Author Frank Morin
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Ch 244 - Nectar From Above
🕑 Added 2025-11-24 17:00:08 +0000 UTCMoments later, we all stood in my basement facing 2 new vaults. Tydrion’s vault had moved to the wall next to Velexis’s, with the 2 new ones across the way. The sight was pretty awesome, and I pulled my Keys of the Treasurer with an eager hand.
“I thought 2 vaults was amazing, then you got a third, and now you’ve collected a total of 5!” Andy chortled. “You’re the boss of the bosses!”
“Let’s hope you got some good stuff,” Jane agreed.
“I’d take a few more diamonds,” Lana said, and Ruby smiled and nodded.
“Nextharos’s first.” I fitted the key, which had a symbol like a monster trophy head, and the vault door disappeared. I took a step, but Nigel rushed in first.
“This is incredible,” Ed breathed as we paused just inside to look around.
“Now that you’re part of the team, you’ll see one wonder after another,” Ruby assured him.
“Lucas is the golden goose that just keeps on giving,” Steve agreed.
“If you see anything you like, let me know. You’re welcome to take pretty much anything you need,” I told Ed.
We spread out to explore what secret wonders the vault might hold. The huge, square room was about the size of the others, but just as unique. The entire left side of the vault was fashioned into a trophy room, complete with fur rugs from slain monsters and comfortable chairs placed to make admiring the many wall-mounted trophies easier.
Nextharos might have been arrogant, but he really had been a top notch hunter. Dozens of trophy heads hung in stacked rows along the wall, and every one depicted a nightmare creature. Identify not only shared each monster’s race, but also insights into how Nextharos had defeated it. More than 1 included a note that he stole the information from Tydrion.
Most of the trophy heads had been magically shrunk to fit in the vault, since many of them had been gigantic monsters. Neat trick. I studied the runes ringing the frames that held them. They were more complex than I’d first thought. I’d seen some runes to shrink objects, but these created spatial distortion fields that made the items inside seem small, even though they were still huge.
If we broke the field, the heads would snap back to full size. Good thing to remember. I took down one weird monster head covered in so many spikes it resembled a porcupine more than an undersea dragon and tossed it into my inventory to study the runes later.
The right side of the vault featured racks of weapons of the monster-hunting trade, including more tridents and harpoons. He even had one cannon-sized harpoon I might have to bring along when I faced Thalorian. Other weapons delivered poison or magnified damage for surprise attacks.
Lots of the tables and shelves in the middle were covered in hunting paraphernalia like Tydrion’s, including a big ledger. Not as extensive as Tydrion’s, it still held a lot of great information on monsters.
A bunch of the other gear definitely supported his stealth abilities and habit of dealing death from the shadows. A pair of Echoshard Daggers left a strange echo in any wounds they caused, creating lingering pain and adding debuffs to resistances.
The Cloak of Abyssal Silence muffled sound and granted excellent stealth in water, while protecting from sonar-based detection, and the Tidepiercer Bow was a unique, custom-crafted bow for underwater hunting. Its arrows left no wake and dealt enhanced damage to magical constructs.
“Can I have this one, please?” Steve asked as soon as he laid eyes on the
Tidepiercer Bow.
“Be my guest. You know how terrible I am with bows.”
“A fact I celebrate every day,” Steve said with a grin as he reverently took down the bow to examine it.
The Eye of the Leviathan jewel could be socketed into gear to provide a range of effects, including detection of magical camouflage. That one might prove useful.
Ruby called me over to one huge rack that looked like a wine rack, but with smaller bottles. “Are these alcohol?”
I scanned them with Identify and shook my head. “Poisons. Looks like Nextharos developed a lot of nasty ones. A bunch say they’re custom crafted for specific targets.”
I’d have to study them more later, but grabbed a promising one to test out. “Tincture of the Stilled Heart. Rare. This fast-acting toxin, developed by Nextharos and his chief poisoner, causes paralysis and short-term memory loss.”
I could think of a lot of uses for that one. A ledger hanging from the side of the rack included the recipe for each of the poisons. If they proved useful, I bet I could hire Anna the potion maker to try reproducing some for me.
Ruby asked about a few and took a couple that countered various magical effects. “They might have been designed to weaken the powers of his targets, but they might help remove debuffs that keep people from healing faster.”
“Good idea.”
“I’ll replicate them and return the originals,” she promised.
Wandering farther, I found Nextharos’s personal trophy vault near the glowing barrier wall blocking the back. Racks of preserved eyes, teeth, carapaces, and fins from slain creatures were arranged in exacting detail, many shrunk like the trophy heads, and each labeled, polished, and lovingly maintained. I didn’t bother identifying all of them to see if they had any lingering magical properties. Maybe later.
I also found several large bins filled with tier-4 mana crystals, and even a shelf proudly displaying a dozen Nexus crystals. They way they were positioned on velvet cushions, they might be worth even more than I’d realized.
“You going to break down this barrier so we can see the good stuff?” Jane asked, nodding at the glowing energy wall.
“Not yet. I can only take 1 restricted item per day out from behind the barriers, and I want to grab one of those suits of armor in Tydrion’s vault.”
