Magic sword in hand, I ventured into the depths of the Dungeon, farther than I had gone previously, straight to the third floor. Naturally, I had to chop through a couple of goblins and kobolds on the way there, but I have grown beyond being concerned about fighting them.
After all, even now they're easily one shot by my weapons. I just need to hit them all once, and its over. Still, once I'd cleared out a fair bit of space in the middle of a hallway, I focused on what I was planning on doing once I'd entered here- work on using my new spell.
Concentrating on the experience rattling in the back of my head from Magister Lord, glad it would finally prove to be a worthwhile purchase, I focused on the spell.
Error.
. . . Fuck. You. Mean. Error?
Missing prerequisite.
. . . . And you didn't think to tell me this sooner?
. . . No response. I inhaled deeply, and then exhaled. I idly noted my Villainous Aura was flaring like a goddamn bonfire. Which was fine with me, considering I'd hit that sweet spot of anger where I loop right back around to being completely composed.
A chuckle tumbled past my lips, and I smiled from the bottom of my heart. "I'm going to burn this place to the fucking ground."
The iron blade cleaved straight past the shoulder of the green-skinned midget, but I had already turned my attention back to the kobold whose eyesocket made for a surprisingly useful knife-holster. And when the fourth goblin- I had my foot stuck in the skull of the second, and my other dagger had ended up in the thirds throat as the corpse laid against the wall- charged me with another fucking lunge, I decided to let go of the dagger in the kobold, grab the fucker by his ugly bald head, and use his skull as a hammer to pound the knife into his friend's skull like a nail.
Harsh breaths heaved in and out of my chest, my face set in a perpetual glare as I looked for more monsters to use for some blade-based therapy, but found nothing except broken corpses. With a groan filled with repressed violence, I turned to the side and unceremoniously yanked out the dagger wedged into the skull of the kobold… I frowned as I realized I don't remember where I had left the other two bodies when I was found by the seven monsters.
Clicking my tongue with a silent curse, I stood up from my crouch and turned over-
An Adventurer was standing on one side of the hallway, in front of the dead goblin I'd left for dead. A spear was held in his grasp, pointed in my direction, and for a split second I wondered if there was a monster or something behind me.
Then I took a closer look at the guy. His armor seemed… clean, in a way I've only seen on display pieces in windows. The spear he was holding still held a certain shine to it, as if it had barely spilt any blood to dull the color of the metal.
And the man… he looked cocky, with a sneer on his face and a look in his eyes that made it clear he was looking down on me. Like I was something beneath him, a wretch to be used and cast aside.
And I suddenly understood exactly what this was, before he had even begun speaking. "Oh no, you can leave the bodies where they are. Keep the weapons in 'em, too." His cruel smile grew as I looked at him. "Hell, leave those pouches, and I'll let you walk out of here."
Ah, that's how he kept his weapons so clean. Take everything they have, weapons included, and leave them to fend for themselves on the way out.
My eyes hardened, and the 'easy-going' expression he had shifted as his brows furrowed in anger. "Now, now, let's not do anything you'll regret. I've been down to the seventh floor before, a fucker whose never even made it to the fourth isn't anything to me."
I scoffed. "Bitch, we both know you've never put anything in anyone in your entire life." His eyes widened at my audacity, before narrowing in rage, as diplomacy failed. Still, I continued speaking. "How am I supposed to be intimidated by someone who can't count- we are on the fourth floor dipshit. Honestly, I've had a pretty fucking shit day, so if you promise to get on your knees like your daddy taught you, I'm sure there's a nice cellmate who'll teach you how to use the feather between your legs."
With a wordless cry, the enraged Adventurer charged me with everything he had like a raging bull. Perfect.
Pushing the lingering animosity I felt to the surface, I charged the spearman as well, armed with a single dagger. At least until my one magic came into existence, and I let both my imagination and my cruelty flow like a raging tide.
Invisible curses rained onto the man like a storm. Curses of tripping, fragility, imbalance, confusion, cowardice, illness, misfortune, injury, blood loss, dismemberment, crippling, organ failure, and death all hit the man at once.
And when the much longer spear was about to reach me, I added a curse of inaccuracy, and then ducked under the telegraphed stab straight to my leather armor. My motion carried me between the bastards legs, and with a quick swipe my dagger cut through well-kept yet fragile armor as well as the Achilles tendon beneath it. Turning along with my attack, I rolled over and kicked myself towards the bastard who had fallen to his knees exactly like I had asked him to earlier.
