《Escape》 Character Generation ¡°A Kobold has three main problems: His Chief, his Race, and his appearance. Any kobold worth his hide knows that the prettier a kobold is, the stronger his stat gains. It¡¯s for this reason that every kobold can immediately identify the next Chief- he¡¯s the male with the shiniest scales, the best weapons, the strongest arm. Nobody crosses the Chief, because he will beat you into submission and take your things, and nobody crosses the next chief because he¡¯ll do the same thing. Nobody has anything better than they can keep and protect, and everyone can see immediately who¡¯ll win a fight before it starts. It¡¯s an odd sort of peacekeeping, but it works.¡± Nathaniel looked over the wiki entry for Kobold, one of the races available for Final Escape, and sighed internally. Not only was the only information useless, it was also depressing. One of the major drawbacks of paying for early access was the complete lack of information going in. He settled back into his chair and began to write backstory. After all, even though he¡¯d gotten stuck with Kobold, he might as well have a well-defined Kobold. He wondered vaguely if it was karma for rolling a virtual 13-sided die to determine his starting race. Such an impossible shape deserved some kind of retribution from the Random Number Gods. ¡°Kraant is a typical member of the dragon-kin race Kobold. He stands at a moderate 1.2 meters, with a slight gloss to his white-dappled hide. He is a bit more black than green, which is uncommon, but it is the white dapple that really put him on the shit-list of his tribe. His fangs protrude a decent amount, not so much as to be garish but enough to allow him some self-respect as a male of the species, and his upper-left fang has a small carving in it- a book, open, surrounded by rays as if it were putting out light. His talons are short, and his fingers are long and delicate. This allows him to effectively weave and tie the difficult components of traps, which were his main occupation before he struck out into the world. He knew what was coming- someday soon, either the Chief or his successor would find a way to catch Kraant unawares and put him out of their misery. Better to flee now.¡± Nathaniel smiled and looked over his Legend, before uploading it to his profile on the game¡¯s forums. It would automatically update over time as he played the game, but he¡¯d heard it had the potential to make the starting situation more unique. Nothing game-breaking, of course, nothing too powerful or special, but enough to let a player really feel like they stepped into the shoes of a living creature. He saw that his update¡¯s progress bar had reached the point where he could enter Character Generation and the initial phases of the game, so he went over to his new VR cocoon. It was a simple pod, not unlike a hammock inside a metal potato. He lay down on the cradle and the lid whooshed shut over him, and he fell immediately into the world of Final Escape. ¡°Welcome, Nathaniel. Your Legend indicates a starting race of Kobold. Is this correct?¡± Nathaniel had to think yes several times before the menu reacted, and he wasn¡¯t sure if it was the lower-end VR cocoon or his inexperience with the technology that caused the issue. Hopefully, the latter. He had spent too much on this cocoon for it to be that terrible. ¡°Please assign Attribute Points and choose Class. These may be done in any order. Racial Attribute bonuses, as well as attribute upper/lower limits have been applied.¡± Nathaniel hit randomize. He wanted to play for money, of course, but starting stats weren¡¯t likely to really pigeon-hole him into a long-term role, he figured. At worst, he might get some obnoxious comments from viewers of his streamed adventures, but he could deal with that. Adversity breeds creativity!
Ability Power Control Charisma Morality Knowledge Sense Luck
Value 2 (2/4) 4 (1/8) 2 (2/4) 0 (-2/+2) 3 (1/4) 2 (2/2) 5 (0/5)
Effect Improve Phys. Atk., Max Load, Max HP Improve Dodge%, Ranged Atk., Crit.% Exacerbate Perception Determine Perception Improve Knowledge, Recall, Max MP Determine Correct Paths Improve Loot drops, Crit.%, P/G/S/C drops, Boss spawns, Other
Wow. A lot of creativity, apparently. He looked at the classes, verifying that the reviewers hadn¡¯t left something out.
Class (basic) Warrior Thief Magus
Favored Abilities Power, Charisma Control, Luck Knowledge, Sense
They hadn¡¯t. Three classes, and each required at least one stat that he was terrible in. A Warrior needed to be in the front lines, so a small and weak Kobold was almost definitely a bad candidate, even if he had maximum Power and Charisma, which he didn¡¯t. A Thief needed fine Control and high Luck, which actually weren¡¯t too bad, but he knew from the forums that almost half of the players who¡¯d payed for early access planned to play as Beastkin, and most Beastkin sub-races had a higher minimum Control stat than he¡¯d rolled. Some had 8 as their absolute lowest possible Control rating. That left Magus, which¡­ well, his Luck was high enough to prevent or mitigate a lot of spell-fumbles, and Magus left a lot of room for improvement. Also, frankly, he¡¯d pretty much planned to be a mage no matter what. He¡¯d carved a spellbook into his tooth, for the Gods¡¯ sake, he wasn¡¯t about to let his starting stats get in the way of an immersive RPG spell-slinging battle. With any luck, maybe his high racial maximums in Control and Luck would give him some sort of spell-modification or Wild Magic feature. Hah. As if a Kobold would have meta-magic. He was given another chance to tweak his appearance, presumably because nobody wanted to create a character and then find out their stats or class were horribly mismatched to their looks, but he was pretty happy with what he had input to his legend. Nathaniel mentally clicked confirm, and his world went¡­ sideways-ish. The light surrounded him, melted his flesh and seared his eyes, his brain, burnt away his soul¡­ Kraant looked up at the rocky ceiling of his smelly, dirty mine for the thousandth time. He missed home. Home, the stalactites dripped into little pools instead of plinking onto stalagmites. Home, the rocks had a faint tinge of green from the copper. Here, it was just red hematite, red irongems, and red blood. Kraant felt a hobnailed boot dig into his side, and groaned. ¡°Get up, you useless sack of bones. I need a new liver.¡± Kraant recognized the voice of Rrrobert, the Frogkin overseer of this part of Irongem Mine C-137. Rrrobert was the only word in Frogkin that Kraant knew. It meant ¡°Asshole¡±. At least, to him it meant that.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Yes sir, I have one liver now and a new one due in two days.¡± ¡°I dunno that I asked what you were getting, Bones. You have a liver. Give it to me.¡± And Rrrobert stuck his¡­ well, ¡®hand¡¯ is a strong word, but his appendage into Kraant¡¯s side. Kraant passed out while Rrrobert dug around feeling for a liver, which was probably to his benefit. He wasn¡¯t a huge fan of looking at his own innards. Not sure who is, really, but that¡¯s a question for later. Kraant woke up in agony. His whole body was shaking, and he instinctively rolled onto his right side and clutched at his stomach. This earned him a sharp kick in the chest, which flipped him onto his left side- and drove his elbow into the bandages wrapped around his torso. He screamed, he bled, and then he passed out. Kraant woke up in agony. His body didn¡¯t seem to obey his mind, but he couldn¡¯t really form thoughts even that complex. He mostly thought about fire, and pain. He was wrapped in a blanket and lifted off the ground, but all he could tell was that his ribs hurt a little less than a second ago. He passed out again. Kraant woke up in absolute bliss. His whole world was white light, contentment, and the faint, far-off music of harps. He was pretty sure he was dead, and figured maybe he¡¯d like to see those Gods he¡¯d heard about. Kraant woke up with a start. His lights, his music, his happiness were suddenly gone, leaving him instantly alert and somewhat¡­ hollow. But, he realized, his body felt fine! No pains anywhere. He looked around, and panicked a little. The room was about three Kobolds high, and probably¡­ 8-ish meters to a side, which meant that this was clearly some very important place. This was emphasized by the large windows of real glass, through which streamed actual sunlight, and the bookshelves along one wall- which held real books, even! Swanky. The real nerve-wracker, though, was the Stock-Keeper leaning over him. The Stock-Keepers were not inherently intimidating, but they had powers- magic, access to the ration tables, money¡­ No, a mere Kobold organ-farmer never wanted to be seen by, let alone under the direct scrutiny, of a Stock-Keeper. The Stock-Keeper twitched its long whiskers, rubbed a paw across its horned skull and rubbed its beard. It seemed¡­ confused? No, nobody with that much power and knowledge could be confused. That¡¯s crazy-talk, Kraant. ¡°Your name, Little Cousin?¡± The Stock Keeper even spoke with a fancy accent, but Kraant could sort of figure out the meaning. But he would never presume to answer a question clearly directed to a true Dragonkin¡¯s family! ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Ah, right.¡± The Stock-Keeper rubbed its face again. ¡°I, Lung-Tze, Fourth Record-Keeper of the Irongem Mountain Mines, authorize and command you to speak, 74th Kobold Organ Donor Kraant.¡± ¡°Yes sir!¡± Kraant tried to get off the bed so he could bow properly, but Lung-Tze stopped him. ¡°No, don¡¯t get up. Do you know why you are here?¡± ¡°I got my last liver taken by¡­ an overseer- who I tried to warn, it¡¯s not my fault that he didn¡¯t care about the stock records!- and then¡­ I died?¡± ¡°No, but I could forgive you your mistake. You¡¯re here because you didn¡¯t die. You¡¯ve spent the last several hours being healed, true, but that was simply to get you mobile as soon as possible. By the time we¡¯d found you after your failure to report for transplant, you¡¯d already grown most of a new liver. It had, admittedly, been several days that you¡¯d lain on the floor, so I had you brought here so I could study you.¡± Lung-Tze cocked his ancient, wrinkly head to one side. ¡°You¡¯re not following, are you? Let me condense the story. ¡°You grew a new liver while starving and bleeding out. You bled more than I probably could without dying, and I am almost twice your size¡­ You shouldn¡¯t have had that much blood in your whole body. Not one creature came to eat you while you bled and shivered, and even getting the overseer to bring you here made him physically ill. Essentially, I think you have a rare and powerful type of magic. I think you unlocked, somehow, the life magic that Kobolds used to have.¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­ special?¡± Kraant was more flabbergasted that he might in anyway be useful or even powerful than by the fact that his whole race, the weakest of Dragonkin, the highest form of vermin, may once have held special magic. ¡°Extremely special. And I will study you, and train you, to make you even more special and to see what we can do with this power.¡± Lung-Tze smiled. ¡°You will hate me at first, I suspect.¡± ¡°No, Fourth Record-Keeper, never!¡± Kraant started to quake all over. ¡°I know that most of our Kobolds already hate the Stock-Keepers, thinking us simply spineless Overseers, but trust me, you will hate me in particular. I am not bothered by this, so don¡¯t bother lying about it. In fact¡­¡± Lung-Tze¡¯s eyes began to glow, and Kraant could see that they were milky and white, buried deep beneath those heavy brows. ¡°Kraant, you are no longer 74th Organ Donor. You are 1st Disciple of Magic beneath Lung-Tze, Fourth Record-Keeper. You will answer him honestly at all times, obey all commands, and act according to his wishes.¡± At this point, Kraant felt a mild buzzing in his head, and when he turned his mind¡¯s eye on it, it blossomed into a transparent window between himself and Lung-Tze.