“You can’t use it,” she reminded me.
“I know, but maybe Sythrak can get someone to tweak it for us.”
“Ooh, right.”
Much of the contents of the vault I’d probably sell off, like I planned to do with the other vaults, but exploring them was so much fun. We moved on to Vhaernos’s vault next, and Tomas and Andy started betting on what they’d find. Ed followed along, a look of wonder, and maybe a bit of shock, on his face.
The key had a symbol of a burning skull. Not inspiring, but probably pretty accurate. As soon as I stepped into the vault, I could see it would be a bust. It only took moments to confirm my fears.
The space was crowded with cruel weapons and tools of torture, along with lots of enchanted items designed to help in the subjugation and slavery of souls. He even had a several scrolls to force followers to appear before him whenever he wanted.
“Summon Follower Scroll. Teleport 1 follower to your side from anywhere in the world.”
It was very powerful, but also scary. No doubt everyone in his domain were considered followers, which meant he could drag any of them to him without warning, whenever he wanted. So much potential for abuse, and from what I knew of Vhaernos, no doubt that’s how he used them.
“This place is depressing,” Ruby said after half a minute, already heading for the exit.
“Yeah, Vhaernos was a real piece of work,” Jane said.
I marked almost everything for Jeeves to collect and sell, keeping only the few items that might be worth perusing later, including ledgers and papers regarding his domain and the mines he owned. He did have twice as many mana crystals as even Velexis, along with a full bin of Nexus crystals.
He also had another cabinet with a glass door that contained 2 shelves holding small, open boxes of different kinds of crystal I’d never seen before. The boxes on the top shelf held long, slender crystals with a lovely blue-green color. They looked like someone had scooped up pure Caribbean waters and hardened them into crystal form. Five boxes with a total of 5 in each box.
“Pressure Crystals. Rare. Who would have imagined a cruel tyrant ruling over a mostly-above-water domain would also command the one mine on Thalrassia with the unique blend of conditions to produce these crystals. With a unique mana signature blending energy, water, and the pressure of immense depths, it’s a shame so few can be harvested in any given year. Used to empower a wide variety of energy-based weapons, armor, and spells, they impart the mighty power of overwhelming pressure.”
That . . . was wild. I tossed a box of the beautiful, blue-green crystals into my inventory to test later.
Those crystals were so cool, I expected great things when I checked out the second shelf. Again 5 boxes, each with 5 crystals. These were spiraled in shape, with a slightly swirling smoky black color, and gave off a very different vibe.
“Soul Crystals. Rare. Did you think all the spiritual energy from the many souls Vhaernos captured, enslaved, or simply tortured was lost? Waste not, want not. These crystals, crafted by a skilled soul weaver and mana manipulator, capture the raw spectral energy unleashed by those suffering souls. The resulting turbulent spectral energy is perfect for powering soul wards to keep ethereal beings at bay, or to empower runes and enchantments to reflect magical attacks back against the caster, dealing direct spiritual damage.”
Those crystals were just gross. I shuddered with revulsion and shut the glass door. Each crystal seemed like a testament to Vhaernos’s cruelty. Could they be extremely useful? Sure, but I didn’t want to deal with them yet.
Everyone else had already exited the vault by the time I joined them in the basement. “That one’s mostly a bust.”
“Should get a lot of mana crystals for it, though, right?” Andy asked.
I nodded. “Definitely. Anyone see anything else you want?”
They all shook their heads. Not surprising, I guess. We all had most of the gear we needed to finish this stage.
“Fun to explore, though,” Jane said.
“Next one’ll have better stuff,” Andy added.
“Like that Countess Syvelis,” Lana said.
“I’m looking forward to seeing what she’s got,” Jane said. With her similar build, she might get a windfall from Syvelis’s vault, assuming I could force the crafty spymaster to actually fight me
Their faith in me was heart-warming, but I looked to Ed and suddenly got an idea. “Ed! Come with me.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. In fact, something might be right.”
I raced back into the vault, with Ed on my heels and the rest of the team trailing. Ruby called out, “What is it?”
“You’ll see.” I rushed back to the display case and pulled out a box of the freaky Soul Crystals.
“That’s so twisted,” Jane muttered when she read the description.
“Literally and figuratively,” Steve agreed, then shared the description with Ruby, who grimaced.
I turned to Ed, trying to tamp down my excitement until we proved if my idea would work. “Your golem spell fails because the ghostly core is too weak, right?”
“Yeah,” he said, shoulders slumping.
“What if it wasn’t?” I held out the box.
He frowned, looking from me to the box. Jane got it first, eyes going wide as she gasped. “Lucas! That’s brilliant!”
“Maybe. I hope so. Worth testing at least.”
“What is?” Andy asked.
Ed got it and his face lit with a fragile hope. He reached out for the box with trembling hands. “It might work. I pretty much stopped thinking about my class after it broke.”
“I think we all did, but that was a mistake. There have to be ways to make the situation even a little better before you get to level 75.”
Tomas sucked in a breath as he caught on. “You think he can power the golem core with these ghost crystals?”
I nodded. “Let’s find out.”
