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*Chapter 69 - Minion Management
🕑 Added 2021-09-01 21:35:28 +0000 UTCChapter 69 - Minion Management
Back in the Deadlands of Ornthas, Trey was reviewing his status page along with the status pages of his minions. It had been a while since he’d really taken a hard look. He’d been neglecting his minion’s pages in particular and still had a good amount of stat points and skill points to place.
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Name: Trey Bon
HP 222/222
MP 214/214
SP 120/120
DP 1/1
Race: Human
Guild: None
Class: Infernal Summoner
Level 30
Status Alerts:
- Remaining Skill Points: 0
- Remaining Stat Points: 0
- Current Permanence cycle: OFF
- Current Bound Point: Lawless Lands, Outer Rim Runestone
Buffs:
- +3% resistance to all damage (Resilience)
- +10% resistance to all damage (Dreadlord Vorshok’s Bane)
- Autoregeneration (Dreadlord Vorshok’s Bane)
- +15% damage to offensive spells (Aspect of the Devil: Death’s Gaze)
- Night Vision (Aspect of the Devil: Death’s Gaze)
- +100% to sight, hearing, smell, reflexes and awareness (Predator)
- +33% to awareness (Aspect of the Devil: Horns)
- +5% total damage output (Talsh’Noc’Un, Thirsting Level: 1)
Debuffs:
- +8% damage taken from all Celestial and Holy abilities (Aversion to Divine)
- +1% insanity and aggression (Talsh’Noc’Un, Thirsting Level: 1)
(Click the spoiler for the rest of Trey's status page!)
Stat Amplifications:
64 Strength
11 Vitality
10 Endurance
9 Dexterity
16 Speed
66 Intelligence
57 Wisdom
0 Faith
0 Luck
55 Willpower
Magics (6 of 20 spells learned)
Chaos Ball^^ (Chaos) - Level 26
- Summon a ball of chaos to fling at your enemies
- Upgrade 1> Increase size of chaos ball and explosion radius by 80%
- Upgrade 2> Increase damage of chaos ball by 6%
Chains of Chaos^^ (Chaos) - Level 20
- Summon chaos chains to bind or impale your enemies
- Upgrade 1> Spikes are added to ends of chains for better puncturing
- Upgrade 1> Chains can now use homing on their targets
Shadowstep (Dark) - Level 7
- Teleport a short distance instantly
Roar of the Banshee (Dark) - Level 2
- Silences enemies for a short time, inhibiting them from casting spells or miracles
Summoner’s Calling: Least Summoning Circle (Dark) - Level N/A
- The most basic of summoning circles with a low intensity magic signature that usually (but not always) attracts the weaker denizens of the infernal realms. This broad spectrum spell enables you to communicate with the infernal realms of Hell, Oblivion, and the Void, but offers no protection whatsoever from the creatures you summon. You are able to increase the chance for a random target to appear by using double the mana and circling the center pentagram.
Summoner’s Calling: Minion’s Call (Dark) - Level N/A
- Summons a specific minion you already own, or dismisses them to your personal nether realm. Dismissing a demon to their nether realm will heal it over time and allow it to revitalize. However, keep in mind it takes 30 seconds to channel this ability. You may only summon or dismiss 1 minion at a time.
Miracles (0 of 1 miracles learned)
None
Physical Combat (0 of 1 sacred arts learned)
Blades - Level 15
- Upgrade 1> dexterity bonus of +3% when wielding blades
Aspect of the Devil: Mask (Chaos) - Level 5
- Grants bite attacks and manaless ability to breathe short range hellfire
Aspect of the Devil: Claws - Level 4
Aspect of the Devil: Tail - Level 3
Hand to Hand Combat - Level 5
Light Armor - Level 4
Assassination - Level 3
Miscellaneous
Identification - Level 6
Sneak - Level 3
Traits:
Vatosis Inferna - *TRAIT IS LOCKED AND UNAVAILABLE.*
Earthborn - You are earthborn and experience ‘ON’ and ‘OFF’ permanence cycles. You also gain a 20% increase to any type of XP acquired when compared to your fellow NPCs, and your mana regeneration rate is increased by 30%.
Languages Learned - Ancient Demon, Human, Arachnid
Void Essence - You have been chosen as a suitable host. You are now able to access black magics, skill trees, abilities, and spells unavailable to most other black magic users.
Resilience - +200 HP, +3% resistance to all damage. Mental fortitude increased.
Dreadlord Voshok’s Bane (Heroic) - +10% resistance to all damage. Autoregenerate 1% HP per minute. Autoregenerate lost body parts over time.