Still, he had a bit of fight left in him, as he blindly stabbed the blunt end of the spear at me while I charged him which forced me to block with my dagger. Only, two mistakes sealed his fate. One, I was far faster than him so I could've attacked a second time.
And two, I was never truly unarmed.
My iron shortsword found itself back in my right hand mid-lunge, right before it's edge stabbed straight through the cursed armor and the equally cursed flesh beneath it. He had become so frail that my blade went straight out the other side of his armor with a splash of his blood, mixing amongst that of the monster's. Not that he wasn't one, considering how comfortable he was in his attempt to send me to my death.
Control - Van Horstmann's Speculum - Warhammer Fantasy: Imperial Colleges of Magic (200 points)
Roll Success! Purchased! 100 points remaining.
[Van Horstmann's Speculum] This little mirror was something a much younger Egrimm van Horstmann designed so as to aid the common soldier in times of war. When worn, it allows the wielder to swap their own fighting capabilities with those of the enemy reflected in it. Its power is limited by wards placed on it after the expulsion of Van Horstmann, but it will still be useful against even the likes of a Chaos Lord. Should you be a more proficient fighter than your enemy, you would be better off having an ally wield this.
Considering I was killing a man, I wasn't going to make the obvious speculum joke. Still, an item that's only worth a damn when fighting someone more skilled at combat, huh.
I took my hand off the blade in his stomach, relaxing slightly as I knew it was impossible to survive the blow, before snatching the fucking mirror that dropped above us. It was a small thing, obviously intended to be a necklace so as to keep the enemy in the reflection.
… Huh, at least it waited until… he was dead? Weird.
Still, it could have a use sometime, but not right now. I placed the item in my pocket, beside my singular potion, and summoned my blade back in my hand. Another splash of red poured out of the man, coating even more of the floor in his blood.
I took a shuddering breath, somehow knowing without a shadow of a doubt the man was dead. I placed my dagger back on my belt, and dismissed my sword before reaching out to the corpse, before pausing.
… Could I look Anubis in the eye after desecrating a dead man, no matter how horrendous he was in life? The scarab amulet, for an idle moment, seemed to beat against my chest. I blinked, reassured about my actions, and cut the pouch off his sides before swiftly looking through the contents.
I quickly snatched the five potions held within, as well as hefting the absurdly hefty bag of mana crystal. Fucker wouldn't have even been able to fit mine in there- that's why he wanted the pouch.
Ignoring the body that had finally slumped face first into his own blood, I picked up the only thing his body had on him that was worth a damn- the spear that he had planned on killing me with.
Gripping the thing and idly hefting its weight, I came to a sudden conclusion that… I was going to have to keep this thing, wasn't I? Seriously, I don't… didn't have enough money to be picky about free weapons. Even if just holding the thing pissed me off.
Sighing, I went along with carving open my other victims, but a thought rattled in my head. An idea.
I only have one usable spell, and the Celestial Grimoire refuses to give me anything I can use. But… just then, I'd beaten the guy with ease just by hitting a bunch of curses at him at once, turning metal and flesh into glass and paper. And… while I can't use Bombardment… I do know the basics of how it works. Including how to make it tracking…
A malicious smile carved its way onto my face, as I considered both the spell I could use, and the information the other things I had would give me.
It would be a weak, ugly thing. Something completely beyond what exists in this place. But… it would be mine, and it would give me a fucking shot.
Is it wrong to take a chance in the Dungeon? Yes.
Is it wrong to take a chance on myself? Well, I'll just have to figure it out the hard way.
Name: Selah
Race: Human (Variant)
Level: 1
Ability Scores:
STR: I - 35 - I - 70
END: I - 28 - I - 40
DEX: I - 37 - I - 71
AGI: I - 50 - I - 82
MAG: H - 145 - G - 234
Developmental Abilities:
Magic:
Skills:
Black Sheep - Increases the growth of stats in proportion to the risk being undertaken.
"Nice." I nodded to myself, impressed with my Magic stats wild increases. "Thanks for the update, Nubi." The Guide of the Dead was sitting right next to me on (our) her bed, leaning her head against my shoulder. She hummed, before her unwavering golden eyes sought my own.
"You killed someone today." I grimaced but nodded. "Did he hurt you?" She asked calmly, and my hindbrain suddenly started screaming about death and the end of all things. I ignored it.
"Nah, he… talked a lot of shit, but couldn't back any of it up." A large part of it was me hitting him with like a dozen debuffs, but whose keeping track anyway?
