The Power of Ten

-You are saying my road may take me there, regardless of my wishes...- Shvaughn /murmured to me.

-You and I are not of a high enough spiritual state to say what is going on, and you will be the great Warlock here, not I. As you grow stronger, you will learn things, become aware of things, and discern the truth of the matter, as only a Warlock Grandmaster of great power can.

-I do not know, I am merely calculating... but I am VERY smart.-

She /eyed me, and could only agree with that. I was totally inhumanly bonkers smart, it was true. My main restriction was on Ranks of knowledge, not getting modifiers. I was stacking more modifiers every day. Heck, I was getting Calligraphy Mastery Tiers foisted off on me now, just so I could draw Runes better and faster, or something.

I could remember having fairly atrocious handwriting, so even my printing looking like artwork was actually sort of fun...

-You are not opposed to this Grand Warlock plan, why?- she /asked.

-You just intimated that you are going to be sneaking out from under the Shroud. To do what?- I /asked by way of reply.

Mental knuckles cracked. -Oh, you know. Blood, vengeance, raiding, looting, and creating bad times for the things hunting me?-

-Meh.- She /frowned at that. -You’re going to be doing Favors.-

Mental lips /pursed. -Because I’m a Warlock...-

-Sworn to two opposing forces... Law and Chaos, and defying the third with them while drawing on its power. Heaven will not employ you if you are using Evil means... but if you use Chaotic and Lawful methods, well, why would it care?-

Using evil means to fight Evil just helped Evil. Helping Evil turn on itself, however, was actually a Good thing. Manipulating Law and Chaos to do the job was, well, Good being Clever.

It was often said that the great Primal War between demons and devils had started because the Heavens had manipulated their forces into coming into contact with one another, and the War that resulted basically drained the majority of their energy, leaving Heaven alone and mostly unscathed. Law/Evil and Chaos/Evil went at one another full bore, all the time.

Law/Good and Chaos/Good had wrestling and drinking contests instead. Divine Olympics were celebrations AND negotiations.

Who said Heaven was stupid? It didn’t mean they weren’t unaffected, as there was always fallout, but they didn’t need to be a primary participant, all the time... which meant when they did get involved, they could swing well above their weight.

-Interesting. So, I need some experience at playing the Greatest Game.-

-A Warlock Grandmaster’s ability to juggle obligations and measure profound forces is the highest of all the Classes. You are literally in defiance of three Alignments, wielding them all against one another. Only the Elemental Pacts you have are non-defied, although you stole them rather than Swore them... but the Elements appreciate a thief who can steal even a Pact.

-I think you are going to be the boogey-man style Warlock who pops up, does a lot of Favors for powerful things, and then sneaks away to be forgotten until she pops up again. It is perfectly possible to get even Heaven owing you Favors this way.-

I could see her mind was working full bore now. That was indeed the Greatest Game; not mere mortal Empires, but Divine influences and Profound Forces. It was high-risk, high rewards, demanding of cleverness, guile, and ruthless morals.

Everyone, even Heaven, had use for an agent like her.

-And you think that at the end of a road like that wait the Mazakeem.-

-I believe so. When you get there, gimme a /tell and let me know!- I /smiled back.

-Last question. Is there a way to go back and forth between Eternal and Mortal Status?-

I tilted a mental eyebrow. -Yesssss,- I /finally answered. -It is Item Dependent, however.-

-What Item?- she /demanded instantly.

-A Hat of Difference. You have to take the Class it gives you to Eternal Status. Take it off, go back to being mortal.-

She was floored for a moment, thinking about that. -That... is how the Angels and the Genie gained Class Levels!- she /realized abruptly.

-Yes. They were still earning Karma, they were just Suppressed by the Shroud so they could not gain Levels.-

-What good will that do me?- she had to /ask. -I already have a Primary Class!-

-The Hat of Difference suppresses all other Class Levels while it is worn.-

She was shocked to silence again, and thought about that. -What Class, then? I am not aware of any I am eligible for...-

-Gaining a Dragonheart explicitly allows you to take Sorcerer Levels with a Bloodline.- As she mentally froze, I /went on, -I believe that among your recent acquisitions are a Nymph and a Sylph, which means Druidic magic and Wizardry, which means Elemental and Arcane Theurgy, and high starting points in both Secondary Classes. You should have no difficulty making Archmage and Archdruid, and becoming Eternal in Sorceress while you wear that Hat.-

-And Warlock is not a true Class!- she had to /blurt out.

-Why, no, it isn’t. Which means Eldritch Theurgy is also on the table,- I /agreed.

-Is Legion doing this?- she had to /ask, wide-eyed at the implications.

-No, the Cohort is. They took the most shattered souls and gestalted them as the foundation Sorcerer, then began Leveling her. She takes turns with the rest of them, and has been advancing quickly.-

She was Gestalted and basically replicating Master Fred’s mental architecture, unlike the rest of the Cohort, so she had the mental Stats to excel, even with his mostly butchered and Nogged-out Casting Matrix. Even if Bloodline requirements made up most of her Spells Known, LeFay still had some to work with... and could access more Spells Known from the sylph and nymph who were part of Legion, once the Theurgies were in place.

