World Filter

Warning explanation Accepted:

Simulating connection to Sector Caretaker.

Mark came to consciousness in the black void of space. Looking around he could see pinpricks of light dotted all around himself, spanning the entire sky.

His head snapped round to the sound of glass breaking. There in front of him stood a large shard of crystal floating in the void.

Cracks rapidly spread throughout it until it crumbled to a fine powder. In front of him stood a person.

Mark's eyes widened as he realized he was staring at himself. Or at least something wearing his face.

“Hello, Mark, my name is The Caretaker” the being said calmly.

Mark waited a bit before responding, trying to ignore the fact that something was using his face to talk.

“Hi, so are you here to explain things?”

“Yes, though in a very limited sense. This meeting we’re having pertains only to the use of forbidden techniques. Though I have to say the only reason you are getting this personal warning is the speed with which you acquired the spell. Normally people don't figure that out until the second wave.”

Mark’s ears instantly perked up and his next words came out in a rush. “So there is a second wave, when will it happen?”

The Caretaker smiled and shook his head. “Not why we’re here. Ask another”

Frustrated, Mark thought about his next question.

“Why did the system do this”

The being cocked his head to one side.

“I should be able to answer that in a roundabout way,” he said.

“Basically, the system was created to counter something. It has many names: The Darkness, Undeath, The Corruption. Demonic Tide, however the function of them all is the same. To consume and warp life like a disease.”

The fake Mark lifted his hand and a small earth appeared in his palm. Tendrils of darkness began to wrap around it slowly consuming it.

“It starts out small and innocuous, creeping into society's fringes. People become more unstable, prone to doing the unspeakable for no reason until the world hits a critical mass releasing all the darkness at once. By the end of it, rampaging creatures roam the barren planet, and even the very air you breathe and food you eat holds this corruption.

That is what your Corruption value is. A way of measuring how far along you are. That is also what the spell does, it rips the life away from an individual and draws everything into you including the corruption.”

By now the small earth in his palm was completely consumed, it looked like a crumbling rock held together by inky blackness.

“The only defense one has against The Darkness is the system. It introduced the three paths to you all so you could fight against what's coming.”

“But then why bring the darkness here at all? Why not lets us get stronger and prepare for it” Mark interrupted.

The being looked up.

“Because if you want an organism to have a fighting chance against a disease you vaccinate it,” he said darkly, holding Mark's gaze. Then he pointed at Mark’s chest.

“You teach its immune system how to defend itself and hope for the best and this way we can control the levels to allow you time to evolve.

But we’re digressing, you stumbled on a spell that you shouldn't have and for that reason, you're getting this warning. If you continue to use it you will become part of the problem. So…”

A golden menu appeared in front of the being, he flicked this finger at Mark.

A flashing started in the corner of his eye, Mark brought his boxes up.

Following in the footsteps of Corruption brands you as an enemy of the system. Joining the opposing side in a war that has raged for well over a millennium. The system's main directive is to hold back corruption for as long as possible.

Choosing to preserve life in all its forms but one.

Earth, Sector - 66485-9685 is designated as a [Filter world]. Using this prohibited spell is against the directive of a [Filter world].

Please cease using this spell or the user will lose all future benefits that the system provides.

[Deferred reward detected.]

Calculating…

Contacting admin.

The being raised an eyebrow as another menu popped up in front of him.

“You already have a reward?”

Mark was reeling from the previous message. If he lost access to the system at this stage it would mean death.

“Yeah, well at least it said I had one.”

“Hmm then perhaps I can fix this now, is there a type of spell you want? I can use my permissions to remove the [Drain life] spell and give you a less problematic one. Like perhaps [Fireball] or [Frozen lance].”

Mark thought about the offer for a moment.

“Question. Is Prana the same as corruption? What I mean to say is can one remove just corruption and not kill the person?”

Surprise and what looked like approval appeared in the being's eyes

“Yes, while Prana and Corruption are two sides of the same coin they are still distinct enough to differentiate.

Much later on Prana users can accomplish this by burning Corruption out of others. There is a warning given to Prana users when they reach a certain threshold. It's done so that they prevent themselves from getting tainted, high-level Prana users gain benefits from having their Corruption levels at 0%. Dealing in Corruption too early is just asking for trouble. Often times messing with corruption will turn those users into high-level ordinators and if too many do this it usually spells the end for a world”

“Can one get rid of corruption on their own?” Mark was beginning to form a plan

“Yes as long as one is not in contact with corruption it will naturally dissipate according to the amount of Prana one holds”

Mark paused thinking hard about his next question, building up the courage he asked.

Can [Drain life] be used to only take the corruption?

“No, it can not… But a similar spell can, [Draw corruption] which is even further down the black list than [Drain life], and I'm not inclined to give that to you so choose something else.”

“But you said the more Prana I have the better I can deal with it. I'm going to have a lot of Prana soon. Then I can draw it off the people that I care for.”

The Caretaker looked into Mark's eyes and the void began to vibrate. His form began to grow and Mark felt like gravity had just turned up by several orders of magnitude.

Mark realized this being could crush him without even meaning to. It could erase his existence in an instant and would probably feel nothing.

“You say you want to help people but would you still want this, if you knew that the higher your Corruption level the more you would lose yourself? The more addictive it becomes. Your body would become a constant war zone, the higher the corruption the more pain you would have to suffer. Prana helps yes but take on too much and you'd lose yourself to it”

Sweat beaded on Mark’s forehead as he looked at The Caretaker.

