Battleforged
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Chapter 256 - Two Sides To Every Story
🕑 Added 2023-02-17 04:00:01 +0000 UTCElonia was gazing at him with tears in her eyes. “Eric! The worth of your gift, I can’t even put into words!”
Eric grinned. “At least you now have a path forward… one that doesn’t require you destroying yourself from within to please Mother. But whether or not you want to risk it, that’s up to you.”
Elonia shook her head. “Eric, that’s not really fair.”
“Isn’t it?” Eric frowned, pinning her with his gaze. “Tell me, Sister, if this arcane path that allows you to triangulate the formulae for almost any ritual spell truly is the most powerful path of all… then why isn’t it one that our mother walks?”
Elonia frowned, opening her mouth, but no words came out.
Eric flashed a hard smile. “Why is our mother known as ‘The Winter Queen’ and not, say, ‘The Arch-Mage badass who obliterates all her foes with triple-element storms?’” Eric sighed at his sister’s flummoxed expression. “And lets not forget the way my knees were slamming to the ground in fear and terror when Mother made absolutely sure that I knew my place, and how utterly grateful I should be for her grace and largesse, when she then condescended to give me guest rights. Never mind that I nearly killed myself, risking my ass doing everything I could to save her faction… your faction, I mean, from getting wiped completely off the map.”
“Eric, I don’t think you understand—“
“Very strong charm magics were in play, sister. Just like in all the darker faerie tales. And maybe there’s something contractual to her compulsions as well. Because, like it or not, we came from her womb and suckled at her breasts for the first two years of our intertwined lives. Even my insane Vitality and Willpower were like, ‘no, you don’t have a chance.’”
Eric snorted. “And she’s most definitely the master of Winter’s element. And you know what? All her magic feels… natural. Instinctual. Not like she’s devoted a fortune in resources to forcing open her nodes and shoving gloriously deadly elemental affinities into each one, countless levels before her soul, or meridian channels, are really ready for the strain, then trying to flash freeze it all in perfect rigid place, no matter how brittle it makes your entire matrix! No, sis. I don’t think a player as savvy and ruthless as Aurelia Silver, Winter’s Queen, would ever do anything like that to herself. Even if it allowed her to summon city-killing tornadoes before she ever hits level fifty! But her last born children? Sure, monkey away!”
Eric took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm, wincing at the growing alarm, and frustration, he was seeing in his sister’s face.
“And hey maybe I’m completely off base, here. Maybe she really does adore us and want what’s best for us both.” He sighed, shrugging his shoulders. “And sure. Maybe Winter was the only path that would take her to Silver, and all the meridian strain your suffering will be magically repaired when you hit Bronze, or if you actually manage to secure the throne to an entire world. Maybe. But that’s kind of like hinging your retirement on winning the lottery. Don’t you think?”
His smile hardened, knowing he should stop as his sister began to wilt, but unable. “But you know what? I don’t think so. You know why? Because the System, dear sister, seems to be competing directly with cultivation as a whole, in terms of power. So why the hell would it repair damage that would allow you to channel spiritual energy perfectly, when it can make you the absolute perfect rigid crystalline super-computer matrix? Again, that’s assuming your meridian network will even last to level fifty for your Arch-Mage evolution before rupturing, let alone making it all the way to level 100, when you can finally ascend to Bronze. And maybe you’ll feel so much better when you achieve that milestone that it will have all been worth it.”
His gaze hardened. He tilted up her chin, forcing tear-filled eyes to meet his own. “But what if it’s worse, so much worse, than anything you’ve ever endured before? And yes. I do know exactly what I’m talking about. What if freezing your entire meridian framework as a Bronze tier Ascended Arch-Magister means locking your soul in a matrix of incomprehensible pain? A living arcane supercomputer whose half-blood weakness means she’s stuck in eternal torment, the shrieks of your neurons the fuel for the glorious processing power that will truly let you ascend as a magus and bring mother’s reign to ever greater heights of glory?”