"You don't feel guilty." It wasn't a question, and I nodded. "You still feel bad. Tell me why, please."
"Why don't I feel guilty, or why I feel bad?" All I got in response was a stare and a tilt of the head. I huffed, before leaning back into the bed, a decadent layer of pillows cushioning me. The bed bounced as Anubis followed me down.
"I don't feel guilty because he was a murderer. He took lives for sheer convenience, for a quick buck, because he found robbing weaklings easier than going hunting himself. He was just a coward who wanted more than he had, without putting any effort into it, and took lives because of it."
Transformational - Cell Phone - Yuki Yuna is a Hero (Free)
Roll Success! Purchased! 100 points remaining.
[Cell Phone] This is a cool smartphone with all sorts of apps. But it's most important app, pre-installed, comes with a Hero App. This has a chat function that lets you talk to other people in your friend group and you even are represented by chibis. This Hero App will ding loudly with an alarm when the Vertex arrive (But you could also tell, because time stops when they approach Shikoku except for you and your friends). It even comes with some handy dandy informational material in the app, such as the history of and how to fight the Vertex. And if you want to transform, simply press the app to initiate the transformation. It can even tell you how many Vertex you're fighting and where they are.
A phone suddenly popped into existence above us, and I caught it before it slammed into my face.
Oh wow, a smartphone in a world with no internet or outlets… and also turns you into a magical girl…? But considering the time stop and teleportation to another reality, I'd bet my nuts it's one of those super depressing magical girl shows.
Also, even if I did have friends, this is the only phone in this universe. Hell, I don't even know if Vertex are a real thing to worry about!
Oh, but I can finally use my technopathy on this… in like five minutes.
"Anyway, what was I saying?" I got back on track, tossing the phone onto the floor, out of sight as I recalled what I was saying. "Right. But even though I don't feel guilty, I still feel bad. It's… hard to explain."
"I will listen." Her voice was firm and unyielding, like there was no possibility she wouldn't do as she said she would. It was extremely reassuring.
"I… don't want to be changed. Not that I'm against change itself, though." I said almost defensively, realizing I was talking too a being associated with the most drastic change of all. "Change is inevitable, it's good. But… I don't want to become something against my will, or act in a way I wouldn't usually do. Like with Loki and them yesterday. Sure, I could go belly up and mindlessly do as they said in the hopes of being left alone. But can you honestly say I would do that if I wasn't weaker than them?"
The sound of the blanket shifting told me she was shaking her head, and I continued. "It's like… I would throw away my pride if it meant protecting the people I love, without a doubt. And I do respect people who can say or do anything they need to so they make it to tomorrow. But if no one is in danger for my mouth except me, why would the difference in power stop me from doing whatever I'd do if we were equals. Am I making sense?"
"You dislike dishonesty and deception when it's done for something like pride or personal safety." I exhaled slightly at the description, which was accurate, but missing something. I rolled the sentence around in my mind, before the words snapped into place.
"Close. I hate feeling forced into doing things, like my actions are being decided for me. I'd toss aside my personal pride if something aside from me was on the line, but when it's just me, I'll say what I'll say. No more, no less." Freedom and free will are things I value above all else. If I am going to take action, I'll do it when I decide to do so.
Appealing to an enemy's ego isn't above me, and begging for my life is definitely on the table. But if I'm going to act like a fucking bitch, I'm going to do it because I decided to do so. Just like I'll insult someone if I feel like it. No one gets to choose for me.
Was insulting the head of one of the strongest Familia's in the city a dumbass decision? Yes, but by Anubis' heart-shaped ass it's my decision, and I will fucking stand by it.
"You insulted them for insulting me." I grimaced, having not said anything remotely similar to that and pointedly not saying any lies. "Selah, you are many things. Stingy, stoic, silent, stupid-"
"Don't you fucking insult me with alliteration."
"- but you are not subtle. Bastet and I give playful jabs all the time, and you don't start describing how undesirable barnyard animals would find us. Of course it was an insult to me that caused you to verbally lash out. I'd do the same if anyone other than Bastettie and I insulted you in front of me."
"... Did you just call her Bast-titty?"
"No, but I will from now on." She nodded resolutely, before continuing. "Still, you say you do not value your pride, but you do realize you are announcing that the only thing that would keep you from defending it is if the safety of others was on the line." I frowned at the very accurate statement my Goddess was making about my character, turning my head to look at the divinity laying beside me.
