that they should all stay away from. Everyone that is except for Donny. Donny for his part looks like he is about to shake free of his skin.

“What?” I ask.

“THAT! WAS! AMAZING!” Donny shouts, and once again he is back to being my childhood friend with absolutely no disposition to magic or mental powers. His parents were True-Earthers who believed that children should be born naturally, without genetic manipulation. In a way I somewhat envied Donny, as he never had to worry about the same problems I did.

I just sigh. “It wasn’t that cool.”

“No, it was completely bad ass. The way you just took control over his fire spell. And were all like, you’re a bitch. Then you just casually walk away while an explosion happened behind you. I swear I felt like I was in a movie. You know the ones where the bad ass hero casually beings to walk away from the terrorist compound that they so casually destroyed with an explosion.” All the while Donny is talking animatedly, giving gestures with his hands as he mimics the explosion with both arms.

I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I turned away from the blast because I knew it would likely blind me. That after years of training I had learned, the hard way, that if I am going to cause a magical burst that large in scale, then I need to turn away.

“You know he’s right.” Veronica says, finally mustering up the courage to come over to us. “What you did back there was bad ass. Also, what was that Colonel guy thinking? Shooting off a flame attack at a kid. Though I do have to ask…” She trailed off as she got closer.

“Ask what?”

“What happened to you in that trial? You like completely changed.” Veronica asks. With her question I see a lot of the former faces of my classmates’ nod in agreement. Then it takes me a minute to realize that they aren’t my former classmates, at least not yet. I only remember Donny and Veronica as they were the only two, I would occasionally speak with in my past lives. Still, I couldn’t help but feel that this was different in some way. Then I remembered, it was different. I was different. Not only had I changed, having taken two of those odd concoctions, but this time I would be selfish. This time it wouldn’t matter that Veronica wouldn’t make it to the armed services. This time I could try to see if there was ever a connection between us, or if it was just some long lingering teenage hormones.

“Nothing really. I just found a few items.” I said, shrugging it off.

“Those trials were brutal. I gave up after the seventh floor.” Abigail said, as she too joined our conversation. Suddenly I felt everyone come around me giving off their stories. After hearing the different stories, it soon became clear why I had been selected. Why I had always been selected, even in my first life, when I had been startled of everything, I still managed to reach the fiftieth floor. Poor Don I could understand. He didn’t have any powers and thus was forced out before he could even enter any of the floors. But some of the other people, they had powers. They all just doubted themselves far too much to try anything. None of the others pushed themselves, not like I had. I was determined to reach the fiftieth floor on every run, even this time through life I knew I needed to reach the fiftieth floor. Even when logic noted that it would be easier to not be selected into the military if I had terrible attributes.

I was thinking this when a special investigator came into the room. Everyone hushed at the air of authority this person wielded just by walking into a room. It was rather impressive. I had only ever been able to do that in my old lives while wearing my full combat regalia.

“You, spooky kid,” The investigator said, pointing his finger at me.

I just stare at him like he is an asshole, which he is.

“Come with me.” He turns away at the statement, so I just cross my arms and relax against the wall.

After a second it seems he realizes that I am not following him, so he turns back to lock eyes with me. “Didn’t I tell you to come with me.”

“No.”

“No, you won’t come?”

“No, you didn’t tell me to come with you. You wanted a spooky kid, which I assumed you were talking about your own progeny.” I quipped back. I was two for two, what could I say.

“My own what?”

“Progeny, it means children. As in you wanted a spooky looking child to follow you, so I suggested you either use or get your own.”

“All right you brat, come here this instant.”

“So, you are the child abductor type, got it.”

I could tell things were getting tense as all the kids around me started to get panicked looks on their faces. As for me I was more than calm, as I was prepared for anything the man could do. I could tell from his insignias that he was just a mental investigator, mid-tier.

“You will come with me or else.” The investigator says, as he is clearly using his command voice. Unfortunately for him, it wouldn’t work on me as my Willpower is far stronger than his Power rating. Generally, for mental control, to force an action that is entirely unwanted requires a lot more Power than the target. In my initial life, when I put all my points towards Power, he likely would have been able to control me easily. But in this life, where I had no want or obligation to comply, he was on his own.

“Is this the part where you say there is candy in the back of the van.” I shoot back.

“You will come with me.” This time he uses both mental compulsions, along with moving forward to grab my arm. Unfortunately for him I was waiting for this. The second his hand touches my crossed arms he is sent flying. Not back against a wall, or into the hallway, but up. Straight up. He flies upwards and is then pinned against the ceiling, arms and legs splayed out.

“You will be arrested for this!” He shouts down at me, “using your powers on a superior officer is illegal.”

I shake my head in a tisking gesture. “First, you assaulted me three times. Two times with mind control magic, and the third time physically when that didn’t work. So, I am well within my rights to defend myself from such unwanted escalation of force. Second, I am not an officer. I do not wish to be an officer, nor will I ever be an officer in this lifetime.” I pause, staring him dead in the eyes. “Third, you were never my superior.”

