Fantasy Realm – Infinite Worlds Adventure

The group is back in their small house, all staring at Rishi with interest, waiting for his explanation about the ‘meeting’ he mentioned earlier.

Alex sighs, slightly annoyed by Rishi’s usual secrecy. 

Why does he always have to make everything so mysterious? I think he secretly gets off on that.

Rishi looks at the group, maintaining his polite smile before he begins to speak. “First of all, thank you for your trust in me. I’ve had to make sure nothing goes wrong… and now, I can finally tell you what I’ve been doing all these months.”

“Don’t we already know?” Alex says, cutting in. “Dumbledore took an interest in you, maybe because you remind him of… well, someone else. You never specifically told us anything, but I’m guessing you only accepted this deal because you were 100% sure the old manipulator couldn’t screw you over, right?”

“Yeah! We know. Aside from that, I saw you in the library from time to time,” Tereza adds, crossing her arms.

“You’re both correct,” Rishi replies, his calm expression never wavering. “My meetings with Dumbledore started off harmless. He was just probing me, though I’m still unsure why he was interested in me in the first place. My guess is it’s because of my high SPR stat.”

Alex tilts his head, his curiosity piqued. “Now that you mention it, you never told us what three perks you chose. You said you’d hold off on picking anything for now.”

“As you may have guessed, I’ve indeed chosen my perks,” Rishi confirms. “Since SPR is my primary stat, I gained access to one ability from each tier. As we learned before entering this world, the primary stat allows you to pick three perks. For my Tier 1 Perk—the strongest skill, available only to players who choose SPR as their primary stat—I picked Evolution. It grants me an extra skill slot, but with a condition: I can only fill it with mind-related skills. That skill, however, will gain the ability to assimilate similar skills, strengthening itself over time.”

Alex raises an eyebrow. “Like that Mind Magic skill you got from the Warcraft world, right? But this seems crazy… isn’t this ability way too broken? How come I don’t remember this one? You told us about hundreds of perks, but I feel like I would’ve remembered something this OP.”

Rishi nods. “Yes, that perk would qualify as quite strong indeed, but in this case, it can’t be used for my older skill because it only works on skills I haven’t learned yet.” He pauses, then adds, “As for why you don’t remember it, that’s because it wasn’t available to me before we entered this world. It seems there are hidden perks that require specific conditions to unlock.”

Tereza’s face twists into a scowl. “That fucking bitch. I’m glad she’s dead. Another thing Roja conveniently didn’t mention to us, huh?”

Alex shrugs, though he can’t help but agree. “Yeah, it’s harsh, but you’re not wrong, Tereza. She never told us the full truth, not even once. Can’t say I’m not a little curious about her, though.”

Jewel, who’s been quietly listening, decides to join the conversation. Using her web, she forms a message in the air: “Since Rishi picked this ability, surely he has a specific skill in mind?”

“Obviously,” Rishi replies casually. “I’m aiming for the Mind Arts—a combination of Occlumency and Legilimency.”

Tereza frowns, her annoyance bubbling up again. “How do you even know that combination exists? Did you just assume it would work, or what?”

Alex jumps in before Rishi can respond. “It should exist, Tereza. Look at my and Rishi’s Black Magic, or your own Spell Mastery, which is made up of three different base skills. It’s pretty likely there’s a skill that combines Occlumency and Legilimency.”

“That much should be obvious,” Rishi says, glancing at Tereza with a faint smile. Her eye twitches in irritation, but he continues before she can snap back. “Anyway, before I get to that, I also picked another perk. This one’s a bit unusual—it required both my Tier 2 and Tier 3 perks. So instead of picking two separate abilities, I chose this single, more powerful one.”

Menchi, who’s been quietly listening, leans forward with interest. “It better be good if it costs two perks.”

“It’s called Mind Maze,” Rishi explains. “An upgraded version of the Mind Palace, which would’ve only required the Tier 2 perk. Mind Maze grants me similar mental abilities but makes it nearly impossible for others to invade my mind. Of course, someone like Dumbledore can still do it, but this maze is so complex that I can lead him down whatever path I choose. By selectively feeding him the truth, I can lie to him without him even realizing it. Essentially, he’ll only see what I want him to see.”

“That sounds like it would be suitable for you. Mind Palace, and your Mind Maze as well, let you organize all your knowledge, right? I’m assuming that’s why you spent all that time in the library,” Alex comments, seeing the benefit of this ability.

Despite the strength of this ability… it seems like a very specific choice. Its utility is mostly defense against mental attacks, which, in most cases, will be useless in battle. This is not my style at all!

“That sounds almost useless,” Tereza remarks bluntly.

Princess Jewel also agrees with her Dearest Soulmate and Maid Tereza.

Rishi chuckles softly. “It’s simple. If you focus on many things, this ability might not seem that good. However, I’m aiming to overwhelm anyone with my mind magic. I can’t let anyone else affect me. Plus, it allowed me to deal with Dumbledore. I even made a little bet with him and won, which is why… I already got that skill, even leveled it up to lvl 4.”

“You should have said that from the very beginning, idiot!” Tereza complains loudly.

“That easy?! So for your Evolution perk, you already picked your skill… Mind Arts seems like it would be quite compatible with many other skills. It’s a good choice,” Alex says, clearly shocked by Rishi’s speed of getting an actual skill out of Dumbledore.

Rishi responds with a knowing smile. “This perk, as you, Tereza, and even Jewel believe, might seem situational. However, against someone trying to invade my mind, it’s almost invincible. Add to that my high SPR stat and my equipment, and yes, even Dumbledore failed to see through me. Maybe if he knocked me out, used his Elder Wand, or weakened me somehow, he could have succeeded. But he wouldn’t do that. He simply didn’t expect me to have this ability.”

“Since I’ve mastered the Mind Arts, I’ll try to add my own spin on them. I can’t directly control someone—that would only work against children and some weaker animals. But I can subtly influence people and get them to reveal secrets. Also, if I have enough time, I can even take full control over them, all without a wand.”

“And with that perk, you can upgrade that skill. It seems interesting enough,” Alex nods, finally understanding why Rishi chose that perk.

“As for why I’ve revealed all this to you now… I’m done with the old man. There’s not much he can teach me anymore. We need to focus on the important things now—namely, the third and final task, which will, without a doubt, be very risky and challenging. But we also, can’t forget the corruption itself. The final task is easy to solve; I’ve already come up with a strategy that involves the other teams. We need them.”

“Why do we need them?” Tereza asks, visibly confused.

“Yeah, better take them along. Who knows what might change compared to canon? Maybe the remaining four traitors will also show up at the graveyard. It’s a group mission for a reason. Trying to do it all on our own sounds insane,” Alex says.

“Trying to solve everything on your own will also mess up your plans, since the other teams won’t simply stay at home, regardless of your intentions,” Menchi adds, her tone calm but firm. She’s clearly speaking from experience with group dynamics.

“Exactly. We’ll sabotage each other if we don’t unify. Trust me, this is the correct decision,” Rishi says, glancing at Menchi and nodding in agreement.

“So that leaves… the corruption? Is it about the source of the corruption… the heart?” Alex asks.

“Yes, but we can’t rush it. The corruption is still too strong. Remember when we first ventured into the forest? There were two viable targets: the Thornback nest and the edges of the Wall of Corruption. We should focus on the weakened wall and clear a path to the heart, which I suspect is Aragog’s lair. We need to leave that for the very end. We can’t risk anything before the main mission is finished. Anyway, for such a monumental task, we’ll also need the other groups,” Rishi continues, laying out his plan.

Another raid, huh? I guess we should do it. Things will get busy again!