Livaria, Queen of the Web Runner’s Bane (Heroic) – Unlocks knowledge of hidden language: Arachnid. Unlocks a new physically-altering evolutionary skill tree: ‘Arachnid.’
Predator - Participant has acquired a symbiote. Predator is a separate entity that will become bound to participant. Predator symbiote gives +100% to sight, hearing, smell, reflexes and awareness. Predator symbiote is currently in the chrysalis stage, when it matures this symbiote will be able to possess and acquire the body of a demon-class enemy - giving you a new minion. When this possession has finished, the Predator symbiote's bonuses will remain but the symbiote entity itself will no longer be bound to the master's body. Also allows participant to use the ability Consume.
*Consume - Beings that you have killed yourself may be consumed. Doing so gives you a chance to acquire Strength stat points and is largely dependent on the foe’s danger rating. Consume will also rapidly restore HP, MP, and SP.
Aversion to Divine - Participant is associated with the infernal arts. +8% damage taken by all Celestial and Holy abilities.
Physical Attributes:
Shadowform - Allows participant’s body to express shadow properties. Allows Participant to focus and bind acquired items into Shadowform, absorbing them into the participant’s body fitting a maximum weight of 500kg. May summon bound items anywhere within a 5 yard radius of participant. May unbind items when needed. If bound item is outside of a 1000 yard radius from participant, bound item automatically returns to Shadowform.
Stored Items:
- Ornthas Plague Remedy Potion (x2)
- Grimoire of the Dark Hand
- Unique thrall evolution stone: Voidling Broodmother (Currently Immature)
- Unique thrall evolution stone: Sacrificial Lamb (Currently Immature)
- Soulstone – Hellsteed (x12)
Aspect of the Devil: Death’s Gaze - Permanent no cost upon use Night Vision enchantments afflict your eyes, which are tinged a glowing red. This also empowers all of your damaging magics by 15% damage.
Aspect of the Devil: Claws - Summon and discard demon claws at will. Separate from hand to hand combat. Can cause bleeding, a damage over time effect.
Aspect of the Devil: Mask
Summon and discard demon Jaws at will. Allows participant to use predator’s Consume ability much more rapidly and participant is now able to use Consume during battle. Allows participant to breath Hellfire (Chaos), a medium range area of effect spell that costs no mana. Can cause burns.
Aspect of the Devil: Tail
Allows piercing and slashing attacks. Damage equivalent to Aspect of the Devil: Claws. May extend up to 25 additional feet. (Non-retractable prior to original 5 foot length)
Aspect of the Devil: Horns
These horns pick up vibrations in the air and in the ground to sense incoming attacks, +33% to awareness. (Non-retractable)
Magical Attributes:
Chaos
Dark
Skill Trees Unlocked:
- Aspect of the Devil
- Summoner’s Calling
- Arachnid – CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE
Control Limit Slots: 9 of 11 used.
Trey’s Minions:
- Napoleon, Primal Imp, Level 16 (1 slot)(Admired)
- Talsh’Noc’Un, Sword of Ruin, Living Weapon (1 slot)(Content)(Thirsting Level 1)
- Rivia Ahst, Culn, Level 18 (1 slot)(Somewhat Liked)
- Atharost, Ifrit, Level 39 (1 slot)(Very Friendly)
- Piggy, High Elf Thrall, Level 1 (1 slot)(Infatuated)
- Tarline, Dark Elf Thrall, Level 29 (1 slot)(Hated)
- Rofa, Dark Elf Thrall, Level 45 (2 slots)(Despised)
- Karus, Dwarf Thrall, Level 34, (1 slot)(Liked)
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(Click the spoiler for his minions' status pages!)