The vault was fairly full, so we returned to my basement. There, Ed held one of the Soul crystals in a trembling hand and cast his golem spell. A 10-foot hulking humanoid figure of living stone appeared next to him. It looked intimidating, but slumped to the ground immediately. The ghost core simply lacked the power to animate those heavy limbs.
Ed pressed the crystal to the golem’s heart and if sank into the stone. I held my breath in anticipation, silently willing it to work. Ed needed a win so badly. Half a heartbeat later, the golem shook, limbs vibrating with a rattling of moving stones. Then the dead, black eyes blazed with swirling, ethereal smoke and the golem heaved itself to its feat.
“It worked!” Ed chortled, lifting his hands toward the ceiling and roaring with delight. The golem mimicked him, but did not make a sound.
We all laughed and cheered, and Ed pulled me into a crushing bear hug. Tears flowed unheeded down his cheeks. “Lucas, this is the best gift. I finally have a little hope.”
When he let me go, Tomas clapped me on the back while Jane gave Ed a big hug. Then Ruby slipped up to me and pulled me into an embrace. She kissed my cheek and gave me a smile that melted me on the inside.
“You did good, Lucas.”
“This is just the start,” I promised her, then turned to Ed. Ruby slid one hand down to mine and gave it a squeeze before letting go.
“We’ve been fools not to do more to help. You can have all the Soul crystals I’ve got, but I want to see what else we can do.”
“Like what?” he asked.
My reply was interrupted by a message.
Tony: “Lucas, I’m holding a meeting with the military to discuss Burns and the other traitors in 30 minutes. I’d like you there.”
Lucas: “I’ll be there.”
“Ed, I want you with me. Tony’s holding a meeting with the military. Before we go, I have a couple stops to make.”
“Lead on, Lucas,” he said, still smiling so wide it must be hurting his cheeks.
With obvious reluctance, he banished the golem and retrieved the Soul crystal. Its charge was barely diminished from the short duration it powered the golem. It looked like one crystal could last for hours.
Upstairs, we celebrated Ed’s victory with actual ice cream sundaes that Jeeves produced. Some of the best ice cream I’d ever tasted. Most of the team decided to head to the Training Guild. Since Ruby still had to wait for the training cooldown, she planned to take a shift with the wall guard. Nigel jumped to my shoulder and we headed out.
Of course we had to stop at Sam’s tavern on the way. It was less crowded than usual. Sure, it was still super early, but I’d never seen the tavern anything but bustling any time day or night. Was that a sign that people were getting tired, that the all-night party at the Expanse was drawing too many people away, or that all the fighters were already gathering at the military headquarters?
Sam didn’t look troubled. Instead, he strode around the bar with a big smile on his face. “Lucas! Welcome. How are you?”
Identify showed that he’d climbed to level 60. The man was one of the most consistent levelers of everyone. I shook his outstretched hand warmly.
“I’m here, so pretty good, all things considered. You know Ed, right?”
“Of course,” Sam said, pumping Ed’s huge hand too. “You look better.”
“I feel better,” Ed agreed.
“Good for you. We need all the hope and joy we can in this crazy world. Hold onto it as long as possible, my friend.”
Sam extended a hand to Nigel and produced a small steak. Nigel gobbled it up then asked, “Is Nellie out back?”
Sam started in surprise, then laughed a deep, belly laugh. “Wonders never cease on this world. It is a great pleasure to speak with you at last, Nigel!”
Nigel purred against the side of my head, but thankfully he didn’t do the whole swelled-head response. “I hear beer-battered steak is delicious.”
Sam gestured grandly toward the back. “I am confident Nellie will be happy to share some with you when she hears your voice.”
Nigel leaped off my shoulder and soared all the way across the room before landing in the doorway and disappearing inside. Nellie’s delighted shout echoed back out a moment later.
I took a deep breath of the warm air, scented with Sam’s various meads, lagers, and beers as well as a host of delicious aromas from the kitchen. “This place feels more like home than anywhere besides Wooster Hollow.”
Sam chuckled. “Who picked that name?”
“I did.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Sober?”
I rolled my eyes. “Why does everyone hate that name?”
“I don’t hate it. I just figured you’d go for something more epic for a truly epic home.”
“It fits.”
“Then it works,” he said with a shrug. “Come, my friends.”
He led us to an empty table and produced a couple of the fancy steins I’d left with him, along with fresh grilled-cheese sandwiches and, of course, a bucket of french fries.
We munched in silence for a moment, then I sighed. “Life is crazy out there. Thanks for helping keep us all grounded.”
“We cannot control our circumstances, but we can control how we face them,” he said, saluting with his stein, then draining it.
“I plan to remember that,” Ed said, saluting with his drink.
“Keep up the great work. Oh, and to help inspire you, see what you can do with this.”
I produced a clear quart container of the amazing Quantum Nectar. Sam leaned close, eyes wide with interest as he studied the ever-changing colors of the magical brew. Then he gasped when he finished reading the description.
“It’s even better than it sounds,” I told him, popping the lid and pouring a little into his stein, then sharing some with Ed.