With that I begin to walk away with the officer still pinned to the ceiling. Now this is a lot tougher than one might think, while it is impressive it also shows a level of skill. The reason being that when a Telekinetic holds an object in place, it is a fixed spot in proximity to their body. Think of it as holding a ball in an outstretched hand. Now you begin walking and the ball will move forward with you, the reason being that the hand moved forward with the body. The only way to keep the ball at the same location while moving is to change the position of the hand holding the object, thus constantly stretching out your arm as you walk away. The same thing goes for Telekinesis. We use a phantom limb to hold an object in place. Thus when we walk away, the object will come along with us, being held at the same distance unless we forcefully elongate the phantom arm holding the object we are controlling.

All that is a long boring way to say, I walked away like a complete bad ass again, for the second time in the same day. Though if I had to rate the two, I would say this one was a magnitude more impressive skill wise, though everyone will likely only remember the explosion. Still, I had to give it to myself. After these two displays, I would not be allowed in the military. While I was the victim in both cases, and eyewitness accounts will state that, I still can’t help but feel like I am going to be made out as the villain in these two instances. This is of course fine with me, as I have no intention of ever letting assholes like these two the Lt. Colonel and the Investigator be placed in charge of me again.

With that in mind I go up to the registrar’s window.

“If you want to apply for an officer spot, you will need to fill out these forms first.” The receptionist says in a slow monotone that speaks to having given the same speech countless times today. The receptionist points to a room where other officer candidates are filling out their entry forms. “You can fill out your forms over there with the others.”

I turn to follow the finger, and my eyes instantly lock onto Jessica’s, there she is my ex-wife. I stare at her and think about all the times I tried and failed with her. Three different times I went back, all for the same conclusion. Seeing her still hurt, especially when she was this young. She reminded me of the first time I fell in love with her. Then bile rises in my throat as I remember what happened between us. Shaking the memories away violently I turn back to the receptionist.

“No, I wish to withdraw my candidacy for becoming an officer.”

“Oh. Well, then you will have to fill out this form.” The receptionist changes her tune.

She hands me a form that reads.

Reason for resignation of Officer Candidacy.

I fill in hostile work environment. As my answer, it is not a lie. First, I was effectively attacked twice by two different officers. Second, war was coming, or maybe we already were in war? I couldn’t remember at this point. All I really knew was that after training was over I was sent to the front lines with Jessica. But that might have happened during the two years of training we went through; I honestly couldn’t remember. All I knew for certain was that every time I was done being officially trained, I was sent to the front lines where I would end up staying until I was ultimately killed in some way, shape, or form.

I turn back in the form. The receptionist glances at it, then places it in a folder with my name on it. “Very good, now one last thing. I need you to sign your form with your Encrypted Awakening Status. This is done as a precautionary measure to make sure someone else isn’t posing as you to make you drop out of the officer candidacy program.”

Hearing this, I was impressed. First, I was impressed that someone would try something so brazen as to renounce the officer candidacy of someone else. Second, I was impressed that the safety measure was something relatively simple that would be irrefutable in court. Shrugging I pressed my thumb to the marker and with a mental note of will I encrypted my Awakening Status and applied it to the form as indicated. With that I was done. I had successfully completed my goal. I had effectively both resigned and made several enemies that would ensure I never joined the military. Life was good.

As I walked out, I finally let go of the Inspector who had been pressed to the ceiling all this time. With that, I imagined him falling with a hard thump to the ground. I was almost tempted to go back in and check, but I decided not. I was a free man roaming the streets. I took a deep breath of carbon monoxide laden air and sighed contentedly. This was my first breath as a free man who was not beholden to the military in, well I can’t remember how long. I guess since before I first took the Awakening trial and was offered that stupid corrupted wish from the Gods. Still, I wasn’t too worried, a quick application of my wind magic and my lungs were free and clear of the poisons of the planet. Then with that I opted onto a transit terminal that would take me back to my civilian home, with my civilian parents.

I would likely need to spend a day or two with my parents while I tried to figure out what to do with my life, but that was a story for a different day. For today, I was nearly glowing with excitement.

I kept getting weird looks from people on the mono glider. I would stare back at them, and invariably each person who was staring at me would look away in panic. It took me a moment to realize, my appearance had changed. While the military might be used to looking at people who had gone through exceptional changes like my eyes and hair, most civilians weren’t.

Right, so I need to dye my hair and wear shades. I thought to myself. I almost thought about getting shades right then and there, but soon thought better of it. I had a set at home; besides I was hungry. Those trials did take a long time.

With that I began humming to myself as I thought about all the myriad of possibilities that awaited me in this, my first life of true freedom. What good is having ultimate power after all, if you always must wield it whenever and however someone else states that you should.