Tyrants of Earth - The Legend of Artigan

Heated arguments have started between Juniper the Fair Hearted and Sideark’s fans. Ignited by a side-comment by Juniper criticizing Sideark keeping the operation to himself.

“I didn’t keep the operation to myself! It was a sudden emergency mission and I got the best rookies that were nearby.”

- Sideark

–

When the first spell circle came off, the mana orb started bubbling. Ryan had to spend an hour just trying to get it to calm down again. This wasn’t a process he was familiar with at all. Adventurer [Mages] that paused in their ascent to study at the Institute of Magic generally formed their cores using their own magic. In those cases, realm evolution was completed in seconds. Even Realmers generally took minutes at most for their realm evolution.

It took thirty minutes before he got it under control from releasing one of Rick’s stability spells. It didn’t look like the job was going to get any easier from there too. He could feel it wanting to bubble under the stability spells.

This wasn’t going to work.

“It would be easier if you lowered your aura barriers.”

“And have you blow me up? No thanks.”

Rick clicked his tongue in annoyance. “So little trust. I gave you my word.”

“You gave me your word that you wouldn’t cause disasters in The Realm. Not that you would help me.”

That seemed to genuinely surprise Rick. “I guess I did, didn’t I?” Then the [Mage] shrugged. “I truly am trying to help in good faith.”

Ryan understood that Rick wasn’t one of those [Mages] that played mindgames with everything. He also understood that Rick was someone that did as he pleased. There was zero chance Ryan was going to let his guard down around someone like him.

When Rick saw that Ryan wouldn’t trust him for a second he simply sighed. “I should have noticed it sooner, your looks, the promise you made me make. You’re the spitting image of the Witch Pioneer when she was younger.”

Rick was talking about how the Artigan mask looked like in the illusion. That wasn’t Ryan’s fault but Rick didn’t know that. The Witch Tyrant definitely had a preference and she had put on an illusion that suited her tastes.

“The real question is…” Rick continued. “What has she done to make you so opposed to her?”

“None of your business.”

There was zero reason to give Rick any information that could be used against him. He’d already shown his cards when he told Rick his bottom line.

They stayed like that for another minute. Ryan was trying to regain the mental energy to push again to stabilize his core. He really wished he had a better understanding of what he was doing exactly. This was nothing like his arm evolution at all. Back then it was like crafting an entire arm to use the fuel his Epic provided. There had been methodology, time and practice.

This was more like… being thrown into the deep end while he tried to keep a ball of clay in shape. A ball of clay that really, really wanted to explode.

Something was wrong. He could feel it.

“Why are mana cores mostly spheres anyway?”

“To not even understand the basics.” Rick shook his head. “Excess mana likes to converge into a single point. We [Mages] make it into a sphere because it’s the most natural shape that it wants to be.”

“If I remember correctly, monsters don’t always have spherical mana cores. Actually even some adventurers don’t have it.”

Rick looked down on that idea. “A spherical core churns the mana the most uniformly. It provides [Mages] the best platform to begin their spells.”

Yet the Trial System could and would give non spherical mana cores to certain adventurers. Mostly for people that were attempting to specialize in multiple disciplines. Now he was getting the feeling he was on the right track. He was still swimming in the deep end but it felt like he had a clearer direction.

“Yeah, but I’m not a [Mage]...” Ryan trailed off. “Hey Rick, you said that the best way to form a mana core was to use concepts right?”

–

Ryan had a rough idea of what he was doing. It was like how his right arm had settled when he refused to compromise or make things easier… it suited the idea of a Tyrant. But at that time his arm came first, then the class. What if you could do it the other way round?

So… what suited his magical capabilities? What concept was waiting for him that he knew already stuck out?

All of his focus was placed on the surrounding magical stability matrix of the volatile core. The one that was keeping his core from blowing up.

Ryan stopped trying to rein in his mana core, letting it bubble and spike outwards. Hitting one of the spell circles and shaking it entirely.

One-Eyed Rick didn’t do something silly like ask if he was sane or had lost his mind. This was something he must have been curious about too. Nobody, even at dragonslayer, let concepts guide their realm evolutions. It had been thrown as an idea to bait Ryan into thinking Rick had some mystical secrets that nobody knew about. Though it turned out there had been some truth to the lie.

Ryan came to the same conclusion.

The Trial System was a perfect evolution because it prioritized using concepts first. It was so obvious now that Ryan thought about it. There was a reason why you would meet with the Manager and pick your classes first. Then your body was enhanced later. It was the same for the fifth realm evolution too. You would meet with the Manager, pick a class first.

The Trial System would form your body and circulation system based around the concepts of the classes.

So why didn’t he do it here?

Ryan let the concepts guide him, the concepts that he knew were there. They had been building up all this time waiting to be let out.

Ruination of plans, rebellion, explosions and the holder of dangerous secrets.

Ryan didn’t understand where the last one had come from, yet it felt right. The core started rumbling as they stood there, as Ryan let these concepts settle around him. It started to break down Rick’s spell circles even faster, the concepts that were being infused into it were anathema to anything trying to contain it.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

It questioned, it delved, it rebelled at being bound down.

He could move around concepts that he didn’t have the class for.

Ryan grinned at Rick, who was completely entranced by what he was doing. The [Seeker of Magic] looked up at him in confusion.

Then in a fit of madness—Ryan pulled his arm back into the tunnel.

For a second, the stability circles stayed, confirming that the Witch Tyrant had been instigating her ban on Rick leaving the place herself. His spells then shattered entirely all at once–and with it came the explosion.

Ryan’s shoulder exploded outwards, unable to explode uniformly because of the barrier of aura. Chunks of his muscles exploded out and splattering the walls and Rick’s face. He grinned as Ryan focused only on the concepts, trying to rein them in.

Make it become his.

The world does not always have to be this way. It wasn’t always, actually. Why can’t we be better?

I rebel against the world because I seek for something better. Because it’s wrong to make such a good person do such horrible deeds. If this is the natural state of the world, then I will change it. If it is the natural state of the Trial System, then I will blow it up. If the Manager was the one that has been pushing for this, then I will find a way to kill him.

I will find the truth, and if need be, I will burn it all down.

But the first step is to stop the Witch Tyrant. I need something to counter her.

The concepts settled around him, the uncontrolled mass now having direction. No, it was less direction and more that Ryan truly embodied what they were.

A class.

The orb of mana started to take shape, following the lines of the concepts that were dancing around him. His deeds and determination were guiding the way. It started to shrink, though it did not keep to a spherical shape. Spikes were scattered around the surface, like it was the end of a spiky wrecking ball. Light blue sparks flickered in and out around the tips of the spikes.

Sometimes a spike would shrink, sometimes one would form and shoot a bolt of light blue mana outwards.

Designed to break things down. Refusing to be contained in a singular shape.

The rest of his arm started to form in front of his very eyes, a chunk of flesh that was being crafted by a layer of volatile mana itself.

It was like it was completing itself, his light blue mana traveled down his arm, following the pathways he had built for it, changing it in small areas but remaining largely the same. He felt it, he clenched his left fist.