He chuckled bitterly at his sister’s horrified expression. “Of course, by then you’ll be too lost in torment to do anything for yourself, so our dear beloved mother will then serve as your caretaker, and the eternal power behind the throne.”
Hard sapphire eyes bored into emerald orbs bright with tears. “The true power behind the throne, as she was always fated to be. And the agony you would feel would be but a pittance to an ancient, millennia old fairy queen. A queen who has no doubt done this many, many times before. And used her children pitilessly, as countless pawns upon countless boards making up the fates of countless worlds, an equal number of times before.”
The air rang with the crack of his sister’s palm against his cheek.
Eric didn’t bother to dodge, knowing he deserved the pain he felt, even if it was just a pittance of what he should feel, if the frustrated fury in his sister’s gaze was anything to go by.
“How dare you, Eric! Just… how dare you!” She shook her head, gazing at him in horrified disbelief. “That woman gave birth to us, took care of us, loved and nurtured us, no matter how busy her career was! She was there for you when you were a moody little self-destructive shit! She was there for me when I was shooting up poison I’ll never forgive myself for touching, being used by an asshole I’ll never forgive for wrecking my life! And through it all, no matter how angry she was at myself, at that asshole, at the world, she was there for me, making sure I could recover, face my own goddamned fucked up reflection in the mirror, and actually get better! She helped me make something of myself. Believe in myself. Turn my own life tragedy into a triumph, and make the greatest fucking movie of my life! And we went through all that shit before we even turned eighteen!”
Elonia shook her head in dismay. “I know you hated feeling embarrassed in front of the camera. Always freezing up, forgetting your lines… I know how much pressure Mother put on you, mocking you for not even being able to act as well as you did hamming it up with your Dungeons and Delves group! And, fuck it, Eric, sometimes you were actually pretty funny,” she said with a bittersweet smile. Before her eyes turned flinty hard once more.
“When Mother found out what had happened to us, that you had been consumed by one of those Zero Tier goblin pods… I swear, I thought all of Newark would freeze over! It was only Lord Drevyn swearing about oaths and pacts and a bunch of shit that made no sense at all to me at the time that kept the city from being wiped off the fucking map! And you think she doesn’t love you? I got news for you, brother, she’s always loved you. Always cared about you. Always looked after you!” Her eyes flashed. “You were too dense to pick up on it, but that constant 10% Experience drain you suffered in Gilton was because of the portal she always had at your back, ready to pull you back, even if it cost her more than you could possibly imagine!”
Eric blinked, gazing at her for long moments. “That can’t be true! There were those times that...”
His sister gave a bitter shake of her head. “Only assassins could lock you in, and they did, believe me. Time and time again. And how you ripped through those fuckers the way you did, without a single ritual spell to your name, I’ll never understand. But sure as hell, I’ll always admire. So how the fuck you can just stand there and acting like a paranoid idjit, telling me that Mother’s out to get me, get us both, and lock me into some Arch-Magister crystalline pain palace is beyond fucking absurd!”
Eric blinked. “But what about the gold?”
“Of course she was hungry for the gold! You had half a trillion fucking credits worth! Can you believe what we could have done with that? How stable and secure our faction would have been? Fuck, Eric, I’d have half the Northeast under my command by now! With that kind of capital, the administrators would have all been in our pockets, not the goddamned goblins!”
Eric felt his cheeks heat up, guts twisting in knots at her words. “Wait, so your saying that what happened to your faction, how close you all came to being wiped off the map… You’re saying it’s all my fault?”