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Simplified Status Page for Napoleon
Name: Napoleon
Race: Primal Imp, Demon
Class: N/A
Level: 16 (3 skill point, 15 stat points)
HP: 216/216
MP: 394/394
SP: 166/166
DP: 1/1
Skills: Firebolt^ (lvl. 17)(Fire), Sneak (lvl. 8), Fear (lvl. 3)(Curse),
Curse of Burden (lvl.6)(Curse), Small Blades (lvl. 2),
Hand to Hand Combat (lvl. 8)
Traits: Sturdy, Intelligent, Trey Bon’s Minion
Magical Attributes: Curse, Fire
Opinion of you: Admired
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Simplified Status Page for Rivia Ahst
Name: Rivia Ahst
Race: Culn, Lesser Demon
Class: Priestess
Level: 18 (+3 skill point, +15 stat points)
HP: 140/140
MP: 100/100
SP: 100/100
DP: 44/44
Skills: Rejuvenation^ (lvl. 17)(Dark Miracle), Immortal’s Infernal Blessing (lvl. 4) (Alkir’s
Miracle), Pestilence (lvl. 9)(Dark Miracle), Small Blades (lvl. 3),
Absorbent Soul Sacrifice (lvl. 3)(Ritual)
Traits: Curious, Faith Driven, Trey Bon’s Minion
Magical Attributes: Dark
Opinion of you: Somewhat Liked
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Simplified Status Page for Atharost
Name: Atharost
Race: Ifrit, Greater Demon
Class: N/A
Level: 39 (+5 skill point and +25 stat points)
HP: 360/360
MP: 402/402
SP: 100/100
DP: 1/1
Skills: Firebolt (lvl. 34^^^) (Fire), Fireblast (lvl. 27^^) (Fire), Wall of Flames^ (lvl. 13)(Fire)
Firestorm (lvl. 4) (Fire), Demon Tail (lvl. 14^), Hand to Hand Combat^ (lvl. 10)
Traits: Flying, Life of Phoenix, Fireform, Trey Bon’s Minion
Magical Attributes: Fire
Opinion of you: Very Friendly
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Simplified Status Page for Piggy
Name: Piggy
Race: High Elf Thrall
Class: Cook
Level: 1
HP: 90/90
MP: 100/100
SP: 90/90
DP: 1/1
Learned Ascended Cooking Options
- Amplify Smell
- Amplify Flavor
- Ward Off Poison
- Ward Off Disease
- Increased Sustenance
- Increased Health Regen
- Increased Mana Regen
- Amplify Toxin
Skills: Cooking^^^^ (lvl. 44)
Traits: Trey Bon’s Minion
Magical Attributes: None
Opinion of you: Infatuated
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Simplified Status Page for Tarline
Name: Tarline
Race: Dark Elf Thrall
Class: Rogue
Level: 29
HP: 120/120
MP: 100/100
SP: 194/194
DP: 1/1
Skills: Sneak^^^ (lvl. 31), Rogue’s Trickery: Stealth Field^^ (Sacred Art)(lvl. 27),
Small Blades^^ (lvl. 27), Bows^ (lvl. 18), Assassination^ (lvl. 16),
Backstab^ (Sacred Art)(lvl. 15),
Rogue’s Trickery: Accelerator^ (Sacred Art)(lvl. 13),
Lock Picking^ (lvl. 13), Pickpocketing^ (lvl. 12), Trap Handling (lvl. 9),
Hand to Hand Combat (lvl. 9), Throwables (lvl. 8)
Traits: Cunning, Intelligent, Pompous, Acrobat, Rogue’s Handiwork, Trey Bon’s Minion
Magical Attributes: None
Opinion of you: Hated
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Simplified Status Page for Rofa
Name: Rofa
Race: Dark Elf Thrall
Class: Rogue
Level: 45
HP: 168/168
MP: 100/100
SP: 226/226
DP: 1/1
Skills: Small Blades^^^ (lvl. 38), Assassination^^^ (lvl. 30), Sneak^^^ (lvl. 30),
Rogue’s Trickery: Stealth Field^^ (Sacred Art)(lvl. 27), Bows^^ (lvl. 27),
Backstab^^ (Sacred Art)(lvl. 22), Trap Handling^ (lvl. 15), Pickpocketing^ (lvl. 14),
Rogue’s Trickery: Accelerator^ (Sacred Art)(lvl. 11), Lock Picking^ (lvl. 10),
Hand to Hand Combat^ (lvl. 10), Throwables (lvl. 5),
Rogue’s Trickery: Sprint (Sacred Art)(lvl. 4), Sleight of Hand (Sacred Art)(Lvl. 3)
Traits: Ruthless, Pompous, Acrobat, Rogue’s Handiwork, Trey Bon’s Minion
Magical Attributes: None
Opinion of you: Despised
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Simplified Status Page for Karus
Name: Karus
Race: Dwarf Thrall
Class: Warrior
Level: 34
HP: 614/614
MP: 80/80
SP: 216/216
DP: 1/1
Skills: Axes^^^ (lvl. 36), Shields^^^ (lvl. 30), Heavy Armor^^^ (lvl. 29),
Shield Bash^^ (Sacred Art)(lvl. 25),
Warrior’s Challenge: Battle Stance^^ (Sacred Art)(lvl. 21),
Goring Slash^^ (Sacred Art)(lvl. 20), Blunt Weapons^ (lvl. 11),
Battle Shout^ (Sacred Art)(lvl. 10), Hand to Hand Combat (lvl. 8)
Traits: Hell’s Iron, Demonic Bulk, Sturdy, Trey Bon’s Minion
Magical Attributes: Dark
Opinion of you: Liked
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He did a double-take on Tarline’s, and then Rofa’s opinion of him. Hadn’t they just ‘disliked’ him earlier? What the hell had he done to them to make them hate him?
