A Relatively Powerful Mage

“Should we save them?” Imri asked, knowing that they might be able to help. They were close enough that they might get mixed up in the fighting anyway. Sylvi sighed but nodded. They made their way out of cover, heading to the front of the house.

They were a group of six, all in their mid-thirties or early forties, wearing an assortment of looted clothing, in several cases fitting them either too tight or too loose. None of them appeared overly athletic, and something about the way they held themselves suggested they had been white-collar office workers. When the group noticed Imri and Sylvi, they drew their weapons, brandishing them. Most had little more than the system-granted knife.

“We’re friendly, not Azala,” Sylvi said, already scanning their surroundings for signs of incoming patrols.

“An Az, what now?” a heavier-set man asked.

“I was a special forces operator before the integration; if you want to survive, you do what I say without question,” Sylvi ordered. The group nodded, at least smart enough to understand they were out of their depth. “We move towards the forest on the other side of the interstate; it’s less than a klick out. Hopefully, we can lose them in the forest; if not, we have people nearby who can help fight. Do any of you have any combat capability, including magic?”

“Magic is a thing?” one of the women asked.

“Yes or no? We can chat later,” Sylvi admonished. They all said no.

They immediately started jogging towards the interstate, Imri’s wound burning but thankfully not getting any worse. His HP was at 26 and seemed stable, but any combat could go badly for him. As they neared the interstate, Imri hoped they had avoided a confrontation. His hopes were quashed when he saw a group of humanoids moving along the interstate. There were fewer Azala than they had people, with only four of them, but one of them stood out when he identified it.

Class/Heritage Tier/Rank Level Description

Hive Champion 1E 12 The Hive Champion is the chosen warrior of the Hive Queen with a direct telepathic link.

Azala 1F 12 The Azala are a parasitic species that take over the bodies of other sentient species.

The Hive Champion stood out from the rest, its body covered in fleshy growths that reminded Imri of classical plagues. Unlike the other Azala, this one seemed to have fully adapted, moving with more grace than the host likely had in life. It was armed with a pair of butchering cleavers. The other three Azala were level 5-7, on the higher end of what they had faced but certainly manageable, armed with typical system-granted daggers. If they could eliminate the Champion, they would likely be alright. Imri relayed this aloud, mainly to Sylvi, but loud enough for the awkward business types to understand.

“Copy that,” Sylvi said as she dropped her pack to the ground, Imri following her lead. She nocked an arrow, aiming for the leader. She waited for a clear shot at a reasonable distance, then let the arrow fly. It was well-placed and might have taken the Champion out, but the Azala moved to the side at the last second. The arrow struck it in the shoulder but missed anything vital.

The champion showed no signs of injury, not even a shriek or a grunt in pain. Instead, it deliberately slowed, allowing a drone to interpose itself before Sylvi could get another shot off. Sylvi cursed but wasted no time, quickly notching a second arrow and firing, this time shooting down the lead drone with a shot to the head.

“Imri and I will handle the leader, and the rest of you will take care of the drones,” Sylvi ordered as the Azala closed on them.

The champion seemed to have arrived at the same strategy, identifying Sylvi as the only true threat after a cursory analysis. As it moved to engage, their ability difference became apparent. It was slightly faster and far stronger than anything they had faced before. Sylvi was quickly on the defensive, taking minor wounds from the champion’s cleavers, barely avoiding decapitating strikes. Its threat assessment changed when Imri drew the soul-capturing dagger. Like every other creature Imri had faced, it somehow felt the wrongness of the dagger, knowing it was something it couldn't afford to take hits from. However, Unlike the other opponent Imri had faced, fear did not debilitate it. The Champion seemed to realize Imri was no fighter as it easily avoided a few obvious stabs that were easily dodged. It managed to strike Imri with a counterattack, inflicting a cut that gouged into his shoulder. Imri screamed and backed off, his HP dangerously low as it dipped into the single digits. Fortunately, Sylvi managed to draw its attention back, away from him.

“You will make great hosts for the hive,” The champion said in English, effortlessly countering Sylvi’s attacks. Sylvi redoubled her efforts, swinging powerful blows with her scimitar with the intent of turning the battle with one swing. Unfortunately, her tactic was easily countered, the champion dodging and taking advantage of the opening, landing several deep gashes across her abdomen. A particularly deep wound caused her to scream and stumble forward, off balance and exposed for a decapitating strike. Imri didn’t hesitate to attack, hoping to prevent the champion from exploiting the opening. It worked, but Imri felt sluggish from his low HP, just barely managing to avoid a counterattack that would have likely killed him. Imri backed off again, and fortunately, the Champion didn’t press him; it still focused on Sylvi, who had regained her balance and was now fighting more defensively.