Elonia furiously shook her head. “No, you idiot! I’m not saying that at all! It was your money. You found it, you earned it, and you had somehow managed to claim it without triggering any of the curses that would have slain even a Bronze Tier Contender, the entire weight of the former USA, over two hundred years of history and hundreds of millions of patriotic souls somehow bound to that curse!” She shook her head with awe. “One day you’ll have to tell the story in more detail than the occasional silent glimpses mother had of you when your life was in peril. Because those curses could have taken out an entire army! Not to mention summoning Bronze Tier Fire Eagles that would have incinerated Gilton within minutes, anchored by the incredible arcane energy locked within the very gold they had been sworn to protect! Believe me, brother, our mother’s been trying to crack the secret of how to access that gold long before Earth even fell. And there you and your friends are, slipping in and out in two separate runs, and how the fuck you actually managed to do what you did...”
Eric flashed a rueful smile. “All I did was get betrayed and played for a fool by an asshole mayor who was somehow connected to whatever foundation or organization supposedly safeguards those so-called black book Federal Reserve sites. The man basically gave us a blank check in return for rescuing his town, but had set us up to take a really big fall long before we could ever collect. But as far as the System was concerned...”
Elonia chuckled, instantly getting it. “I doesn’t matter if that sleazy mayor never intended to honor his agreement! You still fulfilled your end of the bargain, so the bastard was System-bound to fulfill his. Which meant you had every right to be at that treasury and take your share. And what a huge fucking share it was! Brilliant!”
“Not really,” Eric admitted. “We weren’t expecting him to arrange for a 30th level slaver hit squad to collar us or take us out. The fact that we were the ones who gained access to that fortune and not the slaver-happy CSA is a fucking miracle. And if they had been just a little bit less hot and bothered by our succubus...”
Elonia winced. “I got it. You and your friends worked damn hard for that gold and nearly got killed trying to earn it multiple times. Of course I knew you weren’t going to just surrender it all to the laws of primacy Mother has always lived by. We were raised in the 21st Century, Eric. Not the Renaissance.”
She sighed and shook her head. “But she was right about one thing. If we had been raised as the royalty we were, in the world of her birth... if we had had the life she had wanted for us… our wallets would have been the kingdom’s wallets. The fortunes we earned would have been the family’s fortunes, and we would have been feted and lauded for it, honored as true heroes of the realm. And it’s not like we’d ever need a single credit of our own, living lives of magic and wonder, embracing unlimited possibilities as we forged ourselves into the heroes of our dreams.”
She flashed a sad, rueful smile. “But we were born on Earth, not within one of the realms of Faerie where Mother rules supreme. And she was desperate, and maybe panicked just a bit, and I really should have done more to talk her down. I tried, Eric, believe me. I told her that if we had just let things simmer down, let you have your space, feel in control of your life, let you spend some time bonding with your girlfriend and actually decompress… maybe then you would have been open to reconnecting with us. Bonding with us.” She flashed a rueful smile. “Maybe even investing in us.”
She bowed her head. “But things didn’t quite work out that way. You and your girlfriend saw mother at her worst. And, well, as much as I hate to say it, I don’t think I came off that much better, at least not to Rica, though I tried. And for that, I’m truly sorry.”
She reached out, squeezing her hand. “So even though I think Mother did the absolute best she could for me, and that you’re being monstrously unfair, comparing her to the Winter Queen in the faerie tales she swears are just Summer Court propaganda, I know you only want the best for me. Just like I do for you.”
Elonia’s eyes lit up with wonder, a smile gracing her strained but beautiful features. “And feeling the power and vitality you now give off as a cultivator, even just a newly forged one taking his first steps along his path… If the cards of my life had played out differently, I could so easily see myself following in your footsteps!” She sighed and shook her head.
“But my hand’s already been dealt. A chance for devastating power, even if I have to force my nodes to bear burdens only Purebred Pointies should dare. Not sad halfblood Roundears like you and me.” Her eyes flashed with sudden heat. “But the rules bend where a Contender wills, and I’ve used every territory I’ve gained to push myself forward, to hurtle past where lesser wizards said I would crash and burn!”
Eric’s eyes widened. A shiver raced down his spine as he looked, truly looked at his sister, now crackling with power. Forced to wonder if maybe he wasn’t the only one in their family daring a crooked path to power, even if hers was, clearly, wildly different from his own.