- Tarline, Dark Elf Thrall, Level 29 (1 slot)(Hated)
- Rofa, Dark Elf Thrall, Level 45 (2 slots)(Despised)
Trey rubbed his forehead and sat down to lean back against a tree to overlook the side of the tropical mountain they sat on. All of his minions were already gathered around and eating lunch, waiting and answering any questions he had about their status pages.
Minion management was no joke.
He still had a lot of assignments to go over. He’d had no idea some of his minions were holding onto stat points or skill points like that, he’d completely overlooked it. Not only that, but he hadn’t even gone over a number of the traits or abilities his minions had. Reviewing them now gave him a little bit more insight into what they were capable of, but at least he was doing it now instead of never.
Karus had three different sacred arts that used stamina points (SP) instead of mana points (MP). The first was ‘Shield Bash’ - this was one Trey’d seen before, the shield the carrier was wearing would briefly glow green and if you struck an opponent with it within 5 seconds from activation you’d have significantly more power behind the attack and have a high chance to stun. ‘Battle Stance’ was another one Trey’d seen various minotaurs back in oblivion use - Karus would have a shimmering red light engulf his personage after using is. Battle Stance would improve his reflexes and reduce pain sensation, as well as give him a 5% bonus to strength. The sacred art ‘Goring Slash’ was one Trey was a little bit unfamiliar with… having only seen Karus use it once during the ambush when they’d first started the journey into Ornthas. Goring Slash could only be activated immediately upon using a slash attack with a weapon, and it would empower the attack damage by 20% of the user’s strength as well as give a very high chance for causing a stacking bleed effect for damage over time. The bleed would start at 4 health per second, with each subsequent goring slash attack adding another 4 HP per second up to a total max of 80 HP damage per second until the wounds were closed. The last item for review for Karus was the ‘Sturdy’ trait, which was one Napoleon had too that gave the dwarf a basic 3% percentage increase to overall defense, endurance and vitality. Though Trey wasn’t sure if you’d even call him a dwarf anymore after the new traits he’d gotten from thrall evolution.
Next were the two drow siblings. The ‘Assassination’ skill they both had was more of a modifier than it was actually a skill. It added percentage and base physical damage for attacks that the target was not suspecting, with additional levels to the skill each adding more of the percentage and physical attacks. Currently an assassination attack via Rofa would usually deal about 307% more damage, while a similar attack from Tarline would deal about 285% more damage because her skill level was a lot lower. The ‘Backstab’ sacred art they both knew could only be used if the assassination critical hit was triggered and they actually stabbed the target in the back while doing it. They would trigger the backstab skill, attack the target from behind and if all went well the backstab attack would double the original critical hit from assassination. In many cases they claimed it would 1 hit weaker enemies completely, especially if they hit a vital organ like the heart in the process. The sacred art Rofa had called ‘Sleight of Hand’ made pickpocketing significantly easier by adding a dexterity bonus as well as allowed them to move their hands at 500% speed for 3 seconds - he claimed to also use this skill for quick adjustments or rapid firing from his bow. The skill ‘Trap Handling’ was an obvious one, the higher the skill level the more likely the rogues were able to disarm a trap without setting it off - sometimes even being able to salvage it for later use. The traits were all straightforward as to what they were about but added minor but significant alterations to their abilities: ‘Ruthless’ gave Rofa a 4% damage increase throughout the entire battle when he was the one initiating the fight, ‘Pompous’ gave both Rofa and Tarline a 2% increase to intimidation tactics as well as a 8% decrease to other NPCs liking them, ‘Acrobat’ gave them both a +30 Dexterity and +20 Endurance bonus, ‘Cunning’ gave Tarline a 3% persuasion bonus when talking to other NPCs, and finally ‘Intelligent’ gave Tarline a +40 Intelligence bonus that she really didn’t make use of considering her class as a rogue. Unlike Napoleon who had the same trait, she didn’t have any spells to use so the damage bonus for spells from the intelligence stat went nowhere but to add to her already large ego.