Geas: Lung-Tze
Due to the difference in power and authority, this contract will instead be considered a Geas. You will abide by the terms as follow: ~You will honestly answer any question posed to you by Lung-Tze ~You will obey to the letter any command directly issued by Lung-Tze ~You will act, when not directly under orders, in whatever way you think Lung-Tze would most prefer. Geas can only be broken by the issuer. Due to the nature of Geas, you are not bound to the spirit of the contract. The terms of the Geas cannot be broken, so there is no penalty for breaking them.
Do you accept? Y/N
Kraant immediately thought ¡®No!¡¯, and the window closed. He instantly felt the buzzing in his head return, and the same window greeted him. He sighed, and chose to accept. Lung-Tze¡¯s eyes stopped glowing, and he smiled. ¡°Good! Now we can begin. Open your Status window.¡± ¡°How do you know about-¡° Kraant only got halfway through his question before his status window opened before him, ending his order to open it, and putting him back under ¡®no orders¡¯, which forced him not to ask questions because he doubted that Lung-Tze liked being interrogated by vermin. Kraant fucking hated his Geas.
Identity and Attributes
Name Kraant Power 2 Load Cap. 4 stone
Race Kobold* Control 4 Stamina 10/10
Age 22 Charisma 2 Spells 0/2
Size 3¡¯11¡± Morality 0 - -
M.Class Magus* Knowledge 3 - -
S.Class Trapper Sense 2 - -
HP 3/3 Luck 5 - -
MP 6/6 Authority 0.5 - -
* Denotes special, hidden modifiers. These can be examined only by the statholder or a Divine-level Appraisal.
Classes
Life Magus 1/10 00%
Trapper 3/10 87%
Skills, Abilities, Arts, and Spells
Skills Abilities Arts Spells
Endurance 1 4% Regenerate 1 MAX MAX Craft: Traps 3 98% Ward: Living 1 56%
Detect Trap 2 3% Stealth 4 7% Detect Living 1 0%
Equipment
Head Torso Lower Body Arm, L Arm, R Leg, L Leg, R Hand, L Hand, R Accessories
Loincloth Iron Manacle Iron Manacle Iron Manacle Iron Manacle Iron Ring of Limited Telepathy
Legend
Kraant was dissatisfied with his life as a trapper in the Kobold-controlled Hematite Mine 175-B, and left his home and clan behind. He was able to last a few days before his first encounter with the Higher Races, and was captured by a band of elven bandits. He was sold into slavery, brought to the Irongem Mountain Mine 34-C, and used for organ storage. He was nearly killed by Rrrobert, but was saved by the timely intervention of Lung-Tze. He was put under Geas by Lung-Tze, due to his special Main Class of Life Magus.
¡°Interesting.¡± Lung-Tze stroked his beard, with only a slight curl of his lips marking what might, potentially, be a smile, if you were optimistic. Self-Harm ¡°Well. It seems that I can read your Status, as is appropriate. Note that any time you remove your ring, I¡¯ll know that you did so. I put it on you while you were being healed. It lets me into your mind, and that loss of connection will certainly not go unnoticed. More importantly¡­ you¡¯re a trapper? What exactly does that class do?¡± Lung-Tze reached without looking and pulled a book from one of the shelves, and summoned a glowing white rod of Mana to write with. Kraant could sort of vaguely see that the book was titled ¡°Classes of the Poor: Vol. 5¡± and felt somewhat insulted. ¡°I can make traps, and sense and disarm traps made by others. I can butcher animals that fall into the traps, but I personally never bothered. There are Butchers for that. I can also use tools to improve my trapmaking, but I never found any tools or materials that weren¡¯t made of pig iron or wood, and wood was too expensive to waste on traps that deep in the mines.¡± ¡°¡­I see you¡¯re smarter than I thought. Even the geas can¡¯t compel intuitive leaps, so your succinct description of the job is interesting. What are Butchers?¡± ¡°Butchers slaughter and dismember corpses of animals and creatures to create crafting materials that Cooks and Leatherworkers use for food and clothing.¡± ¡°¡­Almost word-for-word from the book. Interesting!¡± Lung-Tze licked the cracked and dull scales around his mouth. ¡°What are Magi of Life?¡± ¡°¡­I assume Magi is the word for more-than-one Magus.¡± Kraant hated this Geas! Even questions he wasn¡¯t quite sure he understood were answered to the best of his ability- after all, that¡¯s what he thought Lung-Tze wanted, no matter his own opinions. ¡°Life Magus is a class that grants a certain amount of control over living matter and beings. I don¡¯t know much more than that, only that Detect Living and Ward: Living are both spells gained at level 1 of the class, and that I had no idea I carried the class before now. Oh, and I suppose that Regenerate 1 is probably part of the class as well, although I¡¯d never been dismembered before, so I can¡¯t be sure. Actually, I probably was dismembered, but don¡¯t remember it. It can probably upgrade. GHA!¡± Kraant gasped for breath. Apparently, he thought that Lung-Tze would rather hear all the details than allow Kraant to breathe, so Kraant couldn¡¯t catch any air until he was done reciting facts. Or, rather, each realization forced him to continue to that Lung-Tze wouldn¡¯t think he had finished. ¡°¡­Duly noted. Well. You have the day off, so to speak, until I can gather some test subjects. Try to reach level 4 in Trapper, 2 in Life Magus, and create at least 3 basic traps that I can set and test, and I want all of that done before this time tomorrow. You may rest as required by stamina, but any spare time should be spent wisely.¡± Lung-Tze left the room, and Kraant heard the click of a lock. He was trapped here. He chuckled inwardly at the irony, then wondered what irony was, then collapsed due to a sudden and intense headache. Nathaniel woke up. Nathaniel hungered. Nathaniel made some ramen and rubbed his forehead. Apparently, extended VR Cocoon use really did cause the headaches that all the reviewers bitched about. So. That was fun. His ramen dinged, or rather his microwave dinged, and Nathaniel sat down at his computer. First was to check the forums for ¡°Life Magus¡±. No results. Not surprising, since the world of Final Escape was only, what¡­ 6 hours old for the Early-Access users? Next, Kobold. He saw that Kobolds were one of the ¡°other¡± races that hadn¡¯t yet been given a page on the official website or a decent Wiki entry, so he himself posted the Attribute minimum/maximum values. No reason not to help out, right? He tried searching for ¡°Irongem Mines¡± and got a very basic entry that said they were on the far nothern edge of the main continent, and that they were established in the lore as a very significant source of irongems. Big shock there. He then tried searching for a profile name of ¡°Atatoskr¡±, his IRL¡­ well, girlfriend was a bit much, but significant other was probably safe¡­ anyway, for Samara¡¯s character name. They¡¯d agreed on character names ahead of time, so that once they unlocked friend lists they could add each other. Atatoskr was not on the company¡¯s list of taken usernames, which Nathaniel found strange. Oh well. Nathaniel figured that, due to the time dilation (1 hour to 10 in-game hours), he had plenty of time to write for a little while and let his headache subside before getting all up in Kraant¡¯s style again. He wanted to plan out his adventure as much as he could, so that he could start putting out videos worth watching as soon as possible. He had to get out of this tutorial area, which (assuming it was the same as in the Beta) was simply a matter of reaching a certain threshold of strength for his class. An archer might need to be able to accurately hit a moving target, or a crafter might need to craft their first piece without assistance. He had no idea what a Magus would need to do- he hadn¡¯t had the VR cocoon until the last day or so of the Beta test and he spent most of that as a Spellsword. He wasn¡¯t even sure what criteria a player needed to meet to play a spellsword in the full game, but it was considered an advanced class that you couldn¡¯t just start with. Anyway, once he got out of that horrible place¡­ he¡¯d probably rely on his Trapper class and head into the woods. Kill some things, get a handle on the magic system, and hopefully by the time he got to a decent-sized town away from wherever the newbies started, he¡¯d be a little stronger than most. That way he could get the benefits of skipping the starter town entirely, while also getting some good experience- both in EXP and actual knowledge. He rubbed his hands together in old-style cartoony villain greed. Man, fuck real life. Let¡¯s go back to the simple problem of trying to please a magical dragon. Kraant had moved since he remembered collapsing. He¡¯d been in the middle of a big room, but now he was on a cot in a much smaller room. He looked around, and realized that he was locked inside, or rather, that he was stuck inside- there was no door to lock. He chalked it up to magic, and then got to work making the traps that Lung-Tze wanted, hoping to multi-task. He remembered a few that he could craft without any need to carve or use tools, so he made those. Worse than the lack of tools, however, was the lack of material. He had to get creative. Luckily, it seemed like his 2 spells per day had recovered, so he could cast Detect: Living or Ward: Living. He knew instinctively that he didn¡¯t need to choose which spells he would have access to, but that he had to rest for at least a full 4 hours to even potentially recover a spell-slot. So, he was flexible but limited in his casting abilities. Presumably, that would change as he came to grips with his newfound Magus class. He cast Ward:Living on the door, after a few failed attempts, and was rewarded with a skill notification.