She flashed a knowing smile. “I can tell, just from your fucking absurd 200+ stats, that your methods suits you perfectly… Contender. Even if you must walk a crimson path, the fact that the territories you have cleared and that my champions have claimed are so filled with wondrous magic, fantastic agricultural marvels, confectionery factories, and countless overly-endowed fairy maidens all looking for husbands, tells me all I need to know about the virtues your path.”
She shook her head in bemused disbelief. “And we won’t even talk about the headmaster of my future academy and how her husband and son were brought back from that which should be irreversible. Even if they are now as much living dream as anything else. It’s still wildly beyond the ken of my arts, or Mother’s. So if ever she doubted the virtue of the crooked path you dare, she certainly won’t once she finds out just how insanely powerful you are for the heartbeat of time you stride the world like a god, beyond any other Champion or Contender in the instant you shape an entire territory’s potential to your will. As if it were just a figment of your own imagination, your own creation, to shape as you wish just a heartbeat before you commit the ultimate sacrifice, giving up each and every territory that you claim. Territories that any other Contender would gladly kill for.”
Eric just stared for long moments at his sister’s too knowing smile, ignoring the pounding of his heart. If his sister had pieced together that much...
“Elonia...”
“Don’t worry about me, brother. I’m damn well aware of just how close I am to breaking like a twig.” her gaze grew haunted. “How much territory I’ll have to claim to keep going with my brittle meridians. To ascend and evolve my class beyond level 50, still just half the way to my Bronze goal.”
Eric sighed, bowing his head. “Just please do me one favor?”
She flashed a cheeky smile. “And what would that be, future investor in the Sylvan faction?”
Eric chuckled. “Touche, sis. Just please… maybe spend a few days fooling around with all your wickedly awesome elemental configurations and see if you can find a handful of fast-cast spells that catch your eye? Not rituals, but spells like mine. Spells that would be everything you could want, if you were to actually dare Ashland’s dungeons for yourself?”
His sister gazed at him for long moments. “You mean a full suit of spells, like my Silver Sorceress in Skydragon? With all her Hots, Dots, Stun-locks, crowd controls, shields, and alpha dps strikes?”
Eric’s grin widened. “Somehow, I’m almost certain that somewhere in the back of your mind you’ve already got her completely mapped out. Don’t you, sis?”
Elonia flashed a cheeky grin. “Up to and including converting her priestly crowd control spells that now include bogs of quicksand, stone hands, blinding flash bangs, and wind-wards. The only thing I don’t have is healing. And that’s a lack I really, really don’t like.”
Eric shrugged. “So in what game ever have elementalist DPSers ever had ‘leet healing spells?”
His sister snorted. “Since never.”
Eric tilted his head. “So, just out of curiosity, what level are these spells?”
“Mostly level 30 variants, with a few like my Alpha Elemental strike are closer to level 40.”
“Sweet. And those are spells you can already cast… or master… without having to advance even one more level, am I right? Final question. How many level up points would it cost to lock in the entire set of kick-ass dungeon clearing spells that together could take you, as an adventurer, just as far as you want to go?”
She blinked. “You mean, wasting points locking in those spells as mastered fast-cast constructs?”
Eric grinned. “Spells which you could then skill up and that would forever be your own no matter what happens, just like I will be doing with the pair you so graciously helped me to forge.”
Elonia sighed, her bemused smile fading to a serious look once more. “Over a dozen, Eric. It would cost me over a dozen points to lock in those spells.”
Eric’s smile didn’t waver. “And how many points did I burn through today, for access to a single pair of spells?”
His sister’s jade green eyes flashed dangerously. “Twenty Seven. And it was worth every last point, since your arcane potential and Soul reserves both went up by four, in addition to all the boosts you got, 16 points in total, for getting your Primary Node skill all the way up to Adept status! So basically you only spent 3 points, Eric. And now that I think about it, didn’t you get a 2 point boost to Soul Reserves?” She shook her head with a rueful chuckle. “So you effectively spent 1 measly point. And besides being able to use any type of elemental wand, with the paths of Ice and Lightning now additionally open to you, you finally have a strong enough foundation to forge countless fresh spells, even if they will start as basic 3 part constructions.”