"Do you truly wish to make the same mistakes as so many before you? Is it hubris?"

Taking a ragged breath Mark responded without even having to think

“I have wanted to help people ever since could understand what pain was, I want to cure it wherever I see it.

So the simple answer is, I won't, I am a healer by vocation or at least I would have been, and this is something that I would happily bet my life on. Straight-up, I don't have time to lose myself in its clutches, there are people who need my help.

Just trying to remain standing was taking everything he had, he felt ready to fall any second, but he refused to bend a knee nor break eye contact with the being.

After what felt like forever the being seemed to come to some sort of conclusion.

The space around them began to still, and his form began to shrink once more. Feeling the pressure slowly starting to reside Mark let out a shaky breath.

“You know most creatures are more interested in reducing their own suffering, rather than that of others. Yet here you are offering to become a martyr”

The being was smiling now.

“Alright, should we test that conviction? I'll give you what you want if only to see for myself whether it's your pride or principles talking, but know I'm going to keep eye on you because I'm certain this will come back to bite me.”

He began working on his menu.

"Then why are you doing it?" Mark asked confused by the sudden change.

In an absolutely giddy voice, the being responded.

“Because I love playing the odds. Oh and also I’ll have to throw one of my rewards in to get you the spell, so you owe me.”

“Wait isn't this still against the rules? Am I going to lose the system?” Mark asked worriedly.

Gold light was starting to fill the space.

“There really is only one rule in war, defeat your opponent. I'll make sure you’re on an exemption list” his eyes never moving off his screens.

“Wait! I have more questions!” Mark could feel the light beginning to build up and he was pretty sure he be kicked out once it did.

“Well, sadly I’ve had my fill of hominids today, earn [First Rights] we’ll be able to talk more then, but you may want to find strong, trustworthy allies for that. Either way, good luck, and don't disappoint, I’m betting a lot on you.”

The golden glow was rebounding off the walls in space and it was becoming hard to see. The light was blinding, his eyes watered, and static buzzed in his ears.

“Honestly you are just like the other two, what's with this planet-”

The light became so blinding that even closing his eyes was of no help. His consciousness began to fade.

***

As if no time had passed Mark bolted up into a sitting position.

“Other two?” he whispered

It took him a moment to realize he was sitting on the floor of the gas station store room and everyone was there looking on with a range of expressions from concerned to expectant.

“So was that it? Did you find out anything?” Donny asked.

A blinking had appeared the moment he opened his eyes.

“Aaa, yeah how long was I out?”

“Bout ten minutes, so what happened?”

Mark began telling them about the Caretaker and what he’d learned of the system and why he thought it was here, he left out the part about the spell he might or might not have, as he wanted time to check before he got their hopes up.

“So, they think they are helping us?!” Grace was pissed.

Nodding Mark confirmed, “Yeah he called it a disease and us the immune system, But other than that I think that’s everything”

Grace seemed lost in thought as did everyone else. While they were digesting the new information.

Mark opened his status.

Admin[Caretaker - Michael] has blocked the spell [Drain Life]

Would you like to forego deferred reward in exchange for early lock release of [Draw Corruption] and [Corruption recovery]?

Accept / Decline.

Mark expected there to be more, so two little prompts were kind of a letdown. However, he quickly changed his mind when he saw the system was offering two spells.

Looking around everyone still seemed in their own head, so he got comfortable and picked ‘Accept’

Once again, he was disappointed. A small sharp pain for less than a second and a sudden swelling of his mind was all he felt while the information was imprinted on his brain. It was like learning the steps to a dance he never knew before. Blinking away vertigo he opened his full stat page.

Name: Mark Young (22 - M)

Level: 6

Next level: 30/36

Stats:

Resistance Aura Mana Prana

37 0 20 65

Unspent stat points - 0

Corruption value: 10.09%

Spells:

Passive Regeneration(Self)[1], Force bolt[3], Prana Pulse[1], Regenerate[1], Draw Corruption[1], Corruption recovery[1].

Prohibited Spell acquired: Draw Corruption

The user willingly takes on the Corruption of other beings or environments. Drawing out impurities and storing them in the user's body.

Spell acquired: Corruption recovery

Though constant exposure to Corruption the user has built up a tolerance to it.

Passive - Increase natural recovery from 0.01 - 0.50% Corruption value per 12 hours.

Active - Excite the user’s Prana to burn away Corruption at a rate of 1 Prana per 0.1% Corruption value

The strength of this spell is based on the user's Prana attribute

The first spell, while probably much more powerful, didn't really surprise. It looked like it did exactly what he thought it would, well except for the ability to draw it out of the environment.

It was the second spell that had Mark doing math. It looked like if he actively concentrated on [Corruption recovery] he could burn away 1% for a total of 10 Prana.

Mark hadn't thought to quantify his Prana regen until now because every time he healed the number was different. He suspected even two wounds that presented as the same would have varying costs, according to what tissue was damaged and in what way. The person's natural attributes and much more.

Working it out he realized a single point of Prana took a full five minutes to regenerate. Meaning if he could keep [Corruption recovery] active through his natural regeneration he would be able to reduce his Corruption value by one percent in just under an hour, But to do this he'd need to test things out thoroughly and that could take time.

Something they didn't have a lot of nowadays.