Godslayer Lysette: Chapter 200

Chapter 200: Avatar

For two days, Lysette sat motionless in the cave.  Between its natural seclusion far away from any other Cultivators and the wealth of Essence that had filled the caverns following Karchek’s death, it was a veritable smorgasbord of dense fog ripe for absorption.  And Lysette drank fully of the opportunity, letting it coalesce within her but not yet binding it to her Spark.

Finally, on the third day, as the rate of absorption dwindled down to more normal levels, Lysette began the Cultivation process in earnest.  Karchek had explained that, though similar principles governed both demonic and divine powers, they were also antipodal.  Divine powers involved building one’s Cultivation realm upward, reaching toward the sky, toward the Celestial.  But Demonic powers required building it downward, descending toward the Infernal.

It was so obvious in retrospect why her previous attempts at harnessing her abilities in this manner had failed.  All of her other techniques were divine in nature, growing new branches upward and outward.  But to enhance her demonic powers, she needed to expand her Tree’s roots downward, spiraling into the abyss.

She hesitated for a brief moment and diverted her attention outward.  “Karchek, this isn’t going to drastically change my personality, is it?”

“Cold feet now?  After your bold speech just days ago?”

“If I do this and go mad with power and end up sealed away in here or wherever else, I can’t well get revenge against all those assholes up in the Celestial realm.”

Karchek chuckled.  “Power doesn’t make people mad.  It only reveals what was already there.  Allows it to flow uninhibited, without regard for the whims of others.”

“I see.  What did you want back before all this?”

“Why do you care?  It’s not like it matters what I want.  I’m dead, remember?  You and your partner made sure of that.”

“Because I want to understand where you came from.”  Lysette held out the locket serving as the vessel for his lingering will.  “It’s clear that you two really, truly loved each other, way back then.  Even if neither one of you could admit it.  I just–”  Lysette paused.  “If I understand what drove you two apart, maybe it would give me some insight into how not to make those same mistakes with my partner.”

“As I said, I don’t have any regrets about my actions.  We needed to get stronger to defend ourselves, to live our lives without needing to worry.  And I don’t regret being proactive about my decision to end those sniveling worms before they started making merry while slaughtering our countrymen.

“But, if I do have a regret, it’s that I should have done more to talk with Saffies before I did so.  Tried a little harder to explain my reasoning.  Maybe I could have waited a bit longer, gathered more evidence, spent more time talking with Saffron, working to convince her of my actions’ necessity, rather than just acting out of convenience or enjoyment.”

“Sounds anathematic to your Hedonism.”

“Not wrong.  But love, passionate ecstasy, sharing in the pleasures of the flesh with someone you’re physically compatible with?  A divine being who never tires, with whom you can remain uninhibited for days or even weeks at a time if nothing gets in the way?  That strikes at the heart of my Domain.”

Lysette stared blankly.  “Anyway, I’m going to get started.”

Karchek’s smirk faded away as Lysette turned her attention back inward and began the process of Cultivation.  A new root sprouted, burrowing through the void surface of her Cultivation realm toward a font of pure black.  It grew darker as it descended toward the infinite abyss beneath her, but she paid it no mind.  It was ultimately her and how she used that power that determined whether it was good or evil.  That was what Karchek had said and, despite their dissonant Domains, Lysette agreed with his assessment.

It took a surprising amount of Essence for the limited progress she had made.  Even with Essence equal to two months of passive Cultivation in the outside world, her technique was not nearly as powerful as she’d hoped.  She continued for a bit longer, enhancing the technique and working to accelerate the speed at which she could drain a person’s Essence.

And again, she had to agree on some level with Karchek’s assessment.  Considering the incredible amount of Essence she’d expended, and all for a facsimile of a technique she already possessed.  But she wanted to avoid killing.  Even if it was an impossible and selfish, egotistical desire with no purpose but to assuage her conscience, she resolved to try to fight while taking as few lives as possible.

She continued for another two hours, refining her technique further and ensuring that it worked the way she wanted.  Although she could have pushed the technique further with additional infusions of Essence, she stopped when she had expended just over two-thirds of her reserves gathered over the previous two days.  Karchek had asked her to hold some back for a purpose he refused to mention.

Having expended what Essence she could, she stood up and triggered a new impulse within her.  She reached out with her hand toward nothing in particular, and about a dozen needle-fine syringes, invisible to all but herself and someone with extrasensory sight extended out of her right palm.  She did the same with the left, and then with a few other parts of her body.  It was, however, noticeably more difficult to do so through any part of the body other than the palm and fingertips.

Lysette turned to Karchek’s specter, now satisfied.  “So, what did you want me to do now?”

“We’re going to free you from a pesky limitation that’s still holding back your potential.  Not to mention the whole reason why you’re not back looking after your little pets back in that pitiable little town you call a home.”

Lysette bit her tongue on the urge to tell Karchek off.  “You mean–”

“Yes, I mean it’s time you learned how to create an avatar for yourself so you can start being in multiple places at once.”

“Right.  I know I need a vessel, and then I need to infuse it with Essence and a strand of my consciousness, and then I effectively pilot it remotely.  But I don’t really know how to do that, or where to find a suitable vessel.”

