I have no idea how long I was passed out for, but when I woke up it was nighttime.
My head felt like the world had beaten it with a club. Every movement forced a searing pain through my mind.
I couldn't get up. Not yet at least. It felt too difficult. Like when your comfortable in bed and don't want it to end, except, much more painful.
The portal was still near me, floating and giving off its purple radiance. I really hate this portal. I want to kill whoever put such and awful thing in my world.
The whole experience with the corruption seeking to control my mind is nightmare fuel.
Blood and grime still covers my entire body as I lay in my own excrement, a new addition to the ensemble.
The only other thing that is different around me is that a series of [Divine Totems] now surround me and the portal, containing the portals dark influence and I guess my own.
Reaching into [Soul Link] I force my mind to focus on the connection to Snow and send him a single beep to let him know I'm still alive.
It wasn't long before a transmission returns to me, although a simple one.
"Stay there. I'm coming."
Frankly that works for me just fine. Even if I wanted to get up, I don't know if I could. And besides, although I am a bit filthy, the [Divine Totems] are helping me recover. It's possible they are also containing the lingering corruption inside me
[Corruption: Minor]
It seems that I am now both [Divine] and [Corrupt]. Not sure how that works. Either way I'm too tired to care right now.
Closing my eyes I quickly fall asleep again.
*****
Morning came as the blazing sun burnt into my eye lids, forcing me to recognise the outside world. I don't know exactly how long its been since I first passed out, but it surely couldn't be more than a few days.
Forcing myself to sit up I notice that the blood and grime on and around me is solid dry. My enhanced sense of smell, thanks to [Beast Cadence] and [Divine Blessing], reels at the state of me.
Snow said he was on his way here, but it would take some time. I spent well over a month travelling, maybe two, and although Snow is far faster than I am it should still take him some time to get here.
[Soul Link Manifest]
[Name: Snow]
[Soul Level: 24]
[Mana: 3 875]
[Intelligence: 298]
[Physical Level: 13]
[Strength: 58]
[Agility: 1 232]
[Stamina: 337]
[Haste (Mastery 4): allows the user to increase their speed by 10 % for 10 seconds. Costs 100 mana.]
If I had to take a guess, it would take Snow another week or two to reach me. That means I could be stuck here for a while.
If I am going to be stuck here, then the first thing I need to do is clean up.
Reaching into the burning desire of my soul, I call upon the immolating flames of [Incarnat] to burn the filth from my body and the land around me.
Instantly, flames searing with abnormal heat engulf the area, myself included. The flames feel reassuring and comfortable to me. And more powerful.
I notice that the flames have a slightly golden hue to them, alongside the usual bright red and pockets of blue where the heat is strongest.
The golden hue feels like [Divinity].
It seems that with the number of [Divine Totems] present the quality and quantity of divinity in the area has reached critical mass. Even with my weak connection to I am able to imbue it into my flames subconsciously.
Is this an after effect of the corrupting process or a facete of Snow's influence surrounding me for so long?
The flames make quick work of the grime and shortly after I call them into a concentrated area near me, making a regular campfire out of the not so regular fire.
The campfire looks somewhat unusual given how it burns without any kindling in sight. It's a small but slightly comical thing.
Now that I am cleaned up, I need to get some food. Naturally I am absolutely starving after that ordeal and although I am still reeling quite severely, it isn't enough to stop me from rounding up some grub.
Checking my body before leaving the circle of totems I try to determine if the corruption in me will try and take over again when I leave the circle.
It's not exactly clear but I figure that I can take my time and if something happens, I can bolt back before it gets severe. Either way if I don't gather food I'll starve to death, so this is a risk I need to take.
Leaving the safety of the totems I walk for a while as their influence weakens whilst monitoring my physical and mental state. However, nothing happened, so after I reached the edge of Snow's territory I quickly sped off to gather food.
Less than an hour later I was back at my campsite roasting massive chunks of monster meat.
As usual the food tasted awful, but perhaps due to my affinity with corruption, it was less awful than usual.
It could still really use some seasoning though.