Skill Notification: Spellcasting
You have cast a spell as a Magic-based Class! You are now capable of critical successes (and failures) when Spellcasting. The odds of a critical result are (Class level/Spell Level %), modified by Luck. Currently: Class level 1, Highest Spell Available: level 1 1%-1%
Neat! He¡¯d also reached level 2 in Ward: Living, which was progress toward the overall Class level-up demanded by Lung-Tze. Hopefully another cast when this one wore off would level him up, or else he¡¯d have to forcibly injure himself so regenerate could take effect. He was pretty sure any Class would gain experience through activation of a Class Skill or Ability, even if (like Regenerate) it was already at max level.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. It took a little bit of doing, but he was able to use Ward: Living to create a few traps, although they barely counted as traps. They did count, though, and got his Craft: Traps art to level 4, as well as his Trapper class, and his unfortunate need for materials got Regenerate to kick him over the threshold of level 2 as a Life Magus. He¡¯d realized fairly early on that the only materials available to him were himself and his cot, and since he wasn¡¯t sure how Lung-Tze would react to the cot being dismantled for parts, Kraant had been forced by the Geas to dismantle himself for parts. He¡¯d carefully figured out exactly what he needed, how to get it, and then used Ward: Living on his feet to push the skin and flesh away from his bones. He hadn¡¯t realized that the marrow inside a bone would get crushed too, so his feet were screaming in agony from inside and out while he plucked his talons (which were not classified as living, apparently) and all the bones he could reach. He even managed, with much pain and difficulty, to extract one of his shins. He hated this Geas. One trap had mostly consisted of a patch of floor, slickened by the blood spilled when his foot tore itself apart trying to get away from itself. This patch was augmented by a talon, placed roughly where he thought Lung-Tze¡¯s head might land if he were to slip, and that extra risk was just enough to get it recognized as a Trap, and not just as a mess. The second trap was his leg bone, tied to the ceiling with what scraps of flesh and loincloth he¡¯d managed to tie together, nailed to the ceiling with another talon so that when the door opened, assuming the door was where he thought it would be, the makeshift club would swing at about Lung-Tze¡¯s head level. The last trap involved the manacle that he¡¯d slipped off his ankle while his foot was being regenerated (and he hadn¡¯t thought about how badly Regenerate would hurt while Ward: Living was still active) and left on his cot, so that it would draw the eye away from the opposite corner where he practiced his Stealth, holding a handful of the bones he hadn¡¯t needed or been able to use. Lung-Tze arrived almost as soon as Kraant finished, without any sort of door opening at all. He simply appeared in the middle of the room, and looked around. ¡°¡­Why is there so much blood?¡± ¡°Well, you wanted me to make traps but I only had access to myself, your cot, my loincloth, and my manacles. I had to ward the bones of my foot against flesh, and when my flesh was repelled it was enough to spray blood all over the room.¡± ¡°I see. Creative. Show me your status.¡±
Identity and Attributes
Name Kraant Power 2 Load Cap. 40
Race Kobold* Control 5 Stamina 50
Age 22 Charisma 3 Spells 0/2
Size 3¡¯11¡± Morality 0 - -
M.Class Magus* 2/10 Knowledge 3 - -
S.Class Trapper 4/10 Sense 2 - -
HP 15/15 Luck 6 - -
MP 0/30 Authority 0.5 - -
* Denotes special, hidden modifiers. These can be examined only by the statholder or a Divine-level Appraisal.
Classes
Life Magus 2/10 8% 12/144
Trapper 4/10 2% 6/302
Skills, Abilities, Arts, and Spells
Skills Abilities Arts Spells
Endurance 1 4% Regenerate 1 MAX MAX Craft: Traps 4 5% Ward: Living 4 23%
Detect Trap 2 3% Stealth 4 8% Sculpt: Flesh 1 0.5% Detect Living 1 89%
Engineering: Mechanical 1 0%
Equipment
Head Torso Lower Body Arm, L Arm, R Leg, L Leg, R Hand, L Hand, R Accessories
Loincloth Iron Manacle Iron Manacle Iron Manacle Claws Claws Iron Ring of Limited Telepathy
0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0
Interaction Status
Physical P. Def. 7 P. Dodge, Complete 0.5% P. Atk., Melee 2 P. Atk., Range 0
Social S. Def. 3.5 P. Dodge, Partial 5% Soc. Atk. 4.5 Blend % 3%
Mental M. Def. 3.5 M. Conceal 1.5 M. Atk. 0 Retain % 3%
Legend
Kraant was dissatisfied with his life as a trapper in the Kobold-controlled Hematite Mine 175-B, and left his home and clan behind. He was able to last a few days before his first encounter with the Higher Races, and was captured by a band of elven bandits. He was sold into slavery, brought to the Irongem Mountain Mine 34-C, and used for organ storage. He was nearly killed by Rrrobert, but was saved by the timely intervention of Lung-Tze. He was put under Geas by Lung-Tze, due to his special Main Class of Life Magus. His training has been painful and brutal, but he suspects it will only get moreso as he learns what a domain of ¡°Life¡± truly means.