Her eyes were already staring into my by the time I'd finished turning, and she continued speaking, as if she were talking straight to my soul. "You are a prideful man. There is nothing wrong with that, so long as you remember there are things more important than the way you hold yourself. Now return to the topic."
"Ah, right." I said quickly, my mouth dry at the realizations I was having today. "I'm upset because, well, I don't want to be a killer. But I am now, the option of killing was forced into my life, and I took it."
I closed my eyes, and saw the thing that was at the core of both issues I was facing- the consequences of my actions. "There's a set of three spells I'll probably never get, and definitely never use, called the Unforgivable Curses. There's the Killing Curse, the Torture Curse, and the… Mind-Control Curse? I don't know.
"They're hateful, insidious things, and everytime you use one it gets easier to use. More tempting, until they're the only thing on your mind when something's in the way- death, torture, and turning someone into a living puppet. Half the reason I'd never use them is that I don't think I could stop- that killing and torturing would force its way into my life, and I'd just become a vessel for it."
200 points banked.
A flash of annoyance, mainly at being interrupted, came into existence before being summarily ignored. "That's my issue. Becoming someone who'd absently submit, kill, torture, just for convenience's sake? Sounds like ego death to me, because whoever did that, wouldn't be me. And I won't let anyone take that from me, no matter how strong."
Something in me settled as I finally put everything into words, like a sneeze that had finally come out. Because that's what I've been fighting for this entire time- the ability to tell anyone who seeks to change me to fuck off via arcane firepower (give or take).
I shifted on the bed, trying to get comfortable as I let out a relieved breath. "Thank you, Anubis." I spoke completely honestly, without reservation.
"Thank me by letting me sleep in."
"Hah, hell no. How about I just wake you up randomly in the night so you feel like you're getting an extra couple of hours?"
"I'll tell Bast you tried licking my ears in the shower."
"... Well if you're going to lie about it-"
"Raging pervert. Defiler of Goddesses. Claimer of Chastity. Aiieee." She said, voice flatter than Loki, and with a deadpan so intense in it placidity that I couldn't help but start fucking dying of laughter.
"Bast-titty, help, the mortal is courting death by lusting after swans meat." Tears came out of th corners of my eyes, as the utterly blank tone just made everything she said so fucking hilarious, I couldn't take it.
"P-please, stop, I c-can't take any-!"
"That's what she said." All composure was lost, as I finally rolled off the bed in my hysterics, the quiet giggles of a goddess drowned out as I completely gave in to how fucking hilarious my goddess is.
10/10, Bestia who? Loki what? Hephaestus where?
We don't talk about Freya… huh, I feel like I'm forgetting something.
Throwing my two daggers into the throats of a pair of goblins, I stared pointedly at the remaining monster as I mentally went over what I was changing for this experiment.
The little bastard was currently charging at me like the mindless ingrate he was, which was perfect for me as I dismissed my iron sword and put both of my hands together.
Remember Selah, put it all together in sync. The most important part of this is speed- the faster you can start the ritual, the easier it will be to pop this move.
Staring at the little bastard across from me, I inhaled sharply and forced the one spell I could rely on into existence.
Curse of Binding, Curse of Immobility, Curse of Silence, Curse of Exchange, Curse of Oaths, Curse of Continuation.
It took approximately five seconds for the initial curse to fully take effect- but considering the combination of Binding and Immobility being at the very beginning, it only took a single second for everything in range to stop moving. Not particularly useful for high-ranked Adventurers who'd gun straight for me, but considering sensing mana isn't exactly widespread, most people will see me as dropping my weapons and surrendering.
Alright, the Initiation step is complete. Now step two…
Curse Mimicry: Revealing One's Hand.
Forcing the Ritual into existence.
"The spell I am about to use is…" Brainfog immediately kicked in as I forgot my fucking lines, causing the entire spell to fucking shatter.
A massive chunk of Mind was immediately lost, as the makeshift Ritual shattered due to my failure to complete my portion. My vision swam, and I could barely make out the green blob rushing at me with the frantic glee of a rabid dog finally slipping its chain.
A firm backhand sent the fucker into the wall, where his skull burst open like an overripe watermelon. I clicked my tongue, shaking the monster's blood off my hand, idly wondering if I should bother wiping the blood off the arm guard I had purchased just two days ago.
Ignoring that, I resummoned my blade and got to the work of cutting out the now-discounted mana crystal in the fucker's chest, mentally rebuking myself for always finding a new way to fuck up the spell.
Ever since I'd killed that Adventurer three days ago, I'd been less focused on grinding money and instead working on the spell I'd been trying to (re)create.