Chewing on the tough meat I inspected [Soul Manifest]. Several new things had sprung up.
First, my [Martial Affinity] situation has changed, which is progress in an area I've had no idea about until now.
[Martial Affinity: Reaper's Harvest, Eternity Spire]
[Reaper's Harvest: ???]
[Eternity Spire: You are both divine and unholy. You are neither corrupt nor holy. Eternity lies in the scales. Nurture it.]
Kind of useless though.
I still have no idea what [Reaper's Harvest] is supposed to do, and I have no clue how I ma supposed to make use of [Eternity Spire]. All I can determine is that it has something to do with the disharmonious connection between [Corruption] and [Divinity].
I noticed another change, but this one isn't as big, and I didn't notice it at first.
[Spark: allows the user to manifest a spark of life from within or around the user's soul with a significant radius. The life source produces a small amount of heat.]
In the description for [Spark], the world light has been replaced with life. I guess that makes some sense as the man of light that was helping definitely seemed sentient, even if not entirely.
His ability to discern threats, strategise and act in battle were on par with mine, but I gave him no input or commands on how to act. He was entirely autonomous.
That being said, how the fuck have I developed the ability to produce life?
Isn't that something only gods can do. I mean sure, my 'life' is neither permanent or fully developed but still, seems kind of crazy.
Maybe it has something to do with my [Divinity]?
I tried casting [Spark] to bring back the man of light and to my surprise it worked with little effort at all.
The man stood in front of me, in all his radiant glory, and stared at me mindlessly.
Looking the man up and down I realise he is similar in shape to me. His face, although somewhat difficult to discern, is similar to mine. His body has the same shape as mine, although he isn't missing an arm. His… storage… is also similar to mine.
Focusing my mind, I try to manifest some clothes for the glowing man but unfortunately, I was unsuccessful.
Not keen on seen my own rod like this any longer, I cover the man with some low temperature flames, just enough to be appropriate.
I'll have to figure something out to fix this more permanently, lest I be seen by someone fighting alongside a naked, glowing version of me.
How embarrassing.
"Hey, can you talk", I asked the man of light, but he didn't respond. Or even move in the slightest.
"If you can here me, raise your right arm."
The man complied, suggesting he could here me, but either can't or doesn't not want to speak.
That's fine.
Inspecting the man more closely I place my hand on his shoulder and determine he is both solid and indeed slightly warm to the touch. Just like a living being would be.
He does appear alive. Well… at least as far as I am capable of telling.
He requires no upkeep either, unlike spells. His presence does not require mana or any concentration on my part. He is an entirely separate entity. But he seems obedient as well, and of minimal thoughts perhaps.
Having an interesting idea I give the man a command, "Hey, go travel in that direction until sunset tomorrow and then return here. You can do whatever you want as you travel but try and use [Soul Archive] to update my map as you do" I say whilst pointing in the direction the Queen was headed.
I'm worried about the intricacy of the command, but the man of light seemed to have no issues and simply started walking in that direction.
I guess I didn't specify how fast he had to travel so walking is within specifications. I should make a note of that.
I don't understand this whole producing life thing but if it has limitations, I need to find out what they are. Is there a range limit for how far the man can go away from me? Or a time limit for his existence? Are there things he simply can't do or won't do if I asked? But above all, I need to know if he has unwavering loyalty to me or if he is capable of betraying me.
I don't want some kind of crazy situation where my army of living light people turn on me. Not that I can create an army of them. It seems I am limited to just one for now.
Whilst the man of light walked off into the distance, I continued my meal as I watched his progress in [Soul Archive], praying for success.
I can see the man's location on the map but what I want most is for the map to update as he travels. The way I see it, life is about experience, and the man of light is technically a newborn baby mentally. He may be capable of waging battle and possibly has some other facets of me other than my looks, but ultimately, he is lacking life experience.
If I can send him off to travel and learn whilst updating my map, that would be ideal. Although I will need to ensure his general safety before I do. I also need to ensure he retains memories between being summoned and dismissed, but I can cross that bridge later.