The Omnithaneum Read online

  Macrocosm

  Book 2: The Omnithaneum

  A Sci-fi Fantasy LitRPG

  An Organization Novel

  Matthew Powell

  The Omnithaneum picks up right where Sanctum left off. If you haven’t read Sanctum yet, please do so before continuing.

  Chapter 1

  The Omnithaneum…a miraculous thing. A massive library, existing outside of space and time. All knowledge, from all universes, across all multiverses, is stored inside. Whoever controls the Omnithaneum can control everything…which is why it’s such a good thing that no one can control it. – on The Omnithaneum, from The Chronicles of The Founder

  You Died!

  Those were the last words Joshua saw before everything went black. The old priest, Jakobus, had killed him before he could even react. Over 40,000 EXP, along with the looted assault rifle, vanished in an instant.

  Please choose respawn point

  A Paradigm Shift is underway, stronger enemies can be found across Sanctum.

  Grace: not recommended, tier 9 hostile present.

  Item shop outside Zombie Mall dungeon: recommended, tier 7 allies present.

  Random: not recommended, tier 5+ enemies scattered across the planet.

  That was not a good sign. What had happened in Grace was happening everywhere. Joshua’s original plan had been to train until he could kill the Drudge Bear in single combat and then leave, but things were changing too fast. Any plans had to be put aside until he had a clearer vision of what was going on.

  All of this had started when he reached tier 4. Joshua had been a little confused as to how he would eventually get off-world, but dramatically changing the world itself was definitely not within his expectations. One thing did stand out through the confusion: the invasion offered a chance. The Saints Who Cleanse had been recruiting humans, giving them a path off-world and that meant the opposite had to be true as well. The Demons Who Corrupt must be recruiting too.

  At least, that’s what Joshua thought as he floated in the void before respawning. There was no way to confirm any of this without meeting the demons. Purposefully searching for a group of people, all much stronger than himself and calling themselves ‘demons’, did not seem like a good idea, not yet at least. He needed more information before deciding. There wasn’t any kind of timer counting down forcing him to respawn, so he logged off for now.

  Immediately on waking up back in his apartment, Joshua started searching the internet for any news about these two factions. Macrocosm hadn’t even been out for a full two days, but it was all that anyone could talk about. The player count had rapidly surpassed one billion, making it the single largest online game in history, despite the surgery required for it. All of these people meant there had to be someone with the information he needed.

  Joshua found the information he was looking for while eating a nutrient bar. The Saints Who Cleanse apparently owned a starting world and a few hundred thousand players had been there for long enough that information was plenty.

  The Saints Who Cleanse, as far as Joshua could find, was an extremely religious spacefaring civilization. They were led by the priesthood, made up of people like Jakobus, who headed expeditions to conquer new worlds. The Saints went out of their way to exterminate any monsters or non-humans they found, something Joshua had experienced personally. Human was even the only choice available on their starting world.

  Their ships, armor, and weapons were all a polished white. They used laser-based weaponry almost exclusively, and even tier 1 players could get access to fairly powerful laser-guns. Higher tier weaponry and armor was blessed by a member of the Scintillant Pantheon, the gods whom the saints followed. Players had to choose one of these gods to follow before the Saints allowed them off-world, forcing them into a choice that Joshua had been lucky to avoid.

  Opposite the Saints Who Cleanse were the Demons Who Corrupt. Information on them was less abundant but still available. They followed the saints wherever they went, acting as an opposing force. They were truly the saint’s polar opposites, eschewing laser-based weaponry in favor of purely kinetic and missile-based systems. Everything, even down to their color scheme, was different.

  The demons weren’t literal demons, to Joshua’s relief. Where the saints were orderly, the demons were orderless. They were not much more than a massive amalgamation of people who didn’t like the saints. The Demon’s ranks were made up of remnants of civilizations the saints had destroyed, rebels who reject the Scintillant Pantheon, and even some sentient monsters like Joshua. A few players already claimed to have joined them, which meant Joshua could do the same.

  While he was out, Joshua checked the auction house. If he wasn’t going to find any kind of in-game currency, then he needed to sell something to make money. Right now, in the first few days, was the best chance he was ever going to get. He could sell a weapon or something and make money, but his sights were set on something bigger.

  Class sets, no surprise, were extremely pricey right now. While Joshua wouldn’t sell the Scourge Blackguard set, given its synergy with his own class, it was about time he learned how to make items that weren’t Soul-Bound. First, though, there was some other basic research that needed to be done.

  He couldn’t just make a set at random and hope it sold, no, he wanted to maximize his profit. A quick thought brought up a graph of current player statistics. Whatever class set he made, it needed to be tailored to the most popular class that also suited his abilities. The armor would undoubtedly be tainted by Pestilence, so he needed to focus on classes where that would be a positive instead of a negative. Anything holy or fire-based was right out.