She smirked, punching his shoulder. “And you know damn well that the pair of highly complex essence-infused spells you’re now free to skill up should be utterly beyond you. At least until you hit Elite tier as a Runic Spell Forger, years from now! But since you made them in here, and paid the points, they’re yours, free and clear. Spells you can now use as a framework to forge even more of your own spells! And after your Hell Vines saved our lives, I dare you to tell me it wasn’t worth every damn point you paid!”
Eric grinned. “You’re absolutely right. It was totally worth it.” He squeezed his sister’s hand. “Now look in the mirror and tell me the same doesn’t hold true for you.”
She sighed. “Eric...”
His gaze grew intent. “Just think about it, alright? A dozen points to lock in an awesome set of fast-cast spells that I’m sure will totally blow mine away, and make you the preeminent dpser and all around buffer and crowd-control master of the most elite delving crews out there. And you can take that power and run endless delves in Ashland, leveling up multiple times in just weeks, easily earning back the points you invested in your own future. And best of all, should, god forbid, your meridian matrix be unable to handle the strain… even if you can advance no longer toward becoming whatever the hell Mother’s trying to forge you into, you’ll still be an absolutely devastating melee caster who can turn the tide of any battle. And sure. Make her happy while you’re actually taking care of yourself. Put that point into mastering that one epic tier 50th level ritual spell that sucks up giants like popcorn kernels. With that ritual to go with all your potential fast-cast spells, you’re still sitting pretty as one of the deadliest Contenders on the board, even if your meridians end up shattering by the time you hit level fifty. And I hate to say that, sis, but with the strain I see… it’s a question of when it collapses. Not if.”
“But, Eric, it would push back mother’s plans for me...”
“Fuck mother’s plans,” Eric hissed. “Think for yourself! Live your own life, Elonia. Seriously!”
His sister’s thoughtful smile froze. “That’s enough Eric.”
Eric choked back his words, bowing his head. “I’m sorry, that was stupid of me to say.”
“Yes, it was,” she snapped, before reaching over to squeeze his hand. “But damn if you didn’t make some very enticing points. And it would be nice to be able to power-level a bit, instead of being stuck forever in the very specific role of territory defender, who’s rituals only work on land she herself has claimed, who can never take the vanguard, or dare act, without hundreds of defenders forever around her.” She shook her head. “I’m not going to lie, Eric. Playing my Silver Saint from Skydragon has a lot of fucking appeal.”
“Exactly. And if you find out that you actually like that build… if feeling healthy and powerful in all sorts of ways beyond ritual spells appeals to you, if saving and even strengthening your meridian network and infusing yourself with close to a hundred points of free stats appeals to you… if learning how to infuse your spells with spiritual energy sounds interesting… then I’m just a single shout away.”
His gaze turned intent when her eyes widened at the sight of a mystic shimmering prize. “Twelve Greater Spirit fruit. And I’ll invest as much of my life force as I have to, to help you repair the damage you’ve suffered, clear your meridians, and plant these prizes.” He flashed a cheeky grin. “My cultivation path is already emblazoned upon your soul. You can start cultivating whenever you like. You’ll find it hard as hell at first… but the relief you’ll feel when you start cracking through your sludge will be beyond anything you can imagine.”
Elonia blinked, gazing at him with wide, hungry eyes, before abruptly shaking the hunger away. “Mother would kill me,” she whispered. “And it would shatter my stiffened matrix. All my forced-open nodes… filled with elements I’d suddenly be unable to use...”
“Which is why you’d spend the points you’ve saved… all the points you’ve saved, mapping out a selection of 30th and 40th level spells that would make you absolutely devastating on the battlefield, both alone and buffing a team. So that no matter what happens, even if your meridian channels end up working entirely differently than they do now, your mastered spells would still be your mastered spells for all time… and you’d have over a dozen spells you could continue to rank up for ever more power,” he finished with a smile.