Sam took a tentative sip and he smiled wider than I’d ever seen. Another belly laugh and he sipped a second time, then a third. “It’s a miracle!”
Ed looked thunderstruck. “I though the vault was mind-blowing, but this is real magic.”
Of course, their reactions drew a crowd of folks eager to taste something so good it made Sam look like he was going to swoon. Sam produced shot glasses and I poured a round for everyone interested. Their shouts of delight and begging for another taste drew in the rest of the patrons and I managed to get everyone in the tavern about half a shot glass full before we emptied the quart.
“Back off,” Sam called loudly above the clamor, his tone reassuring. “We’ll have more available at the bar soon. No more freebies.”
With much grumbling and a few tears, the crowd dispersed. Sam added, “You do have more where that came from, right? If not, I’m going to have a riot later.”
“Some, but not a lot, and I don’t know if I can get more.” I transferred 10 more quarts directly to his inventory.
He grimaced. “That’s it?”
“That’s it. Figured you might find inspiration. If you can duplicate even some of what this stuff can do . . .” I left the thought hanging.
“By everything that’s holy, I plan to try,” he exclaimed, slapping the table with enthusiasm. “If I can, it’ll revolutionize everything I’ve done so far. If not, I’ll still make a mint selling off the limited stock we’ve got.”
“Good luck.”
We rose, shook Sam’s beefy hand, and I called, “Nigel! Time to go.”
Nellie appeared in the doorway, her huge frame blocking the light. “Little Nigel can talk now! You must bring back soon for many food tasting.”
“I’ll do my best. Nigel, let’s go, Bud.”
He hopped out of Nellie’s arms and waddled over, obviously stuffed to the gills. I scooped him up and let him lie in a boneless heap across my shoulders.
As I headed for the door, Sam’s voice carried easily to me. “Nellie, my love, you’ve got to try this! It’s nectar from above, I swear!”
Hearing him celebrate something as simple as a really good drink so much made me smile. I needed that bit of a break and a reminder of the little things we were fighting for.
I pushed open the door and focused on the future. I’d won some important victories that night, but the fight wasn’t over. We had to push harder, wrap up this crazy stage, and take the fight to Marisara. Then we could finally relax and really celebrate.
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OK - So this is the point I'm planning to end Nexus Runner 3.
Yay!
Below, I'm going to share a final stats check and a more detailed Appendix with full descriptions of his spells and titles.
First, I'd love some feedback.
You may have noticed, but Nexus Runner 3 was a much rougher draft than the first two books. I've tried to post as much as I possibly can for you.
I do have plans to make some edits to book 3. The story needs some fine-tuning and a bit of a focus improvement.
Will you take a moment and think back over the chapters included in book 3? Will you share comments with your feedback?
What did you really love about book 3?
What areas, if any, did you feel were rough or didn't work as well?
Do you have questions about the story you felt should have been answered?
What recommendations do you have for making this already-great book even better?
Your feedback is immensely important, so please take a moment to share your thoughts. You're my super fans, and I want to make sure Nexus Runner exceeds your expectations.
Next week, I will begin posting chapters in book 4, but there is a chance I will reduce the number of chapters to once per week for one month until I finish those edits so that book 4 can be more polished and I won't have to change a bunch of stuff while you're in the middle of reading it.
THANK YOU!
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Final stats check. A great chance to see Lucas’s final stats. If you’re not interested, feel free to skip this chapter without missing anything.
Name: Lucas Altan
Race: Tier-1 Human
Class: Mystic Reaver
Level: 45
Life Points: 6,893 Efficiency
(Tier-0 equivalent: 697,259) 100%
Mana: 262 100%
(Tier-0 equivalent: 2,620)
Number of Followers: 18
(Note: Tier-0 equivalents are multiplied based on Efficiency)
BASE STATS:
Constitution: 129 60%
Intelligence: 75 100%
Strength: 119 60%
Dexterity: 79 60%
Wisdom: 167 60%
SECONDARY STATS:
Endurance: 253 60%
Agility: 318 60%
Perception: 266 60%
Magical Resistances 221 60%
Luck: 180 60%
CHA: 2438 100%
OTHER STATS:
Mental Resistance: 106 100%
Fear Resistance: 65 100%
Poison Resistance: 60 100%
Fire Resistance: 60 100%
Heat Resistance: 60 100%
Steam Resistance: 60 100%
Most Elemental Resistances: 55 100%
Other Resistances: 50 100%
PERMANENT SPELLS
1 Harvest Level 9
2 Tether Slide Level 10
3 Energy Ward Level 6
UTILITY SPELLS:
1 Mystic Looter Tier-1 Level 1
2 Linguasight. Level 10
3 Navigation Level 10
4 Soul Feed Level 10
CLASS SPELLS:
1 Elemental Harmony Level 3