Piggy, previously known as Astala, had no defining traits. She had no fighting abilities either. She also had no divine recipes nor did she have a cooking ideal. All she had currently was the ascended cooking. That being said, the ascended cooking deal wasn’t all that bad, and once she capitalized on the divine recipes or ideal she’d be a whole lot better. Her ascended cooking options all required aluna just like Jason had to use for his ascended alchemy, and were as follows: Amplify Smell - a straight forward option that made the food she made smell significantly stronger for better or for worse. Amplify Flavor - this did the same to the flavor and made it taste significantly better or worse depending on what the food was. Ward Off Poison - this one added a protective bonus to the food item she made giving a 30% poison resistance bonus which would not only decrease damage from poison but also decrease poison’s effect by 30%. Ward Off Disease - this was the exact same, giving a 30% decrease in an illness’ effectiveness but worked for disease instead. Increase Sustenance - this perk allowed the person to last a lot longer than would be normal on small amounts of food to sustain them. Increased Health Regen & Increased Mana Regen options both gave 8 hour +1 per second bonuses to the regenerative properties of their said status bar. Lastly, Amplify Toxin was an option that could only be used if the food was laced with poison or some sort of toxin as the name implied. Amplify Toxin would increase the effectiveness of the food’s poison by 20%.
Now for Rivia… the priestess had shown herself extremely valuable during the various fights he’d been in. Without her he’d likely have died numerous times, and he had been treating her better because of it. Her relationship with him had improved, and he’d spent a significant amount of money buying her items she could use to improve herself. Her two original traits he’d ignored though, as stupid as that had been on his end, so finally giving them a once over put his mind at ease. Rivia’s ‘Faith Driven’ trait increased her miracle’s effectiveness by 15% and increased her Divinity Point (DP) regeneration by 10%. Her ‘Curious’ trait gave her a 5% increase to learning speed of any skill. Seeing that she had 3 skill points and 15 stat points unused, he quickly assigned 12 points to Faith for a total of 6 DP points and then 3 stat points to Vitality for a 6 HP point increase. Now her DP points were at 50 total, and her HP total was at 146. Looking again at her list of abilities, Trey dumped all 3 of her skill points into Pestilence. It was a very useful offensive miracle and the only one she had. The decay was rapid, painful, and served as a good damage over time ability while simultaneously acting as a pseudo-crowd control effect due to the torturous nature of the dark miracle. He was about to close out of her page when a notification was brought to his attention.
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Your minion Rivia Ahst has achieved an upgrade for her ability ‘Pestilence’ due to arriving at and surpassing level 10. Please choose one of the following as her first upgrade regarding this ability:
Pestilence (Dark Miracle) - Level 12
- Disease afflicts your opponent, causing rot at an accelerated rate. Very painful.
- Reduces HP and SP equally.
- Upgrade 1> SELECT AN OPTION:
- Option 1: Pestilence spreads to those who come into contact with an afflicted target as long as the caster deems them enemies
- Option 2> May simultaneously cast Pestilence on three different targets with the same miracle and DP point
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“Oooohh this is nice.” Trey’s options for upgrades he’d had were sub-par most of the time - but these two options were both very, very good. The first option would allow the miracle to go on indefinitely with a single cast but depended upon physical contact of his enemies - it would be good in close quarters combat in packed spaces. The second option would triple the combined damage output across different targets and would make it more precise, consistent, but limited compared to the first option.
He only hovered over the options for a minute before picking one though. Both were good, and once Rivia hit level 20 with the skill she’d likely be able to choose the other… or so he hoped. Even if she couldn’t, just having one of these was a massive improvement from the base miracle.
He chose option 1 for her, allowing her to cast Pestilence that could spread between close knit groups. He closed the next notification he got confirming his choice and proceeded with the other things he had to look over.
Finally moving on, Atharost’s only trait that Trey was still iffy on was ‘Life of Phoenix’. Not that he didn’t know what it did - he’d read it before. Whenever an ifrit died, it would be reborn from the ashes days later and could choose from any point that any of its ashes scattered to for a rebirth. With each rebirth the ifrit would decrease in a significant amount of levels, and when the ifrit got low enough to the point that the level penalty outweighed its total levels: the ifrit would completely die and its soul would lose its protection. The soul of an ifrit could not be destroyed or consumed while it had the protection of Life of Pheonix. The only problem with this trait was that Trey didn’t really want to put much faith in it - he hadn’t seen it for himself yet and therefore didn’t want to chance it. Gorthomal had told him that the ifrit had been hunted down almost to extinction by various archdemons in the past because they were threatened by the existence of such a trait, and this trait was the primary reason for why ifrit were so sought after by summoners and warlocks. Ifrit could be used as front line cannon fodder without chances of losing the minion completely, not to mention they were high impact, powerful and agile flying minions on top of the rebirth.
Trey was reviewing the ifrit’s page and called out to Atharost to point out the skill and stat points that were still unassigned. 5 skill points and 25 stat points lay unused. “Yo Atharost, why haven’t you put these points to use?”
The ifrit, who’d been staring out across the landscape from atop a fallen log, glanced back. “I haven’t chosen my class yet, I was going to wait until I’d chosen my class because it may provide new skills or priority areas that my stat points could go.”
