Garovel floated away from him and stopped in the middle of the room. ‘It’s still a bit early for this conversation, but oh well.’ He turned around to face his servant again. ‘Hector, I want you to listen carefully to what I’m about to tell you. You may not like what you hear, but I hope you will never forget it, because it is one of the most important things I am ever going to say. And I will try to explain why that is.’
Hector shifted in his chair. ‘Uh--okay. I-I’m listening...’
‘There’s something that happens to people when they acquire power,’ the reaper said. ‘It’s not that it corrupts them, necessarily, but it can definitely change them. Whether it’s political power or physical power, the result is essentially the same. Power of any kind grants you influence and control over others. And as you gain more power, more influence in the world, you become increasingly susceptible to that change. So for servants, that change is almost inevitable, because your power is constantly growing.’
‘Are you saying... your servant abused their power?’
‘In a word, yes. He started extorting innocent people. Said he could put their money to better use than they could. I think he saw it as a kind of “greater good” tax, like he viewed himself as some sort of governing figure when he’d really just become a thug.’
‘Wow... and you couldn’t just tell him to stop? Didn’t he understand that he had to listen to you? I mean... we’re called “servants” for a reason, right?’
‘Yeah, about that... Maybe I shouldn’t tell you this, but you’d probably realize it on your own eventually. And I trust you, I guess. See, when servants grow powerful enough, they can prevent their reapers from releasing their souls.’
Hector tilted his head. ‘What? How?’
‘It’s pretty simple, actually. The reaper has to make contact with the servant’s body in order to release the soul. So the servant can just keep the reaper in a soul-empowered prison and never allow themself to be touched.’
‘Oh...’
‘It’s an extreme solution. If you can’t make contact with your reaper, then you lose access to your regenerative power, enhanced strength, and hyper states. And obviously, if you get killed, then your reaper probably won’t feel like resurrecting you again.’
‘No kidding...’
‘Also, you’d have to worry about maintaining the prison. The soul power will drain from it over time, unless you have absurdly high synchronization with your reaper.’
A dark serial novel. Set in a modern fantasy world called Eleg. Mature language. Updates every night at midnight PST by ~400 words.
OOOOOOOOO000OOOOHHHHHHh11!! that servant was a dick... who could do that to Garovel?????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteActually he didn't do that to Garovel... at least he didn't mention it that it happened. He's just saying that's a theoretical possibility.
ReplyDeleteBtw: "If you can’t make contact with your reaper, then you lose access to your regenerative power,..."
Don't the servants regenerate without the reapers touch? Cause in a lot of cases the reaper flys away so he won't die in battle but the servant still regenerates. So don't they actually "only" lose their enhanced strength and the hyper states? And it doesn't seem like the connection between reaper and servant disappers just cause he's in "prison". So the regeneration should still be fine shouldn't it?
If I'm having a hole in my thinking there than enlighten me please haha ^^
A servant needs to be touched occasionally to be able to get all the benefits a reaper provides. So in battle, a reaper touches the servant and the servant can regenerate for a while, but eventually the regeneration will slow down until it stops happening. So the reaper needs to touch them again. At least that is my understanding. Someone correct me if I am wrong.
ReplyDeleteYeah, you've got it right. It's been brought up a few times, but it was first mentioned way back on page 158.
ReplyDeleteI have my doubts that one would be really synched with the person whom is keeping you in a prison so that you don't kill them. Just seems like you would be on separate trains as it were.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed how Garovel trusts Hector; he guesses. In all honesty I'd be more worried that Hector would put me in a soul prison in order to "protect me" than anything else if I was Garovel. Since Hector tries to protect him all the time regardless of the amount of danger he may or may not be in.
This is something you probably wouldn't need to worry about with a transfiguration-type servant. Even if they could create such a prison, losing regen would make ALL their powers unusable.
ReplyDeleteAs far as we know, synchronization has nothing to do with how well you get along. It simply goes up as time passes.
ReplyDeleteUnless they focused on enhancing their bodies with chemical compounds and structures rather than turning themselves into bombs - a carbon transfiguration user could do ridiculous things with organic chemistry, use nanotubes to strengthen skin, etc. Essentially, they would have to become a very, very careful emulator of the mutation type, because no more regeneration.
ReplyDeleteAnd how would a transfiguration user create a cage, anyway? For that matter, how would a mutation or destruction type do it? Alteration would require a constant effort, unless powerful alteration users can create permanent constructs with their force.
The other option would be to keep their reaper in a case on their back, and basically only allow the reaper to touch them in circumstances where killing the servant would kill the reaper as well.
This is where Garovel reveals that synchronization grows with time as well as by bonding/pushing the limits of your powers and that he lied earlier and Hector's synchronization is through the roof... *sigh* if only that would actually happen but i doubt it. Also: if i don't find out what Hector actually manifests soon, I am going to strangle someone :P I'm dying to know. And if it turns out only to be iron after all this like Haaq first thought....that would suck monumentally.
ReplyDeleteWell, if a transfig type has a workable material like most metals, they could build or cast a cage out of it.
ReplyDeleteApparently, you don't actually need to soul-strengthen your own element. You can do other stuff, it's just generally a laborious process.
ReplyDeleteOnly if you're an integration type, or if you have it on you. I still wonder if Frost meant it about Roman strengthening his glasses.
ReplyDeleteI don't think he ever specified integration in particular...
ReplyDelete