2 Divergent Strike Level 4
3 Potential Hammer / Hammer Strike Level 2
TEMPORARY SPELLS:
1 Knock Knock. Common. Uses Remaining: 2
2 Shadow Walk. Rare. (Tied to Toe Ring. Replenishes 1 use per day)
Uses Remaining: 7
3 Eyes of the Hunter. Epic. (Harvested Spell 1). Uses Remaining: 6
4 Brine Scourge. Rare. (Harvested Spell 2). Uses Remaining: 5
5 Minion Minion. Epic. Level 4. (Harvested Spell 3). Uses Remaining: 5
6 Tidelash Coup. Legendary. (Mimicked Spell). Uses Remaining: 2
7 Upper Cut. Uncommon. Uses Remaining: 1
8 Abyssal Requiem. Rare. Uses Remaining: 4
9 Gravity Spike. Rare. Level 7. Uses Remaining: 6
10 Convergence Wave. Rare. Level 6. Uses Remaining: 4
11 Mass Transmute. Epic. Level 7. Uses Remaining: 9
12 Nullwake. Epic. (In the Tome of Callback). Uses Remaining: 1
13 Devastation. Rare. (In the Tome of Callback). Uses Remaining: 1
Tier-1 ABILITIES
1. Swordsman Uncommon Level 10
2. Mana Control Uncommon Level 4
3. Meditation Uncommon Level 4
4. Runesmith Uncomnmon Level 7
Tier-0 Abilities
1. Hand-to-hand martial arts fighting. Common Level 16
2. Heavy Weapons Common Level 15
3. Dual Wield Epic Level 16
4. Knife Throwing Common Level 15
5. Spellseers Gaze Rare Level 15
6. Wolf Blood Uncommon Level 15
7. Wolf Sight Uncommon Level 15
8. Perception Pulse Rare Level 15
9. Mana String Uncommon Level 16
10. Mimic Rare Level 15
11. Crisis Management Uncommon Level 15
12. Fire Hand Rare Level 15
13. The Show Must Go On Rare Level 15
14. Iron Lung Rare Level 15
15. Visionary Resolve Rare Level 15
16. Sport Fishing Uncommon Level 15
17. Arena Breaker Legendary Level 15
18. Twilight Blades Rare Level 10
19. Phantom Step Gear Ability Level 15
20. Force Weaver Class Ability Level 15
21. Squared Circuit Class Ability Level 15
EXISTING TITLES:
Inquisitive Mind
Trailblazer
David Copperfield
Lucky Stiff
Musketeer
Spartacus
Doctor Strange
Hercules
Alan Alan
Tiberius
Merlin
Beast master
Mephistoles
Alexander
Goliath
Alpha
Intergalactic Guardian
The Greatest Showman
Elf Born
NEW TITLES:
Atreides
Court Assassin
Secretariat
============================================================
This Appendix is purely informational for those who wish to review the full description of all of Lucas’s spells, abilities, and titles.
PERMANENT SPELLS
1 Harvest
Level 9. Mana Cost: Minor
Unique. Up to 80% chance to steal a spell from a defeated enemy. Chance increases by 2% per enemy level higher than your own. Can have a maximum of up to 3 harvested spells. Choose which spell to replace.
2 Tether Slide
Level 10. Mana Cost: Minor
Rare. Mark up to 3 objects or items as your tethers.
Within 10 minutes you may cast a magical hook to those tethers and slide to them across any terrain up to a distance of up to 1000 yards, with a single change of direction at the first tether point. At least one tether must be within sight when spell is triggered.
Implacable. Double your speed. Ignore any force attempting to deflect or impede your slide to your next tether point and add 500% more damage to your first strike. Cooldown: 1 hour
3 Energy Ward
Mana Cost: Variable
Aura. Rare. Generate an invisible defensive aura that extends 2 yards in every direction to redirect force from all incoming attacks and deal double deflected physical damage back against attackers. Enemies who remain in the affected area suffer increasing levels of restraint while being drained of life force and mana.
UTILITY SPELLS:
1 Mystic Looter
Tier-1. Level 1
Personal spatial storage inventory.
Loot fallen enemies.
Inventory space becomes unlimited for tier-0 items. New tier-1 inventory space unlocked with a capacity of 10x10. Hotlist still capped at 50.
40% chance for tier-0 loot to instantly upgrade to a higher rarity when first dropped.
All tier-0 loot will slowly improve in grade or quantity over time while in the inventory. 15% chance for loot with sufficient Potential to evolve to tier-1 over time at the cost of dropping a grade.
Transfer tier-0 loot to party members up to 1 mile.
2 Linguasight. Level 10.
Identify.
Translate most spoken languages from the Multiverse.
Upgraded to include Mammoth Lions and inner-world support languages.
Identifies energy signatures. Identify now shows more information about enchantments, magical constructs.
Upgrade for improved sight. Identify of Tier-1 beings significantly improved.
Unique upgrade. Reality filter. No one from lower tier can hide information.
Upgraded to share more details about classes, class evolution history, and spells.
3 Navigation Level 10
Personal map that populates as you explore. Both full and mini map views.
Upgrades include plotting and waypoints. Upgrade with Ping.
Ping. Once per day, update map out to 100 yards times current Perception with one of the following: Monsters, dungeons, rifts in the fabric of space, or loot boxes.
4 Soul Feed
Unique. Absorb energy from fallen enemies to refill mana and health and supercharge all physical attributes for up to 10 minutes at up to 500%.