Elonia gazed at him for long moments. “What’s absolutely insane is that I’m actually considering it.”
Eric smirked. “Not crazy at all. Me and my dozen greater spirit fruit are here for you, sister. A dozen of my sweetest that were never sacrificed when I gave so much of myself to Silvergrove. Because on some level… I knew. And I’ll be sure to always keep my experience bar as close to full as I possibly can, so I can help you power-cleanse all the gunk away.” His smile hardened. “It won’t be easy. You’ll literally experience 5000 hours of cultivation as ever growing pressure and crackling pain turns to the most wondrous relief and invigoration you can imagine. But that will all happen in a single afternoon’s time, with my having to fill a Master Class already in the 30s to level up, so your metamorphosis is just a single call away.”
Elonia gazed at him for long moments. “You’re an adventurer. It says it on your character sheet. When I saw that, I thought...”
“Primal Adventurer is a Tier 5 Master class,” Eric said with a smile. “It lets me synergize the strengths of Necromancy, Cultivation, and whatever powers I can evolve that fit my build perfectly. It may be nothing compared to your class right now, but an added perk is that, so long as I keep my powers balanced… there’s no limit to how far I can go.”
His sister gazed at him for long moments. “Right I can only Break through to Bronze,” she whispered. “And if I hadn’t been burning so much of my territory’s potential with each conquest… forcing open nodes, boosting my Mana Pool, stabilizing my matrix… not even that.” She bit her lip. “Mother swore that would evolve to Deep Bronze at the very least, if I could actually claim the Arch Mage class. She also assured me that no matter how bitter the path, so long as I achieve the crown, a Ruler’s Class would guarantee me Silver. No matter what. Are you actually saying you can ascend all the way to Silver? Like Mother? Have you really achieved such a breakthrough in your class choices, brother?”
Eric’s smile didn’t waver. “I didn’t say Silver, sis. I said I have no limit at all.”
She paled. “Eric… I was told that people who ascended to Gold were just…” she swallowed. “If Bronze are the titans who can devastate entire continents, and Silvers are those who can bend an entire planet to their will… several, once you get as powerful as Mother… Gold are the children who can shatter worlds like sand castles. Gods in every sense of the word… or at least, in the more destructive sense. And once you get beyond Golds...” she shuddered. “There’s no way to compare Platinum to anything we could understand, save as creatures that can destroy entire star clusters.”
Eric’s grin became strained. “Right now, I’m a Level 36 Adventurer. I’m just going to worry about hitting level 40 in one piece, perfecting my Windfire cultivation skill, and maybe learning a couple more spells.” He chuckled softly. “I think I’ll hold off on dreams of godhood… probably forever.”
Elonia bit her lip. “Is it too late for me?” She asked softly.
Eric held her gaze for long moments. “I have Tier 2 ascension pods in Ashland. They will always be open to you, sis. And since they’re a Bronze Tier facility, you could technically shelter in one indefinitely. Even from Mother, since it’s not her land, but my property on Neutral blue.” He shrugged. “All you have to do is put your hand on one of the pods inside to sense what class evolutions might be available to you.” He frowned thoughtfully. “Who knows? If you actually take me up and learn cultivation… I’m almost positive that the System will offer you at least a couple of very attractive Hybrid classes.” He flashed a confidential smile. “Between you and me, I think the System is a bit greedy, and wants to entice as many would-be cultivators to be entirely System dependent. But if it nets you an epic tier hybrid class that lets you fling spiritual energy boosted spells and level up absolutely pain free with a huge point level up point pool, then why the hell not?”
He grinned. “Sky’s the limit, sis. All I’m saying is that you have choices. And it sounds like Level 50 is a final chance for adventurers to evolve, to choose a different path before they’re locked in to till level 100, where they will either ascend to Bronze… or fail to ascend at all. So don’t be afraid to visit my pods. Take the time to see what your level 50 options might be, before you permanently lock yourself in to a class that might not be any fun at all.”