  The most popular classes that fit the general theme were Necromancers and Dark Knights. These were generic classifications rather than specific classes. A tier 2 knight who knew some dark magic would be considered a Dark Knight, even if that wasn’t his class. At the same time, a necromancer who had advanced to become a lich or some other higher tier class was still considered a necromancer, as far as the graph was concerned. Having to actually keep track of the thousands of classes was simply too difficult.

  Of these, Joshua decided to try and make a class set for a necromancer. He had already proven that he could make plate armor, and that was great, but he needed to expand his horizons. Being limited to only a single type of armor limited both his potential clientele as well as put him at risk of someone else outperforming him.

  Joshua closed his eyes as he laid back down on his bed, starting up Macrocosm once again. He was greeted by the now-familiar black space that was the death screen, with the respawn menu still floating in front of him. Looking over his options once again, he opted to spawn back in the item shop near the Zombie Mall. It served as both a safe zone where he could craft without worry and also likely put him near the Demons Who Corrupt.

  Joshua reappeared, met with the familiar sight of the item shop’s clerk. An emotionless AI, starkly contrasting the live and vibrant inhabitants of Grace. He could access items from the shop but spending any more real credits on Macrocosm than he already had would strain his budget. Instead, Joshua found a corner of the store as far from the entrance as possible and began crafting.

  Making armor out of Pestilence was surprisingly easy, as Joshua had discovered when he first attempted it, but the process was draining. The armor, in this case, a necromancer’s robes, materialized itself out of the provided Pestilence with very little guidance beyond a vague idea.

  The set needed to be equivalent to his own Blackguard set to be worth selling, which meant a massive amount of Pestilence was needed to create it. Joshua leaned against the store wall and prepared for another uncomfortably long wait, something that would be regrettably common if he took up crafting full-time.
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br />   The cloth began to form in his hands, pitch-black and tainted with green marks. Minutes flew by as the cloth absorbed more Pestilence and expanded, slowly forming the piece of clothing that Joshua wanted. The robe, to Joshua’s surprise, took less than ten minutes to complete.

  Lesser Necromantic Robes

  Soul-Bound Armor

  Mitigation Potential: 300

  Barrier Strength: 3000

  Pestilence Towards Next Upgrade: 0/10,000

  Congratulations, you have completed your first piece of Caster equipment! Bulky armor weighs down casters too much for them to use, but they need a way to defend themselves too. Caster armor provides significantly less mitigation than a normal piece but also offers a separate barrier that can be recharged using either the wielder’s energy or special consumable items.

  That…wasn’t at all what he had planned. Joshua felt like smacking himself when he realized his mistake: robes weren’t all that a caster wore, they had other light armor underneath. He needed multiple pieces, plus a weapon before a class set would form. He set about crafting a set of armor light enough to be worn beneath the robes.

  Plagued Chainmail

  Soul-Bound Armor

  Mitigation Potential: 700

  Barrier Strength: 1000

  Pestilence Towards Next Upgrade: 0/10,000

  This piece of armor is meant to be worn underneath a caster’s robes, offering them slightly more defense if their Barrier is broken. The Barrier on this piece is only provided if it is worn beneath a robe.

  Joshua repeated this process for bracers and legguards before Macrocosm finally recognized it as an armor set.

  Lesser Necromancer’s Vestment

  Soul-Bound Armor Set

  Mitigation Potential: 700

  Barrier Strength: 10,000

  Pestilence Towards Next Upgrade: 0/50,000

  Set Bonus: Diseased

  A set of armor and robes to be used by an up-and-coming Necromancer. Barrier strength is enhanced greatly while worn as a full set, and mitigation potential is shared across all pieces. Cost to recharge barrier is decreased.

  These Lesser Necromancer’s Vestments have been tainted by Pestilence. While the wearer is immune to its effects, any opponent who approaches is afflicted by a powerful damage-over-time effect.

  No synergies detected. Will upgrade into a class set if provided with an appropriate weapon.

  All that was needed to finish the class set was a weapon, and Joshua already had the perfect thing in mind. After all, it couldn’t really be called a necromancer set without a badass staff to go with it. Sure, necromancers also used other magical weapons like wands or other magical foci, but nothing gave the same intimidating appearance as a staff.

  A stone rod began to form in Joshua’s hands, made of the same material as his Plague-Ridden Obsidian Longsword. A wooden staff would have likely worked just as well, but there was no need to risk it against the already tested obsidian. The staff was black and peppered with green and brown specks indicating its Pestilence-based nature.