Upgrade: Area of Effect. Designate a variable percentage of stolen energy toward party members.
CLASS SPELLS:
1 Elemental Harmony Level 3
Mana Cost: Minor
Combine the effects of up to 3 elemental-based potions with any spell to add a melded elemental effect to the spell. Effects vary depending on potions applied and base spell used.
2 Divergent Strike Level 4
Mana Cost: High
Area of Effect. A high-impact attack that detonates across an area 5 feet in diameter per level with major kinetic damage. Blast wraps all affected enemies with convergence mana, weakening their spellcasting and preventing absorption of basic or attuned mana for 10 seconds. Cooldown: 5 minutes.
3 Potential Hammer / Hammer Strike Level 2
Mana Cost: Moderate
Area of Effect. Two-part spell.
Cast at the beginning of a battle to cover an area 5 yards in diameter per level in an invisible field. All energy usage within the affected area for the next 5 minutes will add charges to a pool of pure kinetic energy. Pool can be tapped to add Hammer Strike to any blows. Pool dissipates after 6 minutes. Cooldown: 10 minutes.
Hammer Strike. Unleash all charges of energy built within Potential Hammer through any form of melee strike, dealing pure kinetic damage. Force of each charge roughly equivalent to Lucas’s average-force punch.
TEMPORARY SPELLS:
1 Knock Knock
Common. Uses Remaining: 2
Tells a random knock knock joke. Can cast up to 50 yards away.
2 Shadow Walk
Rare. (Tied to Toe Ring. Replenishes 1 use per day)
Uses Remaining: 7
Surround yourself with shadows for concealment and 50% added defense for 3 seconds. Teleport through the shadows to any shadow in sight.
3 Eyes of the Hunter
Epic. (Harvested Spell 1). Uses Remaining: 6
See perfectly through water, rain, mist, and fog as clearly as you would on a sunny day, plus 100 yards per level. Sight can bend around obstructions or corners if the medium you are looking through continues past it.
4 Brine Scourge
Rare. (Harvested Spell 2). Uses Remaining: 5
Unleash a superheated jet of saltwater that burns like acid and leaves target encrusted in hard salt deposits that hinder movement.
5 Minion Minion
Epic. Level 4. (Harvested Spell 3). Uses Remaining: 5
15% chance per level to steal a minion or follower of an enemy if your level or your tier is higher than the minion. Percentage adjusted by 1% up or down based on the difference between your tier-adjusted level and that of the minion’s boss.
6 Tidelash Coup
Legendary. (Mimicked Spell). Uses Remaining: 2
Unleash a concussive mixture of void, light, and death mana that pierces through nearly all defenses to deal massive amounts of both physical and spiritual damage that resists healing and corrupts the target’s ability to use their own mana and abilities.
7 Upper Cut
Uses Remaining: 1
Double the physical damage of an uppercut punch and unleash 4 ethereal claws from the back of your hand.
8 Abyssal Requiem
Rare. Uses Remaining: 4
Fire a beam of dense necrotic mana to disrupt targets’ active spellcasting and mana use while delivering severe doses of necrotic poison.
9 Gravity Spike
Rare. Level 7. Uses Remaining: 6
Target an enemy or an area 1 yard in diameter per level to change gravity. Shift it in any direction, drop it to zero, or double it for each level of spell.
10 Convergence Wave
Rare. Level 6. Uses Remaining: 4
Unleash an explosive sphere of pure energy in every direction to deliver massive damage and disrupt any active spells at the cost of half of your entire mana pool. Saturate the entire blast zone with convergence mana with a 50% chance to Mimic the strongest spell the Wave canceled out.
11 Mass Transmute
Epic. Level 7. Uses Remaining: 9
Pick one inanimate object within 1 yard, plus 1 yard per Intelligence and change all instances of that thing into something else.
12 Nullwake
Epic. (In the Tome of Callback). Uses Remaining: 1
Unleash a sphere of total destruction up to 50 feet in every direction, smashing through everything in its path and delivering massive amounts of necrotic poison damage to all organic material. Disrupt all active mana and spellcasting in the affected area, render targets incapable of using mana for 30 seconds, and mimic the strongest spell disrupted.
13 Devastation
Rare. (In the Tome of Callback). Uses Remaining: 1
Smash an area 10 feet across with a meteor of burning acid lava 10 times denser than any natural stone, ringed in absolutely black void, then crush the area with 5 times normal gravity and coat it in restricting, superheated acidic salt, dealing ongoing damage for 20 seconds.
Tier-1 ABILITIES
1. Swordsman Uncommon Level 10
Plus 20% Effectiveness of Agility when wielding swords and fighting sticks. Plus 20% slashing damage and plus 25% penetration with each level.
2. Mana Control Uncommon Level 4
Gain an innate sense of all mana at or below your tier within visual range along with vastly improved abilities to manipulate that mana. Improvements include:
Mana efficiency. Tier-0 spells and abilities cost minimal mana to cast and double their previous power. Tier-1 spells and abilities cost 10% less per level with 10% more power and 10% reduced cooldown. Casting multiple spells simultaneously costs 15% less effort per level.