He winked. “I’ll bet you could even do that right now. So maybe hold off on bursting open any more of your nodes? Give yourself a couple of levels to save up points and maybe work on repairing your meridian channels? Who knows, if you do decide to take advantage of my gift and offer to help, and dare a cultivator’s path, you might find some truly juicy class options popping up for you!”
His voice trailed off as his sister abruptly held up her hand. “You’re starting to oversell it, bro.” She then sighed. “But, shit, Eric, you’ve given me some serious food for thought. I just, I...” She swallowed, biting her lip thoughtfully. “But nothing says I can’t hold off a few points, locking in a few fast cast masteries that will be equally good for fending off assassins, or monsters locked in the depths of your epic tier delves.”
“Right on, sis!” Eric enthused.
She smirked. “And after I tell Mother what nearly happened to us in our training pods… yeah. No way in hell she can fault me for pouring points into Vitality. And if my point totals are even more out of wack than they are already… what can she say? We all do things to survive in the heat of the moment.” She shrugged thoughtfully. “Maybe even a full dozen points more than I first thought I had wasted, just trying to keep myself among the living.”
Eric couldn’t help chuckling at that, before wincing under his sister’s glare.
“But make no mistake, Eric Silver. I won’t play the fool, whatever you might think. I’ll advance my piece in whatever way best secures my future, and the future of my people… even if that means adding in a few redundancies, in case maybe I am a lot closer to the breaking point than I want to believe. Maybe beyond what even what claiming two more fresh territories can repair.” She swallowed nervously. “Not without daring a leap in a very unexpected direction.”
“You know I’m here for you, sis,” Eric said, before frowning in consternation, realizing he hadn’t uttered a word at all. That in fact he was leaning in his sister’s lap, eyes closed, luxuriating in the floaty feeling he always savored just before sleep, suddenly too weary to move a single muscle.
“Now go to sleep, brother mine. You pushed yourself in ways you can barely comprehend. We’ve used our training pod to force multiple breakthroughs, forging millions if not billions of fresh synaptic links, and what you need, more than anything else, is sleep. So sleep, brother. Sleep, and wake up, feeling refreshed and renewed.
And a beaming Eric yawned and did just that, but not before sharing his condensed character sheet to his suitably impressed sister, before allowing himself to drift away in brilliant golden clouds of sunset reverie, dreaming sweet dreams as oblivion claimed its due.
_____________________________________
Eric Silver Level 36 Primal Adventurer
Rank 22 Cultivator
Level 27 Master Necromancer
Physical Characteristics
Strength – 216
Vitality – 236
Finesse – 131
Quickness – 243
Appearance – 24
Mental Characteristics
Scholarship – 22
Perception – 121
Willpower – 67
Charisma – 13
Potency Pools
Arcane Potential – 132
(Mana Pool = 1584)
Spiritual Energy – 197
(Qi Pool = 2364)
Soul Reserves – 85 (77)
Stamina – 2400 Points
Health – 3156 Points.
Resistances & Recovery
Physical Resistance – 44
Physical Regeneration – 23.6 health per second
Elemental Resistance – 20
Qi Resistance – 36
Mental Resistance – 24
Primal Adventurer Powers:
1. Runic Lore - Rank 22 (Soul Infusion, Runic Spell Evolution*2)
2. Unified Restoration – Rank 4
3. Runic Spell Forger – Rank 5
- Inevitable Doom (140 Mana & Qi) - Rank 5
- Hell Vines (140 Mana & Qi) – Rank 5
Cultivation Affinities
Wind / Wood / Fire
Qi Skills
Fire Fist – Rank 6 (10 Qi)
Windfire Strike – Rank 7 (30 Qi)
Necromancer Perks:
Basic Class Perks
All necromantic (and blood magic) skill use is modified by Master Necromancer Level.
