He Who Fights with Monsters 11

2

The various transformation zones settled into their final form. Jason pushed himself into the territory he had shaped for himself. It had taken the form of his hometown, the sleepy tourist destination of Casselton Beach, with one major change. There was a mountain behind the town that did not exist on Earth and had been carved into the shape of Jason’s head. He manifested inside the reality, high in the air. His cloak formed around him, although it was his aura he used to hold himself aloft.

· This area of the local physical reality has been in a state of dimensional flux and has been isolated by [Nascent ??? Intervention]. The influence of a broken astral space on the area has prevented the natural resolution of the transformation zone. This special transformation zone must be unified to restore stability, reintegrate it with physical reality and re-establish an astral space.

· The transformation zone can be unified by claiming all non-central territories.

· Territories can be claimed by eliminating a final anomaly that will appear in each territory when all other anomalies are eliminated. If multiple people are present in a territory when the conditions for claiming it are met, it must be ceded to one individual through conflict or forfeit.

· Claiming additional territories after the first will unify them with already claimed territories.

· The central territory cannot be claimed until all other territories are unified. The central territory is in an incomplete state. The final state of the central territory shall be defined when it is unified with the other territories.

· Final unification requires the ability to reshape the transformation zone to reintegrate it with physical reality. Final reunification without this ability will cause a dimensional rupture as the transformation zone attempts to reintegrate with physical reality.

· Some inhabitants of the transformation surge have been affected by elements isolated in the central territory and cannot effectively function without replacing that influence. Those inhabitants have been placed into stasis in the territories in which they arrived. They will be imparted with the influence of whomsoever claims the territories in which they are held. The inhabitants in stasis may or may not survive this process, depending on the nature of the influence.

· The influence of the [Nascent ??? Intervention] on the special transformation zone has established an interface available to all inhabitants.

Jason read over the system box, although some of this information was already imparted by his senses. He could feel his influence finalising his control over the territory below. His efforts had created it without anomalies, thus making it his own. He could feel the last vestiges of his influence still taking hold and he looked over the terrain while he waited for the power to settle.

Below him was the town, the small mountain behind it not much more than a very large hill. Even so, having a mountain fortress in the shape of his own head ticked one of the big-ticket items off his bucket list. He looked at it proudly as his familiars manifested around him. Shade emerged from his void cloak while Gordon just appeared. Blood spilled from Jason’s hand, collecting into a blob that became a replica of Jason himself. The blood clone conjured a starlight cloak to keep himself in the air.

“It would seem that you have much more control here,” blood clone Colin said in Jason’s voice. “No need to unlock powers and it appears everyone will have your system interface.”

Shade was looking at the mountain fortress.

“You couldn’t help yourself, could you, Mr Asano?”

“Hey, that just happened on its own,” Jason said. “I only got to shape this place vaguely, not set all the details. It just turned out this way.”

“Of course it did, Mr Asano.”

Jason turned his gaze to the distance, far beyond the reach of his own territory. Although the air was hazy, the shape of an impossibly large tree loomed over the horizon.

“I’m pretty sure the messenger tree, soul forge or whatever it is got sealed away in that central territory,” Jason said. “Now it’s winner take all.”

“We knew that going in,” Colin said. “Learning the specifics doesn’t change that.”

“You’re right,” Jason agreed, “and we’ve even got a head start. I think we should use it to get a handle on things. Can you sense those people in the air, way above us?”

Shade and Colin looked up while Gordon flashed his orbs in the blue and orange flickering patterns he used to communicate. He was the familiar most closely tied to Jason’s aura and his perception was boosted accordingly, so he had also sensed them.

“They’re messengers,” Jason said. “Held in stasis, which apparently means just hanging way up in the air. I think they were the elemental messengers, but with the tree sealed away, they’re just regular messengers now. But without the imprinting of an astral king, or even the corrupted imprint from the tree that left them all messed up, they’re incomplete.”

“The inhabitants that cannot effectively function,” Shade said. “The ones mentioned in the system box. This means that when a territory is claimed, any messengers in it will be claimed as well.”

“They could be trouble,” Colin said. “I should go up there and eat them before they wake up.”

The others all turned to look at him.

“It was just a suggestion,” he said defensively.

“Not all the messengers were spawned by the tree,” Jason pointed out. “Some were sent down by Jes Fin Kaal and already have an astral king. They’re probably free of the tree’s influence now and will be competitors.”

“They were sent to create the soul forge from the natural array,” Shade said. “They likely have the magical knowledge to unify the transformation zone properly.”

“Yeah,” Jason agreed grimly. “If they don’t know how already, they can probably figure it out.”

“Still doesn’t change what we have to do,” Colin said. “We fight, we win, we eat what’s left. Oh, don’t look at me like that; there aren’t any vegans here.”

“I think Shade and Gordon are technically vegan,” Jason said. “They only eat raw magic. Mostly. I did keep catching Gordon disintegrating candy and trying to inhale the fumes, but only while we were in America. I think he likes high-fructose corn syrup.”

Jason felt a shift as his influence finished permeating every corner of the territory.

· Conditions to claim this territory have been met.

· Due to your influence already having been established, other individuals in the territory cannot contest your claim.

· You have claimed a territory.

· You may extend your influence into another territory in order to claim it.

· Your influence is being imposed on the inhabitants in stasis.

Jason felt a connection to the space around him as if the land, air and sea were all extensions of himself. It felt like his spirit domains back on Earth. He could sense two people on the ground and hundreds of messengers in the air. His power, invested in the territory, was already reaching out to influence the messengers.

After helping the messengers in his soul space shrug off the influence of their astral king, Jason wasn’t about to create an angelic slave army. Using his experience, he altered the influence of his power as it seeped into the messengers. He guided the power as they awakened, leading them to not bear his brand on their souls but to each make one of their own, setting them free. It was the work of a few moments; soon the messengers were descending from on high.

“I assume you’ve set them free,” Shade said.

“Of course,” Jason said.

“Our enemies won’t do the same,” Colin pointed out. “They’ll use them as weapons.”

“Which is what makes them our enemies,” Jason said. “Also, how is setting them free worse than eating them? That is what you suggested, right?”

“It would make for better planning,” Colin said.

“How do you figure that?” Jason asked.

“I think better on a full stomach.”

Gordon’s orbs flashed a sequence that pointed out that Colin belonged to a species that devoured every living thing on entire planets, suggesting he was incapable of having a full stomach.

“That’s a good point,” Jason said as Colin glared at Gordon. “Do you even have a stomach?”

“Do you not remember when I ate that world-taker worm queen?” Colin complained. “It took me weeks to sleep that meal off.”

“Ooh, you’re right,” Jason conceded. “He’s got you there, Gordon.”

Gordon flashed more lights in response and Colin jabbed a finger in his direction.

“I do not look fat!”