“Oh. You mentioned the class thing earlier, any idea on which you want yet?”
Atharost grimaced and shook his head no. “Unfortunately I have yet to decide… there are two good options I’ve been presented with and I’m afraid I’ll regret choosing one over the other.” The ifrit gave Trey a sly grin. “Perhaps you’d choose for me?”
“Me?” Trey pointed to his chest. “Why me?”
“Because if you choose, I can always blame you if I regret the choice.”
The ifrit began to laugh and Trey just chuckled with a head shake.
Trey burped, got up and walked over away from the rest of his minions to sit beside Atharost. He glanced over to where the rest of their team was intermixing with Gorthomal and the old man’s minions, and clasped his hands together thoughtfully. “Alright Atharost I’ll bite. You know you can always switch classes though right?”
The ifrit rolled his eyes in exaggeration. “At the expense of levels and time, yes.”
“Fair enough. Hit me with your options and I’ll pick one.”
Silently, the ifrit pulled up his status screen. Clicking a few times he willed the options Trey’s way and waited patiently for Trey to read and choose.
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“You have been shown favor by the Eternal Spirit of Fire and have been granted a class option. You have qualified for the Fire Shaman class: this class emphasizes utilizing conjured fire elementals, rituals, a mix of miracles and magic, and a healthy medium between support abilities and damage. However, this class does sacrifice significantly on defense. Please see the following for maximum caps on abilities:
- Fire Shaman
o 14 spells
o 0 sacred arts
o 9 miracles
o Enables a single permanent soulbound elemental-class familiar
o Enables one to pledge towards the Eternal Spirit of Fire: Urskakak Fireborn, may not
have the option to pledge to any other of the old gods
Based upon your actions, circumstances, and recent events, you have qualified for the Pyromancerclass: this caster class emphasizes high burst damage and long range attacks. Please see the following for maximum caps on abilities:
- Pyromancer
o 18 spells
o 1 sacred art
o 1 miracle
o Spell damage amplification bonuses
If you wish to accept any of these classes please refer to your status page, select the class, and press ‘accept.’ Choosing a class will unlock skill trees that would otherwise be unavailable, and add additional stats or traits correlating with your choice. Otherwise you may remain as you are and choose at another time. Be warned, though classes are not permanent choices if you switch off your original class to pick another one it results in a reduction of total levels by half and results in a 1 month wait period prior to choosing the new class. So choose wisely.”
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Trey’s eyes drifted back to the Fire Shaman option. A familiar? Just like the hellsteeds he had but couldn’t use yet… Well, technically familiars weren’t minions. From what he’d learned since leaving Earth, familiars could not be ‘commanded’ or ‘controlled’ like minions were. Familiars had a mind of their own and were like a partner, but no control slots were used to contain them because they were of their own wills. However, familiars were still soulbound… and unless the familiar became unhappy and left, they shared XP as well as a life tie to the summoner.
And who was this old god, Urskakak Fireborn? He glanced at Atharost who stared blankly back. Trey hadn’t heard of this one before, but the fire shaman option was the better of the two class choices in Trey’s opinion. The fact that Atharost hadn’t written it off completely though... upon realizing it wasn’t one of the infernal crowns… well, that told Trey all he needed to know.
The other minions were passively watching the two friends talk in silence, with Rivia stretched out while reading out of Alkir’s Third Writ per usual- and the others were simply eating. Had Atharost been hesitant to take the fire shaman option because Trey and Rivia were trying to further their own progress with Alkir? He couldn’t be sure, but that’s what it definitely seemed like. Why else would he have hesitated at the obviously better choice?
“Choose the Fire Shaman.”
He gave his friend a warm clap on the back. He could tell Atharost had wanted the shaman option, Trey would have chosen it too. When the surprise on Atharost’s face changed into fondness, Trey knew he’d made the right choice.
“Thank you Trey.” Atharost held out a hand and Trey took it. The two friends shook firmly with Atharost holding on a little longer than Trey’d expected him to.
“I figured you wanted that class since you’d not dismissed it yet. Seems pretty cool in my opinion.” Trey shrugged with a grin. “Were you concerned because it wasn’t one of the infernal crowns?”
The ifrit let on a large grin of his own. “Yes… in a way. I also felt guilty because I grew up worshipping the infernals… To choose another deity for personal gain is taboo. But… if you are the one telling me to do it, then it must be done. You are a good friend.”
Atharost threw in the last word with force behind it, emphasizing the word ‘friend’ and keeping eye contact with the smaller human. It certainly meant alot to Trey and he did his best to brush it off with a chuckle.