Pet Rock ¡°¡­Peblus Magnificus. Pebl for short.¡± Kraant whispered delightedly to his new pet rock. He deliberately did not think about how he was talking to a rock, and instead focused on the tiny little sense of animation coming from it. He felt a sort of shiver in the air, and knew that this rock was now his. Forever. He¡¯d used the new spell he¡¯d been¡­ given? taught? by Lung-Tze, Contract Familiar. It was a fairly simple spell, as such things went, and it had taken only ten of his 30 MP. He was using Detect Living, also, just to make sure that everything went according to plan. After all, he doubted that Lung-Tze would be pleased by his presentation of a normal stone as his ¡°familiar¡±, so he¡¯d really had no choice but to use the spell. He hated this Geas, had he mentioned that? After a very minimal discussion on the nature of magic, which essentially boiled down to ¡°tell the universe what you expect, and make it happen¡±, he had been pierced by those glowing eyes just as he had when the Geas was made. This time, however, he felt a sense of knowledge passing into his mind, and had acquired the new spell. Lung-Tze had told him to spend the next hour gaining a familiar, preparing himself how he thought best, and then to go to the Stock-Keeper¡¯s main office. Kraant didn¡¯t know what to expect, exactly, so he thought that ¡°preparing¡± should mean regaining his MP. As soon as he was nearly-full, he stepped out of Lung-Tze¡¯s quarters and proceeded to his assigned location. Hopefully, more instructions would follow, or else he was fairly sure he¡¯d be expected to stand there doing nothing and being inconspicuous until Lung-Tze found him. As luck would have it, he actually traveled the last few dozen meters alongside his Geas holder, ensuring that he would receive some kind of instruction. He stepped into the office behind Lung-Tze, and followed the Dragon-faced Stock-Keeper past several closed doors into another room entirely. Inside was¡­ a sort of cage, much taller and wider than anything the Organ-donors could reasonably be expected to inhabit. Space, after all, was never a luxury they really encountered. This seemed large and strong enough to hold even an Overseer, which may well have been the point. Inside the cage was a teleportation gate, or at the least the arch that allowed teleportation gates to form, and Kraant did not want to know what was on the other side, to warrant the cage. ¡°Get in.¡± Lung-Tze opened the gate to the cage, and gestured slightly. Kraant suppressed a sigh, and stood just in front of the archway. ¡°You will spend one full day inside a dungeon of my own making. This is an instanced dungeon, meaning that even if I threw every Organ-donor inside, you would never see a single one of them. This is your, personal, instance of the dungeon. If you had a party with you, that would be the only party inside. These are not common, but they serve many unique purposes. For example, training. Your only directions while inside the dungeon are to survive, to return to the gate in exactly one day and remain until the gate is opened, and to strive to understand your familiar.¡± Lung-Tze sounded almost bored, which was possibly a good sign, and he didn¡¯t so much as whisper when he summoned the portal, which was not a good sign. That took serious power and familiarity with the spell, Kraant understood, which meant that this was likely a place that the Stock-Keeper himself used often for training purposes. And if he was strong enough to open a portal wordlessly, then he was strong enough to train against things that wouldn¡¯t even notice stepping on Kraant. Kraant stepped inside anyway, because Geas, and complained internally. At least Pebl was in his pocket. Pebl understood his pain. Speaking of pain¡­ Kraant stepped through the portal into fire. No, scratch that, he stepped into Fire. Nothing so mundane as to be used for cooking, or warmth, or light. No, this was a primal element, a force of nature, and he was an interloper. He realized that, while he was taking damage simply from breathing, his Regeneration was almost precisely counter-acting the flames. So, like most mortals, any damage he took would stick around. That was almost definitely deliberate on the part of Lung-Tze. Of course, nothing would be gained by standing around. Kraant looked around, and realized that he was in a cavern, and realized also that he had no idea where the light he was seeing was coming from. Chalking it up to fire being half light and half heat, and totally filling the cavern, he began to walk to the east, and the only tunnel leading away. He idly ran a single claw along the wall beside him, scratching a light line to guide him back when the time came. Speaking of time¡­ yes, he realized he had a general sense of exactly when it would be time to start heading back. That is, he sort of vaguely knew, kind of, that it was a while away, but that the instant he needed to return he would know to return. It was a decidedly uncomfortable thing to think about, so he stopped thinking about it. He took Pebl out of his pocket and whispered to it. ¡°I hate this Geas, Pebl. I hate it so much.¡± Pebl sat there on his palm, unmoved. It was several hours before Kraant encountered his first opponent, which was a thoroughly unsurprising Fire Elemental. He threw Pebl at it. Pebl killed it, and Kraant saw that Pebl seemed almost to¡­ absorb some of the Elemental¡¯s power. This bore experimenting upon. Kraant quickly flipped through his menus and tried to log out, but was informed that doing so would remove him from the dungeon, and presumably invoke the wrath of his Geas-holder. Deciding that looking at the forums for information on familiars wasn¡¯t quite that important, he began to experiment.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. He rapidly discovered that, despite lacking any means of locomotion, Peblus Magnificus could follow him around under its own power. He also discovered its status screen, and was outraged by the results.
Name Peblus Magnificus Power 1 Load Cap. 0
Race Rock Control 1 Stamina 1
Age 1 day Charisma 4 Spells 0
Size Tiny Morality 0 -
Class Familiar Knowledge 1 - -
HP 1/1 Sense 1 - -
MP 0/0 Luck 1 - -
Authority 0 - -
While he hadn¡¯t really expected much in the way of HP or spells, being as a rock mostly just sat there and didn¡¯t take damage easily, he was furious that this¡­ sedimentary blob had more Charisma than he did. It wasn¡¯t even a particularly attractive rock! It was sort of dark grey-ish, with flecks of lighter color, sort of like himself. It was uneven on most sides but had a rounded side that he sort of thought of as the ¡°bottom¡±, meaning that the biggest lump was on the¡­ upper-left? Or right, but that felt off, somehow. Upper-left. Now that he really looked at it, he had to admit that the simplicity and unassuming nature of the newly-minted being was sort of admirable. Cute, even, in the way that even an ugly baby or a fish could be considered cute. Holy hells, Charisma was sneaky! He thought a rock was cute! These stats really had an effect, huh? Kraant spent a little while trying to find out exactly what his familiar could do. Nothing had come after him since the first elemental, after all, and he had been told to understand his familiar here. So he tried using Ward: Living and found that, yes, Pebl was now considered living. He tried telling it to follow him, to stay put, to fly, and to absorb the ambient fire mana. Surprisingly, flight was the only one of those commands it was incapable of following. He even tried commanding it purely mentally, and was able to track it with Detect Living even around a corner, as long as he closed his eyes. The slight signature of life around it was too dim to track beyond-line-of-sight if he kept his eyes open, and he wasn¡¯t sure if that was a sign of poor Magus-ing or a poor choice of Familiar. Not that, to be fair, he had had many other options for casting the spell on. The cot would have burnt up immediately in here, and his manacles wouldn¡¯t have had even this limited mobility¡­ unless he could have ordered them off of his wrists¡­ damn. He should have thought of that sooner, but how was he supposed to know how this worked? He also discovered that, for now at least, he was limited to this one familiar. While he could have tried to break the connection, and potentially form a new one with one of the wild elementals, he wasn¡¯t willing to risk failure. It didn¡¯t seem like a simple thing to do. Besides, Pebl was growing on him. The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. He wasn¡¯t able to interact with the elementals personally, since Ward: Living had no effect and getting close enough to attack them with his claws wasn¡¯t an option. He had no materials for traps, since he wasn¡¯t about to shatter his feet again without Regeneration handy, so he sort of just¡­ had Pebl get near them, and siphon as much power as he could before the elementals floated away from the little familiar. Pebl, therefore, got much much stronger much much faster than Kraant in this place, and when Lung-Tze opened the gate back to the cage (half an hour late!), Kraant was surprised to see that Pebl glowed softly, in the rich warm golden red that had so ethereally lit the dungeon. He glanced at its status while Lung-Tze opened the cage and led him to his rooms.