As Imri fought, he contemplated which spell to use. While he might be able to surprise the champion with a compression spell, he doubted it would work. It was constantly moving; if it didn’t work, he would be out of mana with nothing accomplished. He could cast Time Dilation on Sylvi, but if he stuck with the 1.0375 amplitude, it would only even the fight for a brief time, but he doubted Sylvi would be able to definitively end the fight with such a small effect. He could use the spell at 1.075 amplitude he had the day prior. From what he had seen, that effect had been significant enough to shift the tide of battle in Sylvi’s favor, but only by a small margin. With his lack of mana, the few seconds at that amplitude wouldn’t decisively alter the battle but would more likely present an opening when the spell expired. He could push the amplitude even higher, but that would be for only a fraction of a second, again not long enough to be useful.

Imri was beginning to despair, seeing no way this could end well for them, when he noticed a lone figure sprinting towards them from the interstate. As they drew closer, Imri recognized them, and he laughed in relief. Hope was not yet lost.

The large form of Zhaire raced across the interstate, rapidly moving to join the battle. Imri spared a quick glance over at the other fight. The group of six noncombatants was holding their own, though they were too scared to use their numbers advantage properly. This resulted in a stalemate, both sides seemingly content with a protracted skirmish, with the true fight decided by the champions.

The hive champion took advantage of its opportunity, pressing the attack before Zhaire could arrive. It managed to get Sylvi on the backfoot from its furious onslaught, landing a few cuts before overextending, allowing Imri to cut it with the soul-stealing dagger. Despite landing only a shallow cut, it caused the champion to screech and take a step back. It fought defensively now, anticipating it couldn’t win before Zhaire arrived.

The battle shifted again when Zhaire arrived dramatically. He rushed the Champion, bringing his large sword down in a powerful overhand swing that recklessly abandoned any pretense of defense. It didn't underestimate the strength of the former pro athlete, but it did underestimate his speed. As it moved to capitalize on the opening Zhaire had presented, Zhaire managed to recover quickly, hitting the champion with a follow-up attack that left a deep gash through its infected-looking body, oily green fluid oozing from the deep wound.

The fight moved with a new cadence, the Hive Champion not making the same mistake twice. It took small wounds but managed to inflict some in return. As it became a battle of attrition, Imri didn’t like their odds. The lower-level drones had been able to push the bodies of their hosts beyond what a person could normally endure, and Imri doubted the champion would be weaker in that respect. Both he and Sylvi had endured quite a few injuries and were getting dangerously low on HP.

Imri noticed that the champion moved with precision, dodging at the last possible moment to take advantage of small openings. That was an opening for Imri. He waited until one such exchange was about to take place, and as it did, he manipulated the flow of time for the champion.

Spell Learned Tier/Rank Description

Time Contraction 1F

Speed up relative time for the target, causing time to move faster for them relative to all unaffected objects by a factor of amplitude. Mana cost / second depends exponentially on the amplitude of the effect and distance from caster to target.

Time Contraction was the opposite of the Time Dilation he had used on Sylvi, speeding up time for the targets rather than slowing it. He used it at a low amplitude, only 1.05, but it was enough to throw the champion's timing off. Instead of narrowly avoiding the heavy blow from Zhaire, the blade caught him, causing another deep gash. This was compounded by allowing Sylvi an opening to land a cut on the creature's back.

Imri released the spell, having only held it for a second. In the previous fight, when he had used Time Dilation, he wanted to avoid releasing the spell, as the adjustment to the time shifts was disorienting. He had no problem using that same concept against the champion now. It was less efficient to cast the spell multiple times, mana was lost establishing a spell as a static constant that was paid regardless of how long the spell lasted. Despite this, messing with the champion's sense of time was far more effective than strictly running a Time Contraction at 1.05 for as long as possible. It would’ve adapted, given enough time. On the next exchange, he varied the Time Contraction further, using it at 1.1 amplitude. In conjunction with the injuries it had sustained, this allowed Zhaire to make solid contact with his sword, bisecting its body through the chest with a powerful swing. The two pieces fell to the ground in an oily mess. The internal anatomy of the parasite was more obvious than it had been for the drone, resembling a small slug with branching tendrils that looked like nerves or tree roots.

With the champion defeated, the rest of the fight ended quickly. Though the three remaining drones were doomed, they made no effort to flee, instead making a futile stand. Zhaire and Sylvi efficiently dispatched them, the others providing just enough support to turn the fight into a slaughter. Imri was entirely useless for this cleanup phase, having single digits in both HP and MP, and even his FP wasn’t much better.

