Epsilon walked through the cold metal corridors of the Last Hope space station. He made his way to the command room and sat down in an uncomfortable chair that had seen better days. A bright computer screen flashed to life in front of him, and he sighed as he read the message.
“Still no signal, huh?” a woman asked, walking up behind him.
Epsilon turned with a smile as he watched his lovely wife Maria move into the command room. “Still nothing.”
She nodded. “They should have been here months ago. Do you think they might have abandoned us?”
Epsilon sighed. He knew there was a strong possibility she was right, but there was no way he could just give up. Their station, which housed 200, had been stuck floating above the surface of some backwater planet for nearly 3 months, waiting for a resupply ship that had never come. If it weren’t for the recycling systems built into the station, they probably would have all been dead a long time ago, but they would not last much longer.
“Message received.”
Epsilon snapped his attention back to the console and rubbed his eyes. He half expected the message to be some kind of hallucination, but when his vision faded back to normal, his heart sped up. There it was, real as could be. A new message. He turned to his wife with a grin.
She turned to him, wide-eyed. “Well, what are you waiting for? Open it.”
Epsilon nodded and opened the notification with bated breath. His eyebrows furrowed as it opened, displaying only two words of text. “I’m sorry,” he muttered, reading the words aloud.
A flash of blue light filled his vision as a portal opened, and a man stepped through.
Epsilon scrambled out of his chair. “W-what the hell?” he shouted, grabbing his wife’s hand and pulling her further away from the strange man.
He was dressed in a strange garb that looked almost like a space suit, but it was far too form-fitting and had metal plating throughout its construction. His right arm was left completely uncovered, and it seemed to be constructed of some strange blue energy. His right hand was also left open, and it had an advanced mechanical prosthetic where it should have been.
“Who the hell are you, and what do you want?” Epsilon asked, backing further away.
The figure did not respond, simply raising his right hand as crackling energy began to jump from it.
“Wait!--”
Ray stepped back through a portal and into the castle courtyard in Pomises Echo. His helmet peeled back, and he doubled over, puking onto the grass.
“Did you get the information?” Zenith asked, walking toward him.
Ray nodded, painting, and held out a small metal drive. “What the hell did you want with this, anyway?”
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“Not important,” she said, grabbing the drive. “Now, why don’t you go and get some rest. I have another job for you tomorrow.”
“How is Erith?”
Zenith sighed. “Like I told you yesterday and the day before, she is recovering, but it will take some time before she regains consciousness.”
“Yeah,” Ray said, frowning, and walked toward the castle.
“Just keep doing the jobs I give you, and she should be awake in the next month or two.”
Ray sighed. Almost nine months had passed since he had ascended, and Erith still had not shown any signs of waking up. On top of that, Zenith now had him going around like a loyal war hound, causing havoc wherever she deemed deserved it. He was sickened by the things he had to do in her name. If he hadn’t had Nevala and her son Shin, whom he had been helping take care of, he might have gone insane.
Ray walked up the staircase back toward his room.
“You know they would have starved to death if you didn’t.” A high-pitched, almost childlike voice said in his mind.
“I know H.B., but if it wasn't for us, they wouldn’t have been in that position.”
Zenith had had him assaulting what she called space vehicles that were traveling between planets for a while, but wouldn’t tell him what she was after.
“Is it wrong to kill one to save another that you love?”
Ray sighed. He wanted to say no, to be okay with what he had done to see Erith again, but he knew it wasn’t right. He knew she likely wouldn’t approve, but he had made his decision, and there was no going back.
He pulled open the door to his room and entered. The area looked like a tornado had swept through, with all the mechanical parts and projects strewn across it. He sighed, took a seat on the bed, and opened his status menu.
Status
Name: Ray Starforger
Level: 11
Ascension: 1
Class: Reality Shaper (Ancient)
Mana D: 5700/5700
Stamina E: 1010/1010
Stats
Strength E: 28
Endurance E: 101
Dexterity E: 386
Intelligence D: 910
Wisdom D: 570
Available Points: 0
Multipliers
Strength 0.5
Endurance 0.5
Dexterity 2
Intelligence 3
Wisdom 2
Skills
Draconic Insight, Weapon Bond, Dual-wielding Mastery, Upgrade Material, Disassemble, Power Shot, Crafters Resilience level 1, Gluttony Mastery, Obsession Over Output, Greater Spark Connection, Entropy
Titles
[System-Appointed Artisan], [Low-Grade Stats Collector], [First Threshold 1], [Blessing of the Scale Mother], [Underdog], [Artifact Grade Craftsman], [Horde slayer 1], [E Grade mage], [Awakened], [Famished], [Transcendence], [High-Grade Stats Collector]
He let out a long sigh. He knew levels came much slower after an ascension, but 11 levels in nine months after the speed he had before felt awful. Its because Zenith only sends me after people much weaker than me. Making the only real progress I have gotten for crafting. He though with anger filling his mind. The least she could do is sent him on a mission that wasn’t just a massacre but he doubted that would ever happened.
He pushed the thoughts from his mind clapped his hands to his cheeks then pushed himself out of bed. No use dwelling on it when there is work to do. He reminded himself. He walked over to a messy table that contained a metallic plate made of interlocking mechanisms.
“Is it almost ready?” Horde Breaker asked.
“Yes, just a bit more and it should be done,” Ray responded, examining the blueprint stuck under the mess of scattered parts.
“Good. The hand you let me use is nice, but I'll be glad to have something large enough to cast and assist you with again.”
Ray smiled and picked up the next parts he needed. “Me too.”
Piece after piece came together, creating a plate of back armor with built-in mechanisms that Horde Breaker could use to transform once it was complete. He spent hours weaving the final part together with mana and metal until finally it was finished.
You have successfully created a new item.
Please enter a name for your creation.
“Hope.”
Hope: A back plate forged with the goal of allowing a greater spark to manipulate and transform it with ease
Grade: Epic
Durability: 100/100
Attributes
Skill required for use - Greater Spark Connection
Greater auto repair
Lightning affinity
Void affinity
Transfigurable
Should I do a rewrite?