Mana domination. Control all mana within a 3 yard radius per level, affecting all tier-0 spells or abilities in that sphere. Suppress available mana from enemies, amplify mana for allies, or convert to mana type(s) of your choosing
3. Meditation Uncommon Level 4
Through self reflection and insight you gain true self mastery. Plus 5% to Wisdom per level of this ability.
4. Runesmith Uncomnmon Level 7
Gain an intuitive understanding of all basic and intermediary runes.
20% per level faster learning of more advanced runes.
20% per level improved mastery over creating complex rune scripts.
Perfect recall of all tier-0 and tier-1 runes you’ve learned, and any new runes you study for at least 5 seconds.
Tier-0 Abilities
1. Hand-to-hand martial arts fighting. Common Level 16
Improves bare-handed combat. Each level of this ability decreases reaction time by 5% and increases damage by 10%. For every punch landed in each fight, add 3% to blunt force resistance and 5% to skin toughness.
2. Heavy Weapons Common Level 15
Add 20% extra damage per level when wielding an ax, warhammer, maul, or similar heavy weapon.
3. Dual Wield Epic Level 16
Gain 10% Agility and 15% extra damage per level when dual wielding. Once per fight may trigger Steel Blizzard.”
“Steel Blizzard. For your next 4 strikes, 4 clone blades will follow each weapon’s every move and deliver 50% pure kinetic force and 50% pure spiritual force against the target.
4. Knife Throwing Common Level 15
When throwing short, bladed weapons, this ability improves accuracy by 10% per level and damage by 15% per level.
5. Spellseers Gaze Rare Level 15
Sight enhancement. Ability to zoom in on distant objects and trigger Identify. See mana and energy in living color.
6. Wolf Blood Uncommon Level 15
Accelerate health and mana regeneration by a 10% per level by absorbing energy from the environment.
7. Wolf Sight Uncommon Level 15
Unlocks night vision and increases Perception stat points calculated from Wisdom by 10%.
Life force absorbed from a monster resonates with you, allowing you to more clearly sense similar monsters and see through illusions or invisibility obscuring them from your sight. Pierce invisibility and most illusions
8. Perception Pulse Rare Level 15
Release a pulse of your senses out to 1 foot per level of ability for every tier-0 point in Perception as if you were physically inspecting the entire space from up close. Note: Increase Mental Resistance further to improve ability to process the results, avoid sensory overload, and reduce mental strain.
9. Mana Strings Uncommon Level 16
20% easier crafting of mana strings per level, with 15% added strength and 10% reduced mental effort per level.
10. Mimic Rare Level 15
Rare. Gain a 20% chance for each level of this ability to cast any spell you’ve been struck with in the last 15 seconds as if it was a temporary spell you control.
Upgrade: choose a single Mimicked spell at a time to linger as a temporary spell until you use it
11. Crisis Management Uncommon Level 15
Plus 5% per level to the Effectiveness of Intelligence.
12. Fire Hand Rare Level 15
Deal 50% more damage per level to monsters who use fire mana.
13. The Show Must Go On Rare Level 15
You gain insights into creative ways to best your foes. Insights grow with the difference in levels between you and your enemy.
14. Iron Lung Rare Level 15
Continue breathing freely for 10 minutes per level in any otherwise deadly environment, including liquids, void, and solid stone. Your lungs now purge all airborne contaminants, including spores, acids, and harmful gasses.
15. Visionary Resolve Rare Level 15
All followers and team members under your command receive plus 10% to Constitution, Strength, and Mental Resistance per level when facing monsters more than 20 levels above yours, or enemy forces that outnumber you by more than 2 to 1.
16. Sport Fishing Uncommon Level 15
Plus 15% damage against aquatic monsters. Plus 20% quality and quantity of looted food items from fish per level.
17. Arena Breaker Legendary Level 15
In each formal duel, you may use 1 item, spell, or ability outside the parameters of the duel, with 3 times its normal power.
18. Twilight Blades Rare Level 10
Twilight Blades. Melding shadows and light into that mystical moment of twilight, you walk the cusp of the real and the ethereal. Fashion semi-tangible blades of twilight and control them with your mind up to 1 yard times ability level. Number of blades depends on Mental Resistance. Blades affect both physical and ethereal beings, can phase through all non-magical armor and still deal at least some spiritual damage through most magical armor. Deals triple damage to ethereal beings or undead.
19. Phantom Step Gear Ability Level 15
Rare. Phase to incorporeal for up to 5 seconds per level, becoming immune to most physical damage. Limit of 30 seconds per level per 24 hour period.
20. Force Weaver Class Ability Level 15
Rare. Dramatically increase your chances of combining two otherwise non-compatible spells to produce a new evolution of both with double their starting combined power plus 15% per level of the ability.
In addition to unlocking synergies between spells and abilities, add 20% additional kinetic damage per level.
21. Squared Circuit Class Ability Level 15
Rare. Each time the same spell is cast in the same fight, potency doubles while mana cost and cooldown is halved.
EXISTING TITLES:
Inquisitive Mind
Plus 10 to Intelligence
Plus 10% improvement to formulas of all stats affected by intelligence
10% faster learning of new skills and abilities.