It was tough going, since the magic I was using was only vaguely related to the technique I was going to make, aside from the name of course. But, thankfully, I had gotten a massive brain-blast after I'd three-shot that spearman the other day.
I'd never cut through something as easily as I did that guy, at that point at least. But ever since I went to the Hostess of Fertility, my mana capacity has increased 10, 20 times over. Because of that, I almost immediately hit the guy with every curse I could come up with, only to discover that the debuffs stack in effectiveness.
So, naturally, the knowledge in the back of my head that came from Magister Lord suddenly started shoving ideas into my head that I needed to begin testing out. And that had been what I'd been doing for the past three days- heading to the dungeon, and experimenting with my magic whenever there was only one monster remaining.
Which was a lot rarer, as it seems they're getting more aggressive, and I'm getting far better at killing them. Hell, I'd even tried dipping my toes into level five once or twice- killing a War Shadow or two- only to dip whenever I so much as saw a Killer Ant, knowing for a fact I wouldn't be able to kill it before it sent out the 'Fucking Jump Him' juices and his siblings came to back his bitch-ass up.
Pussy ass monsters calling for backup mid fight.
300 points banked.
Instinctive rage flared up so badly, even I was shocked, like all the power in the world just slipped through my fingers.
Eh, I'm sure my subconscious can bitch about it for me.
Back to what I've been doing, the realization that my curses can interconnect to create wildly different effects than I could do before is the entire basis of the technique, in a way that was… familiar in a way I truly didn't expect.
Way back in the day, I made an… original fantasy story on Wattpad. I know I know, I deserve to rot in the deepest pit of hell, I agree.
But ignoring the piles of horseshit that made up that entire thing… which I could probably improve on- no, focus, magic time.
The magic system in that setting was inspired by Magi, mainly due to the fact that mana itself was something you had to actively communicate with. I vividly remember writing lines of dialogue that was just the main character ordering the mana around him to do as he said.
Gather, surround, imbue, ignite, cast.
It paralleled perfectly with how I'm trying to utilize my curses, enough that it gave me flashbacks to cringy/edgy plotlines and dialogue that I had thought I'd repressed. Like the time I named a character after a lyric I heard in a rock song-
Nope, enough of that. Back to magic.
The relation between the two mediums is most likely because of the emotion and intent-based nature of my curses being easily molded by a similar-enough system of magic I fucking invented. Because of this, it was far easier to make the connection between the meanings of every curse, allowing them to link together into a more powerful and effective whole.
At least, that's what Magister Lord was telling me.
Because of this, I've been spending the past three days working on getting the entire spell to work.
I say entire, because in actuality the initial ritual to create the space and keep people from gunning for me while I chant is the hardest part of all this. I lack the ability to replicate one of the most essential pieces of the original technique, so while it has become less effective, it is much easier to make. And even without it, I can still replicate one of its more overpowered aspects by mimicking the piece I lack.
The only issue is the prep-time required, because without the starting ritual, you're looking at a full minute's worth of charging and chanting. And fights that could last longer than a minute, are fights I want nothing to do with.
And with the starting ritual I can use the bargain-bin version of Revealing One's Hand to both power up the technique and cut the Mind Costs. Though some weird thing in my chest starts thumping whenever I try popping my D-
As I walked into one of the many stone rooms that fill the Dungeon, I ran into another two Adventurers. One who looks more Asian than most humans, who was wearing dark clothes and wielded a curved sword, and the other made me narrow my eyes at them.
It looked like a child, wearing what looked like a brown and red curtain like a coat, and carrying a giant fuck-off green bag that was way bigger than she was. I felt like I recognized her-
Oh. Right. Her. Soma Familia. Super booze that mind breaks people on the first sip. And…
My eyes turned over to the other guy, who I'm like 80% sure tries to kill her later on.
… What the fuck do I do? Uh, when does Lily meet Bell again? Uh… well, it has to be after Monsterphilia, which is like three days from now, since Anubis and Bast went to the banquet and won't be back 'till tonight.
… Did the guy try to kill her? I… I'm definitely sure Lily's trifling ass didn't get almost killed for no reason-
It came back to me. Lily parties up with Bell, steals the Hestia Knife (Shit name), robs and leaves him to die, gets caught by the Not-Japanese man, and gets saved by Bell because tiddy.
Either way, I know these two are on some bullshit, getting Adventurers killed for a fucking sip of Soma's wine. I grimaced as I remembered that almost every member of Soma was going through literal divine withdrawals, having been addicted for life at a single sip.