“Well get on with it then! Choose your class!”
Atharost turned his head to look longingly at the notifications on his screen. He put his hand forward, but stopped just over the teal colored 2x2 square of text by an inch. “You know… back in Oblivion we had days of celebration for the young ifrit men and women who chose their first ever class. It was a big event. Our clan would throw a party for three days, initiating them into adulthood. I… I never got mine because I was taken, but I’m glad that I get to share it here with you. Thank you Trey.”
With that, Atharost tapped the option for ‘Fire Shaman’ and the screen closed. A second later and a confirmation notification appeared to describe his choice - for both Atharost and Trey to see.
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“You have selected ‘Fire Shaman’ as your class. You have acquired 30 intelligence points. You may not acquire any more control limit slots. The Eternal Spirit of Fire is now initiating the ritual: ‘A Soul to Burn,’ and within the next few minutes you will be granted your elemental familiar. Please note that this creature is classed as a familiar and therefore abides by certain rules.
The brief guide to familiars is as follows: You may only ever have 1 familiar, and taking a new familiar requires you get rid of the old one. Familiars never die as long as the master is alive but may be temporarily banished upon being defeated. Although familiars have guaranteed respawn as long as their master is alive, if a familiar dies - then a non-specific level toll is taken and deducted from their level as well as their master’s overall level. XP is shared between familiars and their master at a fluctuating ratio both ways, minimally at a 10:90 ratio and maximum at a 90:10 ratio depending on kill participation. Familiars may leave your service if you displease them, and they are not bound to follow any of your commands if they do not wish to. Familiars are partners, not slaves. If you do end up permanently dying, your familiar will die with you.
The Fire Shaman class is only granted to those who have been shown favor by the Eternal Spirit of Fire: Urskakak Fireborn. There is no other way to obtain this class. Unlike elementalists who can summon temporary elementals to do their bidding, the Fire Shaman is able to obtain a more permanent elemental familiar. This familiar itself can be customized and grown into the combat style the shaman prioritizes for it, and it can level up and grow along with the shaman. Your familiar may be dismissed and called upon at will, and it will use your soul as a place to call home when not being used. Just call its name to bring it out.
You have unlocked the skill tree: ‘Born Aflame.’ The following spells have been provided from this skill tree: Absorb Fire and Inner Flame. ‘Born Aflame: Absorb Fire’ is a miracle that takes up external sources of fire and turns it into health and mana for yourself. ‘Born Aflame: Inner Flame’ is a self-targeting miracle that calls upon Urskakak Fireborn to instantly heal you to full health with a large area of effect fiery explosion simultaneously. You have been granted 10 Faith points for a total of 5 Divinity Points (DP). You have acquired knowledge of the ritual ‘Prayer to Urskakak’, a basic means of communication with the divine for guidance - though more often than not the deity of flame does not respond to his followers unless they have shown faith in him for some time.
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They finished reading it just as Atharost doubled over and gasped for air. Trey yelled out to his friend and bent down to help him, but immediately backed away as a circle of blue flames traced itself around the ifrit on the ground. This must be the ritual Atharost’s notification was talking about.
“Atharost! Atharost are you ok!?” Trey’s voice was frantic as he watched his friend clench his muscles in agony, but he soon let out a relieved sigh as Atharost unclenched and sat up - a blue glowing ball of fire hovingering directly overhead with another prompt appearing.
The ifrit let out a long breath of air, shook his head to clear it of the brief but intense pain he’d just undergone, and looked to the prompt.
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The ritual ‘A Soul to Burn’ is underway. You have acquired the trait ‘Burned Soul’ to receive your familiar, and in turn you now only gain 1 Health Point (HP) for every 1 Vitality stat point you add instead of the normal 2:1 ratio. Due to this ‘Burned Soul’ trait you also have a -20% overall defense debuff added, causing you to take significantly more damage from enemy attacks.
Please choose your familiar species. Per the ritualistic contract, if this familiar displeases you or if the familiar is not pleased with its master - a new familiar starting out at level 1 may be chosen in its place at any time. Choosing another familiar may take up to another week to obtain though, and to do so you must pray to the god of fire. Please note that all familiars after this point are customizable to an extent and able to evolve, but the base species have core aspects to them that are described below:
- Bull: good amounts of defense, heavy hitting, skill trees focusing on tanking
- Serpent: fast and agile, flying, primarily a ranged attacker
- Spider: utility based, weaves webs of fire and sets traps, very agile
- Eagle: fast and agile, flying, pseudo tank, primarily a melee brawler
- Anger Incarnate: slow, extremely high damage output, long range, not easily sustained
- Humanoid: intelligent, cunning, very malleable
- Wolf: utility based, very good at tracking and detecting traps or enemies, melee brawler
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“OOOOOoooooohhh!!!!” Trey clapped his hands together after reading Atharost’s notification and the ifrit gave him a smirk.