Trailblazer
30% chance of loot boxes upgrading, or discovering bonus hidden loot boxes.
David Copperfield (Upgraded)
Upgrades body to tier-one.
Plus 2 extra free points per level
Increase of 30% to affect of primary stats on secondary stats!
Increase size of Inventory in Mystic Looter from 10x10 to 50x50
A fourth utility skill
A unique Harvester perk.
Lucky Stiff
Unlocks a new secondary stat: Luck. Plus 15 to Luck.
Musketeer
All for One. One for All. Plus 5 to all base stats.
Loot boxes from bosses and monsters 25 levels or more above your own automatically upgraded 1 tier.
Spartacus
Plus 25 to Luck. Plus 25 to CHA.
Gain a sliding scale of additional damage for defeating higher-level monsters, depending on how familiar you are with that monster type and how easily you defeated it.
Doctor Strange
Increase effect of all primary stats on calculating all secondary stats by 10%.
Additional increase effect of Intelligence on calculating magical resistance by 25%.
Additional increase effect of Constitution on calculating magical resistance by 25%.
Hercules
Plus 5 to Strength. Plus 5 to Constitution.
New aura: Indomitable.
Indomitable. Aura. Protect your mind and those of nearby party members with plus 50% mental defense for the duration of the aura. Mana cost: Moderate. Area: 5 feet for every point in Wisdom.
Alan Alan
Plus 10% effect of both Intelligence and Wisdom to calculating Luck.
Plus 10% to final calculation of CHA.
Plus 10% to final calculation of Constitution.
Tiberius
Double all current base stats.
Plus 15% to all secondary stat calculations. Plus 50% to all other resistances.
Upgrade Explorer’s Sight to Spellseer's Gaze.
Spellseer's Gaze. See energy and mana in living color, sense energy flows, and more easily see synergies between spells and mana types.
Merlin
Plus 5 to Intelligence.
Plus 5 to Wisdom.
Plus 10 levels to all existing direct mana-focused abilities.
Start all new direct mana-focused abilities at level 5.
Beast master
You now sense animals within 20 yards, sense their level of hostility, and have a 30% chance to influence that hostility.
Mephistoles
Unlock Surge Vortex Channels. Unique. You discovered a unique synergy between several spells, your class, and abilities to unlock a moment of pure bedlam. Surge Vortex channels act like secondary mana channels that form a mighty extra layer around your existing mana channels, fueled by a usually-latent pool of power. Both pool and channels remain inert except for moments of extreme danger fighting stronger monsters where your health drops more than 50% and you need to unleash a bit of insanity.
Alexander
Plus 5% to your maximum damage for each of your titles.
Once per day, you may unleash Eminent Domain.
Eminent Domain. Add 25% maximum damage per title in a single strike.”
Goliath
Plus 1 to all martial abilities
Plus 5% to Strength and Constitution
Double Strength, Constitution, or Physical size for 30 seconds
Alpha
Rule the pack
Plus 5% to Strength, Constitution, and Agility per pack member (follower).
Lunar Dominance - Plus 10% more to the same boosted stats at night.
Add another permanent counter to your Undying Loyalty Token for every 10 unique followers you acquire.
Plus 1 permanent follower to the Undying Loyalty Token for every 10 million followers from across the multiverse.
Intergalactic Guardian
Plus 1 to all primary abilities
All new primary abilities start with plus 1 level.
Alien species will see this title and understand you have become an ambassador for intergalactic negotiation.
The Greatest Showman
Plus 500 to CHA.
Plus 5 to current counter on the Undying Loyalty Token.
Upgrade Alpha Title.
Elf Born
A unique title bestowed by the tier-4 Elaris elf clan. Grants honorary inner-clan rank.
Plus 25% chance to achieve future perfect tier evolutions.
Plus 1 level to all current spells.
Instant evolution of your highest-leveled tier-0 spell to tier-1.
NEW TITLES:
Atreides
Transform any fight with a being from another world into a formal duel.
Every noble, officer, or executive of an alien world you defeat while on Arasha, whether or not in formal duels, cedes their titles, holdings, and property to you.
Court Assassin
When fighting off-world nobility, or officers, damage doubled. Plus additional 50% damage for every other enemy from the same home planet already defeated.
Secretariat
Soulbind 1 item
Plus 1 to Swordsman ability.
Plus 500 points to CHA.
Plus 20% more mana crystals in loot boxes.
Plus 25% chance for loot boxes to increase one grade.
Plus 10% chance for loot boxes to increase two grades.
Loot dropped from bosses or found in boxes won from defeating bosses will upgrade one rarity.
Comments
Frank Morin
Thanks for the feedback. You're right about the loot. Already working on edits to trim that back, and to also flesh out the town storyline.
Tornhoof
So the length of book 3 is better than book 2. A few nice boss fights, but I still think the loot descriptions are too long, too much useless loot. Progression could have been faster, but I unserstand the split into two books. The town storyline could use a bit fleshing Out. The "romance" with Ruby was meh. Either cut it or flesh it out.