LeFay would never have the full power of a true Sorceress, but that wasn’t the point. The point was the Levels!

It was entirely possible for LeFay to out-Level Legion, whose power was centered on Master Fred and being dispersed across many Class Levels, forming a Deep Foundation. If she focused on Levels and the Theurgic Classes to supplement them, out-Leveling Legion would not be hard at all.

Appropriating Syasstrax’s Sorceress/8 as her starting point, LeFay had been quietly Leveling with the rest of Legion’s Cohort in the Shroudzones. Amusingly enough, most of the gathered Bloodlines were actually melee-combat focused, so her Casting spells and wading in with claws ripping was actually perfectly in tune with what she was supposed to do, as opposed to standing off and bombarding stuff.

They couldn’t advance any Classes taken from others, or even access them, normally... but once they were Theurged and part of the Dragon-granted Sorcerer Level accessibility, there was nothing stopping Theurgic Levels from being stacked on top of those purloined Caster Levels.

It wasn’t the same as being mono-Focused, but it was close, and unlike Forsaken, Primos could spend ki and arcana from an established Pool... and the ki Pool from Monk Levels advanced into the Improved Pool that included Arcana points...

Learning so many new things were possible.

Shvaughn wouldn’t have quite so much flexibility, as she didn’t have separate souls and personas contributing to things inside her, and the Hat only allowed one Class advancement route. But she could still take Theurgic Levels as part of that advance schema going forward, not sideways.

Sorceress/5+, Mystic Theurge/5, Arcane Theurge/5, and Eldritch Theurge/5 stacking would all get her to Twenty+. By tying them to the Hat, the inaccessible Classes just became part of Sorceress, using its Casting Matrix... but contributing many more and swappable Spells Known.

Save for the many locked and pre-picked Bloodline spells, it was nigh as good as being a Powered Caster!

Of course, she’d either be a powerful Caster or a powerful Combatant, but at the very least, it was even more versatility possible for a Warlock Grandmaster.

And all she needed to start it was a Dragonheart... or Consuming a Half-Dragon Pact Grantor, perhaps. Just not a Demonic one...

-Legion said you were getting a Dragonheart for me,- she finally /murmured, seeing how I’d been planning all this out.

-I have two, of Topaz and Storm... or anti-Water and Lightning, if you want an Elemental bias. Legion is acquiring one of Cold. There will be Sapphire/Earth, Fire, Acid, and Poison coming.-

Cold and Fire would be useless to her... she was with the team that was Spire-clearing on weekends, and had gone through the Rituals.

-Storm would be excellent,- she /agreed cautiously. -What do I need to do?-

-Have some Heavenbound purify it of the traces of the dragon’s personality and memories for a month.-

Her mental mouth /quirked. -I’ve a feeling I shall be obligated to Heaven and its Warlocks until I die...-

-Putting you in a unique position for a very powerful Sinbound Warlock.- She /laughed and acknowledged the point. -It’s already in the process, should be ready in a couple more weeks. Note that taking a Dragonheart, like being an Amazon, raises the cost to Level.-

She looked off into the future, and slowly shook her head. -I’ve a feeling that Karma will be one thing I’ve not got to worry about in the long-term.-

That was truth. -Then if you could begin your investigations and the mystery novel to follow, I would be obliged.-

-Off to save the Kings... and Queens!- she /replied with grim amusement, and her attention went back to the physical world.

Some fellows who thought money and power allowed them to act as they pleased were going to learn that there were some problems with such a mindset. Shvaughn was also the type that would loot them for everything with their own knowledge, too... and they’d beg her to be a part of her, rather than being released into the Shroud for who knew how many centuries or millennia of torment.

There were no Consuming Pacts left in the world, save two. Certain interested parties who had no interest in the afterlife still contacted Shvaughn for the right to end up a part of her, rather than test fate or oblivion or whatnot. Indeed, they would even pay substantially for the privilege, as they were giving money to themselves.

She’d take them, too. Souls after souls, added into her own, getting to enjoy the maxed-out physicality of an Amazon, potentially thousands of different appearances, the power of a Warlock Grandmaster, and the knowledge they were one of the most powerful, secretly wealthiest, beautiful, and currently well-connected people on the planet.

And their souls weren’t going to go down to Burn, ever.

Some were just vain and didn’t want to die or grow old. Actors, artists, athletes, performers, models. Some didn’t want to let go their mortal belongings... although such things were much less important to Shvaughn, whose life was all-important to her.

Some were even good people, just afraid to die... or wanting to be there for their families. If it didn’t interfere with her survival, Shvaughn would also be there... and exploit the connection for her own purposes, too, even if she loved them.

She was what she was, and there were a lot of people who wanted to be her. She was perfectly happy to accommodate them, and be them, too.

The Hungry Warlock was on the hunt. Old, young, everything in between, exulting in her lives and life. One of Hell’s finest creations.

I sighed and turned to other duties. Shvaughn knew her job quite well, and I didn’t begrudge it. She also knew I couldn’t lie successfully to her, and my manipulations would always be overt.

So weird being on good terms with two so very different Hungry Kiss Warlocks...