  The staff finished forming at just over six-feet tall, with four prongs at the end where a power source could be placed. Joshua already had a plan for that, as no magic staff would be complete with a crystal at the top. Even without the crystal, the staff had impressive stats.

  Plague-Ridden Obsidian Staff

  Soul-Bound Weapon

  Damage Potential: 1000 Blunt/5000 Force/5000 Infection

  Pestilence Towards Next Upgrade: 0/10,000

  Can convert the wielder’s energy into Tainted Force Missiles, dealing high damage and applying a powerful DOT.

  Firing a force missile basically made this staff a stronger version of the Endemic Magnum, which was fairly powerful in its own right. Just hours ago, he had been blasting tier 3 zombies to pieces with a single shot, and now he was effortlessly crafting a weapon several times stronger. Joshua couldn’t help but feel excited about what the next few hours might bring.

  Moving on to the crystal, Joshua dipped into his Pestilence reserves to finish the craft as fast as possible. This was the last step to finishing the class set, and he wanted to get it done quickly. He had expected the crystal to take a few thousand but instead watched as it instantly drained 17,000 Pestilence from his reserves. A massive cloud of disease particles erupted from his body, flowing towards the head of the staff and solidifying. Inch by inch, the crystal grew as it absorbed the cloud around him.

  When it was finished, a foot-long green gemstone sat at the top of the staff, held in place by the four spiked prongs. The gem had taken nearly twice as much to create as the staff itself, and the reward had been well worth it.

  Plague-Ridden Obsidian Staff has been enhanced with a gemstone!

  Due to the gemstone’s origin, the staff has been further tainted by Pestilence.

  Necromancer’s Plague-Gripped Obsidian Staff

  Damage Potential: 1000 Blunt/10,000 Force/10,000 Infection

  Can convert the wielder’s energy into Tainted Force Missiles, dealing high damage and applying a powerful DOT.

  Due to the staff’s powerful gemstone, it can only be upgraded as part of a set.

  Synergy detected between Lesser Necromancer’s Vestments and Necromancer’s Plague-Gripped Obsidian Staff.

  Forming Class Set…

  Class Set created!

  Blighted Necromancer Class Set created!

  Blighted Necromancer

  Soul-Bound Class Set

  Mitigation Potential: 1000

  Barrier Strength: 15,000

  Pestilence Towards Next Upgrade: 50,000

  Set Bonus: Diseased, Instant Equip, Empowered Weapons, Gemstone Barrier Up

  The Blighted Necromancer set constantly releases an aura of plague and disease. Any enemy who approaches is afflicted by a powerful DOT effect.

  The Blighted Necromancer set can be instantly conjured from the caster’s energy at any point and will automatically summon itself if the wearer is ambushed.

  The Blighted Necromancer set is composed of not only robes and armor, but a powerful staff as well. The staff will automatically be upgraded with the armor for free.

  The staff that this set was created with has been enhanced by a powerful gemstone. Barrier strength increased by 50%. Ability damage increased by 30%.

  The set didn’t just surpass Joshua’s expectations, it blew them out of the water. It would have been powerful no matter what, but the gemstone had pushed things to another level entirely. 50% more barrier and 30% more damage, that would likely continue to grow as the set upgraded further? That was so good he was tempted to make a new character just to use it. How much would something like this go for on the auction house?

  Thankfully, the in-game menu had a built-in auction house function. He had never really taken the time to explore everything the menu had to offer, and it looked like there were a bunch of other useful features that he hadn’t been taking advantage of. There was the auction house, a web browser, and even an inventory system that kept track of everything in his spatial storage.

  Opening the auction house, Joshua quickly navigated towards the class set section. To his surprise, there were already several thousand class sets up for sale. Few of them were as powerful as the Blighted Necromancer set, but there were a lot of them. He wasn’t the only person to have the idea to craft a caster set, if the nearly 300 necromancer sets up for sale were any indication. Surprisingly, none of them were available for buyout.

  Auctions in most online games came with two options: bid and buyout. All auctions automatically had the bid active, which let players offer increasingly larger amounts of money until the bid timer ran out. When that happened, the highest bidder got the item.

  Sellers could also choose to give an item a buyout price. Buyers who didn’t want to wait or risk losing a bid could pay the buyout and get the item immediately. Buyouts were always significantly higher than the bid price and were normally set high enough that the bid price would never reach it in the
first place.

  Joshua couldn’t find a single necromancer set up for sale that had a buyout set. There were two possible reasons for this that he could think of. The first, that no one was setting a buyout to see how high the bid prices would go. Given the volatile nature of Macrocosm’s economy this soon after launch, it would be easy to give an item a buyout price significantly less than the items actual value. This is what most of the more experienced players were likely doing, and some of them might even be watching the auction screen to snap up low-priced goods.