Name Peblus Magnificus Power 2 Load Cap. 0
Race Hot Rock Control 1 Stamina 1
Age 2 days Charisma 4 Spells 1
Size Tiny Morality 0 Spell: Spark 1, 0%
Class Familiar Knowledge 2 - -
HP 1/1 Sense 21 - -
MP 3/3 Luck 1 - -
Authority 0 - -
Churchgoer ¡°Hmmph. What have you learned about Familiars?¡± ¡°They grow based partly on what they are ordered to do, and partly on the effects of those orders. For example, ordering a familiar to leap into the air a thousand times would improve its ability to jump, and telling it to leap onto a hot coal would also improve its fire affinity or resistance. I¡¯m not sure quite how elements work, we hardly dealt with them in the mines. Familiars don¡¯t seem to have levels the way we do, so they can presumably grow infinitely in all directions, but I assume there¡¯s a limit due to, if nothing else, diminishing returns. Lastly, even a rock will, if granted the Familiar class, be classified as ¡®living¡¯, so I presume that a certain portion of my Life¡­ power, or life force, or affinity, or whatever, was transferred to Peblus here. If I weren¡¯t a Life Magus, I suspect that would mean a permanent reduction in my maximum HP or MP.¡± ¡°Good. That¡¯s almost all almost accurate. Why did you not contract one of the elementals?¡± ¡°A few reasons. Sentimentality, partly, as well as the fact that I wasn¡¯t sure I¡¯d be able to if I forcibly ended the familiar bond with Peblus. I also wasn¡¯t sure that I would succeed, and since Peblus could grow into whatever I needed of it, albeit over a long time, there was no real reason to change familiars beside vanity. I see now that he even gained partial Fire affinity, so there¡¯s even less reason to have changed.¡± ¡°Tolerable. You, having a Familiar of two elements, are now more formidable than almost any other magus. On paper, at least. What do you know of the tiers of Magic?¡± ¡°Almost nothing.¡± ¡°The Magi are the lowest tier of Magic user within the formal schools. The equivalent of a Hedge Shaman or Druidling. Once the highest level of Magus has been reached, a test may be taken at any Magical School, to become a High Magus up to level twenty. Then a Magister up to thirty, Sage, and finally Archmagus. Each test must be administered by a proctor of no less than one rank higher, and a level 50 Archmagus is considered equivalent to¡­ well, if not a God, then at least a true elemental. We have not seen one in a very, very long time. You are, as I said, at least theoretically more powerful than even a level 10 Magus because your Life affinity is rare, has few weaknesses and one extremely powerful strength from an elemental standpoint, and your Familiar covers two elements, one of which is that very weakness to Metal. You have, however, almost no way to use your magic offensively. This is something that will hold true in the future, from what research I have completed. You will have to be creative, and even sneaky, and well-prepared. Other mages who are all of those things as well will make you much better allies than enemies.¡± ¡°I see. Do you know when I will get my first offensive spell?¡± ¡°Level 3. Speaking of which. Once you have your Life Siphon, as it is called, I will send you into the world. I will dissolve your Geas, and I will request- but not demand- that you return once a year at least to apprise me of your progress. I am a Sage, and may well be a low-level Archmagus next time you see me. I can administer your tests at the facility¡¯s Magic School, and it is largely because of my increasingly serious responsibilities for the other Archmagi that I am releasing you at all.¡± ¡°Thank you, Sage.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t thank me yet¡­¡± Kraant had thought that destroying his own feet with Ward: Living was difficult. It had, after all, demanded the very highest focus and determination in order to target the spell so precisely. He was wrong. This was difficult. He split his mind into three, as best he could, and simultaneously monitored Peblus and issued mental commands, warded himself from an un-aspected Goblin, and clawed furiously at the less-magically-susceptible Goblin Shaman of Fire. Surprisingly, the physical act of self-defense wasn¡¯t so much the issue, although terror and the occasional spurt of pain weren¡¯t particularly welcome¡­ it was that, at some point during the fight, he had unlocked some kind of berserker rage that he had to mentally suppress while still concentrating fully on three types of combat. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he died. Kraant hurt¡­ and then didn¡¯t. He felt the connection to the world, the swimming aspects of Mana all around and within him. He felt¡­ good, but empty. It was a while before he coalesced into a writhing mass of flesh, and only his sheer rational mind kept him from instinctively warding the mass of Life away. It wasn¡¯t him, yet, but it would be. His restraint was rewarded as he felt his body re-form around himself, and a small part of his mind wondered why in the Nine Hells someone would choose to be a magus. Knowing what was happening made it so, so, much worse. Kraant opened his eyes. He met the gaze of Lung-Tze, beyond the thick iron bars of his cage, and it took him only a minute or two to realize that he was, A) inside the room with the teleportation arch, and B) that he was lying, completely naked, on the stone floor. He stood, and refused to show any sign that his nakedness bothered him. Let the Dragon look. Although, whispered a part of his soul, I doubt that Lung-Tze the Sage wants to be thought of as ¡®The Dragon¡±. Kraant refused to think of him in any other way, since he was ¡®without other orders¡¯ at the moment and Lung-Tze seemed to approve of individuality. ¡°Congratulations.¡± Lung-Tze whispered. ¡°¡­?¡± Kraant responded, eloquently. ¡°You have attained level Three, and are no longer mine. Or, rather, I dismiss the Geas I laid upon you.¡± Lung-Tze was wrapped in a thick robe of shimmering purple, the sort of color that, on a level akin to instinct, told Kraant was related to his magical prowess. It was suitably impressive. ¡°Thank you, Sage Lung-Tze. Am I allowed to leave the Organ Farm?¡± Kraant asked, clad in nothing but his scales (and while they were good scales, great even¡­ damn, but that purple made him feel inadequate.)Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°You are.¡± And suddenly a torrent of light, of music, of the smells of far-flung lands and the whisper of rains against his skin, Kraant was transported away. What a reward for dying, eh? Kraant felt his flesh re-convene, which was only slightly less awful than his rebirth had been, and was surprised to note that he felt a band of rope across his hips. When he regained control of his body, he leapt from the metallic altar that had birthed him and looked down. His smooth, even, black-and-white scales were all that he saw, except for a simple loincloth wrapped around his waist. Apparently, whichever God governed rebirth felt that nudity wasn¡¯t part of the bargain. Which would have been fine, except that Peblus wasn¡¯t touching his scales directly, and was therefore not with him. ¡°Move it along, friend. Plenty to see outside the Chamber of Undeath. Kue can have you later.¡± A rough, yet jolly, voice came from Kraant¡¯s left side, and the matching brute shoved past him. Kraant didn¡¯t mind. From what little he knew of Kue, the Goddess of the Void, she wouldn¡¯t mind his sticking around to appreciate her temple. He knew that he was in a temple of Kue because all the Chambers of Undeath were in temples. Temples either to Kue, or to Idh, the God of Light. He suspected that they wouldn¡¯t share the responsibility and honor for reviving heroes if they were as antagonistic toward each other as everyone thought, but he also suspected that any half-formed ideas on religious politics should be handled by the Paladins, not the Magi. And, here he was! A full Magus of Life. He breathed deeply, and was bumped in the shoulder by another hulking mass of flesh that dashed away from the Chamber of Rebirth as quickly as possible. Perhaps admiring the beauty of the temple could be better done at, at least, a minor distance from the Chamber¡­ The archway he strode through, the same as both the armored forms that had shoved him, was made of stone polished so deeply that it almost refused to take color. A candle, lit once, could reflect back and forth between these walls for a thousand years and never seem dimmer. Yet, they also seemed¡­ sterile. He realized that he was using Detect Living out of habit, but for once he was truly alone. No bugs, rats, Overseers¡­ no Peblus Magnificus, nor Lung-Tze¡­ Kraant sighed. The life of a Kobold was surely difficult. Only the strong fared well in the mines, but nobody fared well outside them. He followed the tunnels on a sort of automatic path, trusting his Detect Living to alert him of any potential onlookers. At this point, he was able to keep it up almost an hour at a time. He came to a room, or a cavern, or a¡­ well, since this was a temple, it was probably a gathering room for the worshippers. He was mildly surprised to see no pews, but the altar was raised and lit by candles, and the windows were large and clean, and there was a huge door ahead of him at the far side. So, definitely the chapel. He was greeted by a whisper near his ear, and as he leapt out of his skin he decided he was sick of this lack of consideration for his affinity. Sense Living was supposed to sense the living, dammit, not sense¡­ nothing! Goddess of Void be damned, he was supposed to be special! He¡¯d suffered for the right to be here, now, getting scared by ghosts! And it was a ghost that had whispered. When the echo of laughter faded, the voice whispered again in Kraant¡¯s ear. ¡°Would you like to pay a tithe to the Goddess before you leave?¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­ fairly sure I have no money, but I appreciate the resurrection. Is there any way I can pay with labor, instead of coin?¡± Kraant didn¡¯t particularly want to dive back into a life of servitude, but he would definitely like to contribute to this temple. It was, despite the affinity mismatch, a comforting place. He suspected that others, the thousands who had flooded the world in the last few hours, would quickly forget about places like this. Places of peace, contemplation, and serenity. He didn¡¯t want to be one of those people, and memories of time wasted are still memories to cherish. The whisper led him to a small room to the east of the altar, with a door hidden behind a tapestry of a single, withered tree. The door opened easily, soundlessly, and Kraant had the impression of a well-used and well-cared-for office. He was surprised to note that he sensed an inhabitant, a force of life and power that seemed at odds with the wizened, ancient granny behind the huge oaken desk. The whisper left him, he thought, as he crossed the threshold. At the very least, it shut up, and apparently that was all his Detect Living could say for sure. ¡°Good, uhm. Day?¡± Kraant bowed awkwardly, realizing that he hadn¡¯t seen the sun in quite some time and that he really had no idea what time it was. ¡°Evening, Magus. It is evening.¡± The granny didn¡¯t even look up from her paperwork, but gestured at the bookshelves lining the walls. ¡°Your Familiar is in one of these crannies, go ahead and fish him out.¡± ¡°Uhm.¡± Kraant walked steadily to the left-hand wall and reached directly into the cubby that held his pet rock. ¡°While I am glad to see it back, I actually didn¡¯t come to you for my Familiar.¡± ¡°Really?¡± The granny craned her neck as high as it could go, looking Kraant in the eyes. This was unnerving, since he was quite sure he should have squatted slightly before she affixed him with her gaze, but even at full stance he was only 1.2 meters tall. ¡°Then why? Have you come to swear an oath to the Goddess Kue?¡± ¡°Well, no. I was asked to donate a tithe, for my reconstitution, but you can see that I have no money. I want to offer my services to the temple for a day, as payment, and then another day, as an offering to a Goddess who I suspect receives less than she is due.¡± ¡°Hah!¡± The granny was so emboldened by Kraant¡¯s words that she, nearly, stood upright. ¡°Penance and humility! Hah! You want a quest, youngling! Go away!¡± ¡°If I show you my Legend, will you read it? It can show you that I don¡¯t care about quests, I care about growth.¡± ¡°¡­Fine.¡± The granny sat back down. ¡°Show me what you¡¯ve got.¡±
Legend
Kraant was dissatisfied with his life as a trapper in the Kobold-controlled Hematite Mine 175-B, and left his home and clan behind. He was able to last a few days before his first encounter with the Higher Races, and was captured by a band of elven bandits. He was sold into slavery, brought to the Irongem Mountain Mine 34-C, and used for organ storage. He was nearly killed by Rrrobert, but was saved by the timely intervention of Lung-Tze. He was put under Geas by Lung-Tze, but has been released to the world at large, under the condition that he return at least once a year. He has contracted a Familiar, a simple stone named Peblus Magnificus, and it shares the affinities of Fire and Metal. He wishes to sacrifice time and effort to the Goddess Kue, out of fear of what she might do if slighted.