“Getting jealous Trey?”
“Absolutely! Which one are you gona pick? That anger incarnate sounds badass but the spider would be pretty cool too. I can just imagine trapping your enemies in with webs of fire. Would be sick.”
Atharost’s mouth twitched. “Yeah, but neither of those can fly. I’m going to need to take either the eagle or the serpent. I’m slightly disappointed that more information isn’t available.”
Trey shrugged and leaned back, looking over the jungle landscape from their elevated position on the hill. “Just go ahead and choose one, and if you end up not liking it then you can swap it out like the notification says. You’d have to wait a week, but it’s whatever.”
“It’s whatever?”
"Yeah. That’s just an expression, don’t mind me. Go on and choose, plebeian.”
Atharost let off an eyeroll, nevertheless his grin betrayed his excitement. Trey’s other minions had all come over to stand or sit nearby and watch the proceedings, with Napoleon being the most vocal.
“Eagle eagle!!! Eagle eagle eagle!!!” The little imp bounced up and down on the ground clapping his hands together to the amusement of Rivia.
The demoness, surprisingly enough, had her own amount of input. “Atharost, before you choose please consider what build you’re trying to achieve. I agree with your choice being either the eagle or serpent, none of the others would be able to follow you otherwise. The eagle would be able to protect you and tank damage… but it would lack the offensive capabilities of a ranged elemental like the serpent. It really comes down to whether or not you prefer offensive or defensive options. Considering you have the Life of Phoenix trait and have a safety net for death, I think it would be a good idea to go for the offensive option.”
Atharost’s jaw dropped and he stared at the woman with surprise. It was the first time Rivia had ever spoken to him on even terms before, and the input was good. He looked to Trey who wore a similar expression of surprise while staring the priestess down. Usually Rivia was reserved and the only interaction these two demons had was when they were forced to work together by Trey. Atharost glanced back to Rivia and slowly nodded his approval. “Thank you Rivia for your input. I agree with your assessment… I’ll be going with the serpent.”
Rivia then gave him a small smile, adjusted the black hood with the red-eye symbol laced into it, and closed her unholy book to await the proceedings of the ritual. Her ‘Cloak of the Unholy Orders’ fit her well, and Trey took a moment to appreciate it along with the lightly glowing soulcatch lantern resting on her hip.
Atharost took in a deep breath, extended his hand towards the notification stationed at the floating ball of blue flames, and chose ‘serpent.’ Immediately the notification closed and the blue flames overhead condensed.
A couple of seconds passed and the condensed ball of heat erupted into normal orange elemental flames that began to take shape… into a tiny foot-long oriental dragon made of fire. It was rather cute, and it wasn’t anything close to intimidating. The wingless little dragon took its little fire-made paws and rubbed its eyes, yawning and surprisingly enough let out a hiccup. How this was even possible considering it didn’t have lungs to make noise was a mystery none of them would ever figure out.
Trey half-snorted and half-laughed as the little creature finally came into existence. The ring of fire died away and the little dragon floated over to curiously touch its snout against Atharost’s.
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“Please name your elemental.”
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Atharost stared the little dragon down, held out his hands and let the tiny creature land on his outstretched palms. Part of him was annoyed that the creature looked so fragile, what could a little thing like this do in a fight? Especially when he’d given up a 20% damage penalty to get it. The other part of him though, the part most of demonkind suppressed so they wouldn’t appear weak to their peers… it liked this little guy. He stroked its head gingerly and the little elemental responded with a throaty purr.
“Your name… is Boxamoth.”
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“Boxamoth the fire elemental has been registered as your familiar. Congratulations, please review the status page for your new familiar.”
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Simplified Status Page
Name: Boxamoth
Race: Lesser Fire Elemental, Serpent
Class: Familiar
Level: 1
HP: 60/60
MP: 150/150
SP: 30/30
DP: 1/1
Skills: Firebolt (lvl. 1)(Fire)
Traits: Flying, Fireform, Speedy, Atharost’s Familiar
Magical Attributes: Fire
Opinion of Atharost: Neutral
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Like a child on Christmas morning, Atharost couldn’t wait to show everyone the new pet he had. Getting up and proudly holding the surprisingly solid mass of writhing flames, Atharost the greater class demon walked over to the others of their party so they could all get a better look. Later he would put all of his stat points into intelligence for a magic damage boost and his skill points into firebolt, but that was far back on his list of priorities due to the new pet he’d just acquired.