Lily was able to resist it, because she was thirstier for Bell than God booze.
But all that shit is irrelevant, because two killers are right in front of me.
My hands twitched at my sides, the thought of killing them both racing up my spine. It was quickly followed by a surge of loathing at letting that bastard get to me. And that thought was again followed by the question of if my resistance isn't just a hard reversal of the same control killing has over me, which is still letting it dictate my actions.
I tossed out the entire thought-process, wishing I hadn't taken that Psychology class because it was really biting me in the ass right now. So, I used my secret technique for all the decisions in my life.
I took a deep breath.
What are my options?
Killing them, or walking away.
What do you gain?
… practice with my new spell/death, or nothing.
What do you lose?
My good conscience and the ability to pretend I'm not a raging hypocrite who will betray his morals in a heartbeat, or nothing.
I nodded to myself, and in the middle of the tense atmosphere between the three of us- why are they looking so threatened… I'm still covered in blood- I spoke up.
"Yo, which way back up top? I'm calling it for the day." A lie mixed with implication. I am not done for the day, but it implies a level of exhaustion or weakness that the effects of using so much Mind at once lately is letting me fake. It's also a trap- of fucking course I know which way to head home, so if they send me the wrong way, I know they're pulling something.
Surprisingly, he told me the right direction, and we all wordlessly walked past each other. Those two going deeper into the dungeon, and myself 'leaving' for a higher floor.
But something told me that this wasn't going to be the last time I saw the pair of them.
400 points banked.
A part of me screamed out into the void at the denial of what could have been, but the rest of me just continued on, knowing I have a good few hours of practice I could fit in before meeting up with my Goddesses.
…Note to self, never let Bast know you thought that.
A/N: Welp, this update is done. I'm probably going to be doing some house-cleaning with the rules and perks, maybe add an interlude between this and the next. Also character pictures.
…Might just give the SI some points for the thousands of words in the interlude, just because he needs the fucking help.
Oh, also hope everyone's cool with SI making new spells with the absolute horseshit he already has available.
And for the everyone who already knows exactly what he's cooking up… I'm not apologizing.
Anyway, time for the subconscious Gacha Salt. And for those who don't care, see you next time. Peace.
[Heretical Beauty] It seems that they really don't make them like they used to. Aside from just raw physical beauty, there's just something... mystical about you. There's an unearthly air about you that makes you seem that much more beautiful. Because of this, any non-human features seem that much more attractive, while also seeming to dampen the negative reactions that people might have to those kinds of features.
SI: I'm not upset about this because it's a lot of points just to satisfy my ego. Also literally everyone would notice this. But goddamn I wouldn't have complained if I got it.
[Hakutaku's Gift] You may affect memories on an extremely wide scale, concealing the truth by planting your own false information. However, this power can only extend back in history for so long, unable to alter any memories past a certain date. Creating vivid and believable memories are also quite difficult, as you would discover. Once every full moon however, you may change one specific historical event in the recent past to another of choice, changing the course of history from that point onwards, reflecting into the present time. This however, cannot ever stop a life getting taken away, or take a life as a result of your changes in history.
SI:... What in the Reality Stone is this shit? Straight up reality manipulation, with a side of mind control?! Who the fuck- why are you- I'm so fucking done right now.
[ Barrel Replica] A copy of the greatest weapon in the armory of the Alchemists of Atlas. Its Progenitor is a conceptual weapon, composed of the mysterious Fifth True Theoretical Element,that will one day be wielded by a normal human to slay the Ultimate One of Venus in a single shot. While this is not that terrible weapon, the Barrel Replica is still a thing to be feared. It Enforces the idea of mortality on your foes by putting out a 'toxin' which has attack power in proportion to that being's natural lifespan. Truly immortal beings will not be slain by this,though most will find it painful enough that their abilities and form may be stunted considerably with enough damage. As a rule, if it doesn't need a body to survive this weapon can't kill them. The wounds it inflicts will heal at the pace of a normal human being regardless of how fast it would normally heal. At its highest output you will need to anchor the weapon,else it will simply blow its way out of your hands and through whatever is behind it. You may use it in its current form as a pistol, have it reforged into a weapon of your choice, incorporate it into a weapon from a previous jump.
SI: Bro, I had some Nasuverse bullshit in my fucking hands, but my soul is too broke to afford it. Give me the God-Slaying pistol. Please. It'd be so fucking good. I'm literally begging.