Everyone was exhausted, breathing heavily from the exertion. Sylvi gave them only a few seconds before barking out orders. She sent two of the survivors to retrieve the backpacks Sylvi and Imri had abandoned. Then, they went about the grim task of retrieving the cores of slain Azala. The four nearby survivors seemed appalled at what they considered savage mutilation of an enemy's corpse, but all of them were too terrified to suggest any wrongdoing. They had each extracted a core, including the Champion's core, when the two men sent to retrieve the supplies returned. As soon as the last core was removed, Sylvi ordered them to retreat to the forest, having them move at a moderate jog despite their exhaustion.

It proved to be a prudent choice as they heard the shrieks of another patrol ringing out from behind them. They ignored these pursuers, continuing towards the relative obscurity of the denser terrain. Imri relaxed slightly as they made it to the forest. He spared a quick glance back, seeing the faint outline of the Azala patrol on the other side of the interstate. The patrol gave another shriek before turning around and abandoning their pursuit. A sense of relief washed over the entire group, each of them taking the time to catch their breath. As Imri did, he reviewed his notifications.

Quest Complete Progress

Class Rank Up F to E Learn time or space related spells 5/5

Relativity Mage (1E)

Primary Stats Value / Level Increase

Agility .1% -

Constitution .05% +.05%

Intelligence .3% +.05%

Willpower .15% -

Secondary Stats

HP .1% +.1%

MP .4% +.15%

Mana Efficiency .35% +.1%

MP Regen Rate .25% +.25%

Trait Gained Tier/Rank Description

Being of Eons 1F You have achieved control over time within your body. You age 3% slower, both from natural and magical effects. Improves the mana efficiency of beneficial temporal spells that target you by 3%.

Achievement Upgraded Primary Stat Bonus Improvement

Group Hunter 5 improved to Group Hunter 7 .35% +.1%

Base Agility Increased from 84 to 85

Imri Padar has reached Level 6 in Relativity Mage (1E)

Imri Padar has reached Level 6 in Primordial (1F)

Primary Stats Gained New Value

+1 Agility 86

+2 Intelligence 144

Secondary Stats

+1 HP 111

+1 FP 84

+4 MP 192

+8 Mana Efficiency 211

Imri smiled at the number of notifications he had received. While the class rank-up wasn’t overpowered, every power boost was welcomed. While the primary stats it increased weren’t significant, only .1% total between the two stats, it had improved his more linear secondary stats by a decent amount. He was especially excited to see a mana regeneration stat. He had a 1.5% bonus when adding all 6 levels together, which approximately reduced the time it took to recover his mana from 72 hours to just under 71. This wasn’t a huge improvement yet, but it helped alleviate his biggest weakness, his constant lack of mana. This also didn’t account for resting, meditation, or any items like potions.

His new skill was also a welcome addition, though it was far from some overpowered cheat ability he had hoped for. The slower aging was a nice long-term benefit, giving him a chance to extend his life and hopefully push for a supernatural constitution to extend his life even further. He also knew instinctively that a 3% decrease in aging resulted in more than a 3% extension to his life span. This was due to his constitution holding off a certain fixed amount of aging, so it took less than 100% slower aging to counteract the effects completely. The more immediate benefit was from the effect that increased the efficiency of his time-based spells that targeted himself. He suspected he would use Time Dilation on the frontline fighters more than himself, but it was nice to have it regardless.

The group of six survivors had been huddled together, quietly conversing amongst themselves. Eventually, they came to some consensus as one of the women stepped forward. “I know we didn’t put our best foot forward back there. We would like to apologize for any trouble that might have caused,” she said diplomatically.

“Your group nearly got all of us killed,” Sylvi said sternly.

“We know, and we’re genuinely sorry. We hope all of you will forgive us and allow us to join your group,” the woman said, her five companions looking horrified.

“Sylvi, I know they're not soldiers, but neither am I. Our goal is to reestablish human civilization, and we’ll need more than soldiers for that,” Imri pointed out.

“Don’t compare yourself to them,” Sylvi said to Imri before addressing the group of survivors. “You better hope Emelia has a use for a pack of stiff suits 'cause I sure as shit don’t.”

The mere mention of Emelia’s name made Imri want to leave the group and go back to camp to see his girlfriend. It had only been a little over two days, but given what those days had entailed, it felt like it had been far longer.

“They won’t be the only new arrivals. Our camp has a group of Chixel that are seemingly defectors from the soul-sacrificing ones. At least that's Emelia's best guess, based on reading their emotions,” Zhaire said.

“What is a Chixel?” one of the newcomers asked.

“Soul sacrificing?” another asked with terror.

“I’ll talk with them after I’ve had a chance to see Emelia,” Imri said, instantly understanding he was the only interpreter. He gave the newcomers a brief overview of the Chixel as Zhaire led them back to the camp.