¡°¡­Well. That¡¯s fair as fair can get.¡± The granny sighed. ¡°When you leave my office, turn right and follow the wall. You¡¯ll wind up in a hallway, with no idea how you got there, and if you follow it you¡¯ll reach my monks. They¡¯ll be in charge of you for the next two days.¡± She grunted at the end, and offered Kraant what he chose to believe was a smile, not a smirk. The monks had Kraant do many things over the next two days, none of them related to anything he knew how to do, and he was thrilled to fall asleep each night. At least the monks, being peaceful by nature and attuned with the Void, were able to help him more easily suppress his Raging Flurry. Now it was something he had to actively try to activate, instead of something he had to try not to activate. Monk-ey Business Kraant dreamed of a stark apartment, with curtains drawn against the early sun, and the smells of coffee and body sweat. Nathaniel stood up from his VR cocoon, and wondered if he¡¯d be stuck thinking as Kraant for the first few seconds of reality each time he popped out. He wasn¡¯t too concerned, really. For his plan to work, he needed to make enough money as Kraant to stay alive as Nathaniel, and that was pretty much it. He had the rent paid for the next few months, same with his other bills, but no matter how good a VR cocoon was, the body still felt¡­ off. Every once and again, you¡¯d have to log out. In this case, Nathaniel made himself some black tea, added honey, and showered. The tea smelled good, tasted alright, and mostly just felt like the right way to, for lack of a better term, wake up. The idea that VR cocoons put the user to sleep wasn¡¯t quite wrong, but it had certainly caused a lot of pushback when they were initially introduced. They were still considered a fairly niche market, for the hardcore gamers. Nathaniel was a hardcore gamer, by most metrics. He spent as much time as he could in various Massively Multiplayer Online games, but he rarely went up against the hardest challenges those games had to offer. He was too busy crafting gear for his friends, testing the limits of the physics engine, or doing whatever he could to really feel like a part of that world. He had once spent almost 24 hours of real-life time in a game, convincing other players that he was an NPC merchant. Since NPC meant non-player character, they felt no guilt selling him huge volumes of useless items. He paid the appropriate amount of in-game money, and as far as he could tell, he actually caused a few interview questions about ¡°Immersive PC-like merchants¡±. He was, in every sense, a Role-Player, and he always stuck to RP-friendly servers. This was a breach of character, honestly, for him to go to a new ¡°Prover¡±, or Planned-Role Virtual Reality, and then abandon his other virtual personae. While Provers allowed one player to maintain one character across many games, albeit with slight tweaks depending on each game¡¯s superstructure, Final Escape was something new entirely. An ¡°Omprover¡±, pronounced like Improver, was the next edge of gaming. According to the developers, an Omprover like Final Escape was an Online Multiplayer Role-Playing Virtual Reality. While the ¡°VR¡± boom had long since bust, many gamers still wished for their in-game actions to really feel like they mattered. Like they made a difference. These role-players were the target for Final Escape, and Nathaniel had leapt at the chance to be someone bigger-than-life. Nathaniel was a startup businessman who had sold out. Kraant was a goddamned wizard, or could become one. Nathaniel¡¯s tea was mediocre, and his shower wasn¡¯t as refreshing as he¡¯d expected. Kraant¡¯s porridge was delicious. He felt the sun streaming into the dining hall through the large windows on the eastern wall, and knew that at dinner he would feel the same sun streaming in through the identical windows on the western wall. Except that, no matter how content he was as a monk, his time at the temple was over. This breakfast had, honestly, been simply a kind gesture from Oberth who worked in the kitchen. Oberth was good people, and never treated Kraant differently because he was, very definitely, the only cold-blooded member of the clergy within the whole temple. And, now, he wasn¡¯t even that, was he? ¡°Take care, Kraant. I appreciate what you¡¯ve done, and wish you well.¡± The senior monk, a dwarf named Clem, tried to press a small purse into Kraant¡¯s hands. ¡°I will, Clem, but you know I can¡¯t take your money.¡± Kraant pushed the purse back toward the dwarf. ¡°I did what I did for the sake of my own debts, and to offer something to Kue. I can barely accept this robe!¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± Clem hesitated, then withdrew the purse. It held only a few coins, anyway¡­ and it¡¯s not like the temples of Kue could afford to be generous¡­ ¡°Then be blessed, in the name of Kue of the Void. Stand you tall against evil, and be hidden from the sight of those who wish you harm.¡± Clem¡¯s voice rang out triumphantly, before he sagged to his knees. ¡°Clem!¡± Kraant leapt to help Clem up, his voice ragged with concern. ¡°Hah! I wouldn¡¯t be senior monk in the temple if I couldn¡¯t whip up a good blessing and get Her to approve it, would I?¡± ¡°¡­You old fool,¡± whispered Kraant fondly. ¡°Thank you, Clem, and know that I will return.¡± A sort of¡­ greyish light, in the way that fog diffuses any color and makes it grayer than it was, surrounded both Kraant and Clem. A clear voice, one that Kraant heard a reflection of the Granny¡¯s voice within, echoed throughout. ¡°Kraant has given an oath, and Clem has given a blessing. This is a rare day¡­¡± Kraant was stunned. Not only by the voice, which he assumed was Kue¡¯s, but also by the window hovering in front of him.
Class Option: Class Change Paladin of Kue A paladin is one who follows the path of their God or Goddess, and who will defend that path with any weapon they need. A paladin is a direct tool of their faith, and it is the faith that leads the paladin. A paladin may fall, if they fail to follow their patron¡¯s doctrine, but an unswerving paladin is an unerring blade against a deity¡¯s foes.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Do you accept? Y/N
Kraant hurled his mind as hard as he could against the ¡°N¡±. While a Paladin sounded like an interesting and worthwhile life, he wanted the freedom that being a Magus offered. Besides, choosing to become a Paladin would probably kill Pebl, and that was simply not an option. ¡°You choose not to join our holy order?¡± Clem sounded somewhat unhappy with the fervor Kraant had displayed in his denial. ¡°Well¡­ yes. I have a familiar, one who would likely not survive the transfer. His name is Peblus Magnificus.¡± Kraant handed the pebble to Clem, and hurried on with his sentence. ¡°That aside¡­ I can do great good for Kue as a paladin, true, but I want to know as much as I can before I choose a cause to rally behind. I know but one of the eight Gods, now, and I have my own life as a Magus. I hope you understand.¡± ¡°I do, I think.¡± Clem reluctantly handed Pebl back to Kraant, and Kraant heard within his mind a sort of mewling whine from the stone. He suspected that, if he looked hard enough, some of Clem¡¯s Void affinity might have made its way into the stone Familiar with the blessing¡­ ¡°I accept your promise of return, and I will watch for you faithfully, Friend of the Monks.¡±
Title Change
Title Gained: Friend of Kue¡¯s Monks
You have spent time among the ascetic monks of Void, and learned the contentment of simplicity and stasis. It will take longer for you to become tired, hungry, or thirsty, and any effects on your soul will last longer.