“Convenient that there’s one right over there.”  Karchek’s spectral will pointed at his corpse.

“You’re not going to haunt me for…”  Lysette cut herself off.

“What?  It’s not like I’ve got any use for a body, being dead and all.”

“So, what do I do?”

“Just as you said.  It’s not dissimilar from Creating artifacts, only you’ll be imparting quite a bit more Essence, and a portion of your mind as well.”

“How do I do that?”

“Couldn’t tell you for sure.  For me it’s just a little impulse that I have when I’m imparting my will into the vessel I plan to use as a new avatar.”

“So, I lose access to at least one of my consciousnesses and however much Essence I bind into the vessel.  Any other drawbacks or concerns I should be aware of?”

Karchek smiled.  “Glad to hear you’re asking questions rather than just diving right in.  The good news is that you can release your avatar at any time.  If your vessel is in danger of being damaged or destroyed, you can simply will away your connection with it and return your consciousness back to your main body.  I would highly recommend you do so if your body is about to die; the effects of death on the psyche are–”

Lysette raised an eyebrow.

Karchek coughed.  “Moving on.  Obviously, the Essence you bind into your vessel is unavailable to your main body, or any other avatars you might create.  And since your main body will almost certainly be much, much stronger than your avatar, you might overestimate your avatar’s battle capabilities and end up getting it destroyed.  Worst of all, that Essence is permanently gone in the event you disconnect from your avatar or it gets destroyed.”

“So is there a way to return that Essence back to my main body?”  Lysette felt a bit weird about adding the word ‘main’ in the sentence.

“The same way you can Deconstruct any other artifact.  Of course, you get at most ninety percent of the Essence you expend, as I’m sure even you know.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Karchek rolled his eyes.  “It means that for all your strength and ambitions, you’re still green and have a long journey still ahead of you.”

“Anything else I should know?”

“Your avatar will have access to all of your techniques, but not those derived from artifacts. Obviously, with a far lower Essence coefficient, its stamina, speed, strength, and other combat parameters will be commensurately lower than your own.  And I wouldn’t create more than one or two, at least not until you have more than a dozen or so different independent cognitive partitions running.”

“Do I gain access to the sensory and other information of the avatar?”

“You do.  Technically it travels between your avatar and your body at the speed of causality, so if your avatar is on the other side of Kraciell, or worse, one of the other continents, you might suffer a delay of a few thousandths to maybe a hundredth of a second.  Not usually relevant, but in the midst of split-second analysis of sensory information or response, it can matter.”

“Good to know.  Then, I guess I’ll begin.”

Lysette placed her hand on Karchek’s body and began to pour her Essence into the form.  As she did, the lingering wounds began to suture closed.  Warmth and color returned to the pale corpse, and after about ten minutes of work, the body spasmed and drew breath.

The sensation made Lysette shudder as well.  The sensations of Karchek’s body healing itself filled Lysette’s mind, and as the new avatar opened its eyes, Lysette groaned from the discomfort of seeing herself from outside her body.

She moved Karchek’s arms about, looking at his palm through his eyes.  She twisted his hand about, then rolled his neck and shoulders together.  Finally confident with her ability to manipulate his body as her own, she stood up and looked around through his eyes once more.

She tested the physical parameters of her avatar, punching the air, then kicking at the ground with enough force to bore half a foot through the floor.  Chunks of rock and earth flew in various directions.  And in the confusion of not being acclimated to coordinating sensory perception between her aurasight, her eyes, and Karchek’s eyes, Lysette got nicked in the arm.  The wound quickly healed, but the frustration with being so careless was palpable.

 The sensation was odd.  In some ways, moving Karchek’s body was no different from moving her own.  Though he was taller, considerably bulkier and more muscular.  And far, far more male, as his body reminded her in the most uncomfortable way possible.  Yet another thing to get used to as she turned back to Karchek’s spectral will.

“So what happens now?” Lysette asked.  “Are you coming along with me?”

Karchek smiled.  “No.  I lost, which means I wasn’t strong enough to shape the future of this world.  Even though my lingering will remains tethered to this world within the locket, being trapped within it is just the same as the last five hundred years of my life.  A prison, devoid of any enjoyment.  I’d like you to Deconstruct the locket and dissolve my will.  Finally allow me to sleep again.  For all eternity.”

“If–  If that’s what you really want.”  She clasped the locket and began to crush it within her palm, absorbing the Essence bit by bit with her new technique, which she named Essence Siphon.

“Go, Lyse.  Show Aimarion the true might of demonkind.  Show the gods why they were right to fear us, to give us such a name.  End their tyranny once and for all, and deliver unto the world a new future for yourself and humanity alike.”

As his form faded away, Lysette nodded.  Her eyes narrowed and her fist clenched as she turned back toward the cave entrance with both bodies.  “I will.”

Chapter 199: https://www.patreon.com/posts/111625036

Table of Contents: https://www.patreon.com/posts/table-of-101896170

Chapter 201: https://www.patreon.com/posts/111625039