All Summoned & Forged undead have their potency enhanced by Master Necromancer Level.
All spells conjuring forth any number of creatures have summoned total modified by Master Necromancer Level.
One additional enhanced class perk is earned every 2 Master Necromancer levels.
Enhanced Class Perks: (1 Perk held in reserve.)
1. Soul Orb: Tier 1
2. Undead Legion: Tier 6 (6 Ranks)
3. Undead Tactical Interface map access.
4. Vampiric Restoration
5. Mixed Unit Tactics
6. Mark of Resilience
7. Call to Battle
8. Death March
Interface Recognized Skills
Acting – Rank 5
Bardiche (Unified) – Rank 21 (Cleaving Blow, Battleforged,*Piercing Strike)
Blade and Shield – Rank 11
Boar Riding – Rank 7
Bow (All Types) – Rank 19 (True Strike)
Crossbows – Rank 16 (True Strike)
Small Blades – Rank 4
Demolitions – Rank 14 (Path of Mastery)
ESS Manipulation – Rank 10 (Arcane Resonance Mastery)
Find Weakness – Rank 23 – (Spell Cleave, Qi Perception, Additional Magus/Cultivator Bonus)
Identify – Rank 1
Gunnery – Rank 10 (Cautious Gunner)
Healer’s Aid – Rank 3
Iado (Fast-Draw) – Rank 15 (Doom Flurry)
Javelin Throwing – Rank 21 (Piercing Strike, Deferred)
Negotiation – Rank 7
Repair – Rank 1
Sling – Rank 16 (Precise Shot Adv.)
Spear – Rank 23 (Piercing Strike, Battleforged)
Stealth – Rank 14 (Hunter’s Grace)
Swordsmanship – Rank 25 (Doom Slice, Battleforged, *Piercing Strike *Cleaving Blow)
Swimming – Rank 2
Unarmed Combat – Rank 13 (Empty Fist)
Essence Related Skills:
Burst of Strength – Rank 14 (Path of Mastery)
Dominion’s Resilience – Rank 3
Dominion’s Command – Rank 6
Heat Surge – Rank 11 (Path of Mastery)
Unified Perception Rank 21 (Sense Heat, Spiritual Energy, Magic, & Qi Flow.)
Arcane Skills
Wands (Fire) – Rank 6
Advanced Arcane Weapons (Blaster Rifle) – Rank 9
Necromancer Affinities & Skills
Blood Mastery – Rank 27 (Blood Claimance, Lesser Healing, Essence Infusion)
Spirit Mastery – Rank 29 (Path of Dominion, Forced Obeisance)
Rituals of Summoning and Binding – Rank 30 (Tier III Path of Dominion, Ritual of Greater Spirit Summoning, *Instant Transcription)
Flesh Sculptor – Rank 22 (Tier II Path of Dominion, Basic Revenant Preparation)
Blood Ward – Rank 2
Potency Binding – Rank 4
Necromancer Spells
Unorthodox Abjuration – Rank 20
Interface Enhancements
Full Neuro-Linguistic capabilities
Extradimensional Storage Space
Essences Claimed:
Fire – Blazing - (Rank 3, White Tier)
Wrath (Rank 1, White Tier)
Dominion (Rank 1, White Tier)
Path of Endless Bounty – Rank 13 (Crimson Balance, Evolution’s Crucible, Oblivion’s Mercy)
You may consume the potency of any tile you claim for a 50% bonus to baseline ST & VIT earned while granting 3 Lesser Bounties of your choice!
_________________________________
Comments
Eifer
What a load of crap. He should have let his sister die, the ungrateful cretin.
Aegir
I have been wondering this for many chapters. Pretty sure it should have been give in any one of 4 heart to heart sister chapters since.
justin
What happened to the book from deaths library that was for his sister?
justin
I don't think he did
Freelancejki
He shared his path of endless bounty with her? Let’s hope that doesn’t escape her lips.