Do you accept? Y/N
This time, Kraant leapt eagerly at the ¡°Y¡± button. Not only was it a benefit from a purely selfish standpoint, but he also couldn¡¯t help but imagine himself spreading the word of Kue as people saw his title. A sort of glow ran over his field of vision, and when it ended he saw that Pebl had, somehow, gained the title ¡°¡­of the Order of Kue¡±. So, if someone were to cast Identify on Pebl, it would register as ¡°Peblus Magnificus of the Order of Kue, Familiar of Magus Kraant¡±. Kraant felt vaguely outshone. ¡°Ah, the sun! The wind and the¡­ looming stormclouds. Shit.¡± Kraant had, at one time, been excited to leave the temple. He was regretting his decision, now that it looked like he¡¯d be stuck outside in only the thin, scratchy robe the monks had given him. After all, lodgings cost money! Speaking of money¡­ ¡°Alright, everyone. This is the first time I¡¯ve really been able to record anything, let alone stream it online, due to a¡­ fairly unique starting area. I¡¯m level 3 in my main class, 4 in my subclass, and I obviously have a title already! Now, for those of you who aren¡¯t familiar with Final Escape, let me run over the basics of the game¡­¡± Kraant explained how he¡¯d set up his video feed, which was augmented to let the audience see things that Kraant himself would have to feel, or smell, or sense. He took the chance to tweak a few cosmetic settings that would apply to himself, as well, such as a modified log window that would, when summoned, let him examine his damage output, view the exact words that he or someone else had used in a conversation, and minimized almost everything to only appear when he asked for it. No names above players, no highlights over quest-giving NPC¡¯s, no anything. He wanted to play a role, dammit, and he was hoping that the immersion would draw viewers more than simply trying to progress as rapidly as possible. Hopefully. Maybe. He¡¯d spent enough money on modifying this cocoon for this to not work. Kraant wandered vaguely toward the northern gate of the city as he discussed the nature of the game, of his plans within it, and a certain amount of his situation. While he didn¡¯t mind talking about the fact that he was penniless, he didn¡¯t particularly want to let any on-lookers know that he had a rare class. Such things were best discussed in private¡­ so that only paying viewers got to see the strange, beautiful magic. He finished his explanations as he reached the city gates, massive doors at least five meters tall and as thick as his waist. They were made mostly of wood, some dark and heavy type that he assumed could stand up to magical siege engines, and they stood open wide. After all, who would be able to assault the Capital City without warning? Any sneakthieves or assassins wouldn¡¯t really be deterred by the heavy gates, so there was no point in inconveniencing the citizenry by making them wait for the gates to open and close. He greeted the guards as he passed through, each wearing the twin emblems of their home cities and the Capital¡¯s Guard. He¡­ he should probably find out what the Capital¡¯s actual name was, but the monks had simply referred to it as the Capital, so¡­ Kraant made it almost the whole 150 meters that were kept cleared all around the walls before he felt the first drips of rain against his hood. He glanced up as he reached the treeline, and suspected that he¡¯d be pretty dry for a while just by virtue of the sheer density of the forest¡¯s canopy. He didn¡¯t have any particular quests to do in the forest, but he was almost totally certain that there would be a way to make money off of killing and butchering the forest critters. He couldn¡¯t claim to be the best butcher of all time, but he¡¯d had to fend for himself in the Hematite mines where he grew up, so he felt¡­ confident. He made his way through the forest, smelling the rich scents of wet earth and growing herbs. He could feel the abundant life all throughout the forest, and he tucked Pebl into his hood where it kept contact with his skin. The warmth that Pebl put off was comforting, and he had to be careful not to instinctively activate his new Siphon Life spell. It was odd, feeling his own Life magic held by this little, magically-intense rock outside his body. It felt like the magic should be in him, and only in him, but¡­ Pebl was his only friend, and he wouldn¡¯t be responsible for the death of his own Familiar. No matter how little choice Pebl had been given in the matter of life. It was almost noon, he thought, when he first sensed a presence that really noticed him. He¡¯d felt birds and bugs and one or two particularly-vivacious plants, but this¡­ this was something else. This was danger! How refreshing. He took Pebl out of his hood, and kept the little stone in his hand. He chose to pretend not to know of his new friend. It was only a few more minutes of walking, while the thing stalked around him without making a sound or even seeming to move the bushes that Kraant knew it was moving through. It was nerve-wracking, to say the least. Foxin Heck Because he was keyed-up so high, he was able to react pretty violently as soon as the creature leapt at him, and instead of clamping its grasping jaws around his throat, it swallowed his arm to the shoulder. Kraant released Pebl and issued a mental command, and he felt the Void. It was not the seething darkness that he¡¯d sort of expected, despite working with the monks for the last couple of days. No, this was¡­ emptiness. Like reaching one hand into deep space, trying to grasp at a far-off star. It was, he realized, as though he held a moon in his hands. There was nothing, absolutely nothing, except for Pebl. Which was, perhaps, a bit overdramatic for a spell called ¡°Dampen¡±. He released his hold on Pebl, and gave it a vague order to ¡°damage the enemy¡±, then pulled his arm out of the beast¡¯s mouth. Stepping back while the thing reeled in disorientation, he pulled up a combat HUD. He didn¡¯t plan to use them too often, but his first fight against a living enemy seemed like a good time to see the exact effects, beneficial and detrimental, that were in play.
Twin-Tailed Fox: Wood
HP: 20/20 MP: 20/25 Level: 4
Dioriented, Blinded, Choking
So! It was wood aspected. That was good to know. ¡°Pebl! Use Spark!¡± Kraant shouted and dodged back from the thrashing fox. It wasn¡¯t much smaller than him, but it was a sort of mottled brown that was difficult to see in the forest under good circumstances, and with the added benefit of the overcast sky and the thick canopy cutting the light down, it would have been almost invisible even without its wood affinity. Unfortunately for it, Kraant had Sense Living! And a minor ability to see in the dark, but that was¡­ unreliable. It was more of an acquired skill after living in mines for so long than an actual spell or racial bonus. Also unfortunately for it, Peblus Magnificus was putting all of its effort into venting Fire mana directly into the fox¡¯s throat and lungs. Fire devours Wood, as everyone knows, so it was doing a fairly good job. Kraant, however, wanted to do at least something. So he cast Siphon Life. The effect was dramatic. A cascade of invisible, yet still definitely somehow very green, flecks flew from the eyes and, mostly, throat of the Fox directly into Kraant¡¯s chest. He suspected that the color was related to the Wood affinity, but he didn¡¯t have enough time to really think about it before they swept his awareness aside and showed him the world as it truly was. Everything, absolutely everything, was full of the twin essences of Wood and Life. The Fox wasn¡¯t an enemy, it was a guardian! It defended itself and its territory from all comers, and he was an interloper. Lodged in its throat was Peblus Magnificus, a nascent God of tempestuous affinities, all warring within a half-formed soul. He knew with absolute certainty that he had, at most, a few days to get as many affinities into Pebl as he could. Once the soul formed fully, he couldn¡¯t add these affinities all willy-nilly any more. He knew this, through his connection to the Life mana he¡¯d spent on contracting Pebl. The sense was fleeting, but he still felt a little bit stronger than he had before. He lashed out with claw and fang in a Raging Flurry, no longer even slightly afraid of it. This Twin-Tailed Fox would eventually evolve into a truly dangerous foe, but for now it was simply a child that lashed out in fear. He felt almost bad as he killed it, driving his claws deep into its eyes. He immediately began to butcher the thing, hoping to keep as much of the meat and pelt as fresh as possible. He realized now what Sculpt: Flesh meant in his Arts tab. He could picture in his mind the way he wanted a cut to divide the meat, and it would work almost perfectly, almost every time. He wondered how it would work out at higher levels, but for now it was extremely useful. He only punctured the pelt a few times while flaying the carcass, and none of them ruined anything terrifically important. The last thing he did was dislodge Pebl from the beast¡¯s throat. It wasn¡¯t because he wanted to leave his familiar in there, so much as that Pebl and the charred flesh surrounding it were extremely hot to the touch. So, he let them take in some of the rain and just steam, all dramatic and cool-like. When he finally retrieved Pebl, he was somewhere between furious and sick with envy.
NameStolen novel; please report. Peblus Magnificus, of the Order of Kue Power 2 Load Cap. 0
Race Hot Wet Rooted Anti-Rock Control 2 Stamina 2
Age 2 days Charisma 7 Spells 4
Size Tiny Morality 0 Spell: Spark 1, 8%
Class Familiar Knowledge 3 Spell: Dampen 1, 5%
HP 2/2 Sense 5 Spell: Splash 1, 0%
MP 4/4 Luck 2 Spell: Summon Bees 1, 0%
Authority 0 - -
Just by being out in the rain, it absorbed Water affinity?! Just by being inside a wood-affinity fox it got Wood affinity? And what was this stat growth?! A rock shouldn¡¯t have the same Power rating as him! And, no matter what its Charisma says, there¡¯s no way a rock is prettier than him¡­ no matter how its fiery glow lights up the evening, not how it charmingly scuttles along behind him¡­ wait! No! Dammit! Nathaniel was not nearly as enamored with Pebl as Kraant was, thank God. Thank the one, singular God that Nathaniel was¡­ fairly¡­ sure existed. Not eight, no, that¡¯s silly. Right. Anyway, Nathaniel made some ramen and edited the last few days into viewable video, although he wasn¡¯t really proud of it. He put most of the work on Clara, the one truly good thing he¡¯d ever made. Clara was an AI, specifically one designed to determine what was ¡°interesting¡±. He¡¯d sold her, along with the patents and copyrights of the company he¡¯d built up to make her, to a major Special Effects Production and Editing firm, but he¡¯d also kept a copy for personal use. It wasn¡¯t technically illegal! He had the documents to prove it. Honest. They were, uh, just over there in his car¡­ yeah¡­ Nathaniel was pretty excited as he uploaded his video. Yeah, this would work. This was gonna get views, and popularity, and income¡­. Maybe he should go back and check in on Kraant, hmm? Kraant woke up in a forest. At first, this wasn¡¯t a problem- he¡¯d taken a nap in a forest, right? However, on second thought and every thought for the next several hours, he was complaining about the aches, chills, and general discomfort of being dripped on while also being cold-blooded. It didn¡¯t even make sense! It had stopped raining hours ago, why was it still dripping?! Peblus Magnificus, of course, seemed to delight in the bounty of elementally-charged esssences throughout the woods. Because anything that Kraant hated, Peblus would love. That¡¯s right! Peblus, not Pebl! You lost the right to a cute nickname when you surpassed your master, jerk! I mean. Not surpassed. Just¡­ overshadowed. Dammit! Kraant couldn¡¯t get his head around this¡­ well, to put it simply, Charisma seemed to make impressions more volatile, not necessarily more sane. That is, a high Charisma would make a powerful enemy seem terrifying, but a powerful ally seem like a rallying cry incarnate. A weak Charisma would make a powerful enemy seem like a simple hurdle to overcome, or a powerful ally seem like a strong weapon- useful, but not part of the team. He could see benefits for both paths, and he had a flash of insight. Even during the Beta and Alpha tests¡­ ow, that hurt. Time to log out. Nathaniel continued his train of thought. Players had noticed a trend for more ¡°extreme¡± playstyles to benefit more strongly from their choices. For example, if the average player carefully calculated their stat allocations and quest rewards, then a particularly ¡°random¡± player would fairly easily match their power. Playing along was fine, but if you found a unique path you would get unique rewards! Yet another reason that Nathaniel wanted to continue a strong-immersion playthrough of a random-chance character. He would, probably, get lucky more often than not. If¡­ if that¡¯s how luck works. It might not be. Either way, he was playing a strong-immersion playthrough, and had modified his cocoon for that purpose. Since he was already voiding the warranty, technically, by setting up the recording software in the way he had, he¡¯d figured he¡¯d modify a few other things too. He tweaked settings, removed filters, and generally made it so that when he was in-game, he was Kraant. Which is why he was able to think about things like logging out or checking the forums, which were safety measures to keep him from forgetting all about Nathaniel, but thinking about meta-gaming made his head hurt. It was a deterrent. Stay in Character, that was his motto! Chit-Chat Kraant was tired, and cold, and hungry. He¡¯d managed to get a fire started, with the help of Pebl¡¯s Spark spell, but he hadn¡¯t figured out a way to cook the Twin-Tailed Fox meat. He had been able to use Sculpt: Flesh on it, but apparently the result was more of an artistic piece than an actual ingredient. Since the skill had come from his Trapper class, he was pretty sure it just needed to be leveled up a few times before he could actually use it for butchering. For now, it was more about disengaging a disabled or killed creature from his traps. Luckily, the woods seemed like a decent place to practice. Especially since he¡¯d taken the time to set up some snares and the like, so he might have a source of meat that he could sell. Hopefully. He curled up in his robes, as close to the fire as he could stand, and set Pebl¡­ Peblus! Dang! He was still mad at Peblus, although starting the fire had done quite a bit to soothe his wounded pride. Anyway, Peblus was on a sort of watch, since apparently rocks didn¡¯t need to sleep. He was woken in just a couple hours, as the rain picked up again. It wasn¡¯t too bad, tucked under this old tree, but Peblus had sent him a mental prod, as well. While he was glad that his familiar made a decent sentry, he wasn¡¯t exactly enthused about losing out on his dream. It was looking to be a good one, he was running through a field of flowers and picking meat off the trees, each of which screamed in one Overseer¡¯s voice or another, and¡­ mmm. Maybe it didn¡¯t sound as peaceful as it¡¯d felt, but he¡¯d had enough organs ripped out of him that he didn¡¯t feel bad at all about doing it to the Overseers. He was still half-awake at best, musing about his dream, when an arrow landed between him and the fire. It had come straight down, as though fired from the tree directly above him, and it flashed a brilliant white as it landed. He shouted, and tried to roll away, but the tree trunk kept him right where he was. He heard a soft thump, as though someone had jumped down from overhead, and felt a flicker of the all-surrounding Void as Peblus cast Dampen on its own initiative. The Void seemed to, well, dampen, the blinding light, and Kraant was able to blink away the stars in his eyes. A humanoid girl, of indeterminate age and build, crouched by the fire with a huge, billowing cloak spread around her in an extremely picturesque fashion. She stared out from under a deep hood at the unassuming stone on the edge of the fire. ¡°What the FUCK?¡± Kraant shouted eloquently. ¡°Holy shit!¡± The girl jumped and whirled around, apparently just now remembering the kobold was still there. She drew a bow in a fluid motion and pointed the arrow at Kraant. ¡°Uh. Hi?¡± ¡°¡­Hi.¡± Kraant said eloquently. ¡°Can, uh. Can I stay here for the night?¡± The girl asked, somehow sheepish despite her aggressive actions and still-drawn bow. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­Please?¡± She added hopefully. ¡°Why? And why should I let you?¡± ¡°Well, if I kill you, I can have the fire, take the meat from your snares in the morning, and be on my way. But I¡¯d rather not, so I figured I could at least ask politely. What harm could it do, right?¡± ¡°Right, I guess that makes sense, but¡­ why do you want to stay here so bad? And what part of blinding me and holding me hostage is polite?¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m hungry and I don¡¯t have the Trapper class, so I¡¯d have to actually hunt anything I wanted to eat. Also, your fire is nice and warm and you picked a¡­ decent¡­ spot for staying out of the rain, even though you didn¡¯t build any kind of lean-to. And I find people are a lot more willing to be polite to me if they¡¯re off-balance and outgunned.¡± ¡°¡­Can you cook?¡± ¡°Yeah, my subclass is Survivalist. I can dress, butcher, and cook anything that lives, but the results aren¡¯t always reliable yet. I¡¯m only level 3 in it.¡± ¡°Then yeah, you can stay. Peblus Magnificus, stand down.¡± Kraant felt a mild sense of disappointment from the stone, as well as a little burst of warmth from the fire as Pebl released the Fire mana it had been gathering. ¡°Lovely! My name¡¯s Gina.¡± The girl lowered her bow and sat down next to Kraant. ¡°I guess Peblus is the rock, is he your familiar?¡± ¡°Sometimes it feels like I¡¯m his, really, but yeah. I¡¯m Kraant.¡± ¡°I know. I can see names and titles, although Peblus managed to hide his from me until he cast that spell.¡± ¡°Huh. Neat perk. What class is it from?¡± ¡°Arrow of Dawn. It¡¯s a light-based archery class, unique to followers of Idh. It¡¯s a sort of Paladin off-shoot. Technically, as you¡¯re a follower of Kue, I think I¡¯m supposed to kind of hate you, but you seem alright.¡± ¡°I¡¯m more of a pan-pantheon sort, really, but the monks of Kue helped me out when I first escaped my tutorial zone. I¡¯m a Magus, which is why I have the rock with me.¡± ¡°That¡¯s cool, I didn¡¯t know that rocks even could be familiars. I assumed it had to be a living creature.¡± ¡°Well, my situation is a bit¡­ strange. To be honest, I wasn¡¯t sure it would work either¡­ and he wasn¡¯t quite my first choice.¡± ¡°Well I think he¡¯s adorable.¡± Gina reach over and stroked Pebl lightly with one gloved finger. ¡°Is he¡­ purring?!¡± ¡°¡­Yeah, actually, I think he is.¡± They both stared at the stone, who radiated blissful disregard for their stupefaction. ¡°He¡¯s, uh. Not what I expected.¡± ¡°He¡¯s got to be close to evolving. What level is he?¡± ¡°Uh. He doesn¡¯t have levels. I don¡¯t think he¡¯s technically alive¡­ like I said, it¡¯s a strange situation.¡± ¡°Sounds like it. Not to be rude, but do you have any meat I can cook up? I¡¯m still starving.¡± ¡°Oh! Yeah.¡± Kraant pulled the Twin-Tailed fox carcass out of his pocket. ¡°I think it stayed fresh in there, but all I can tell is that the robe¡¯s pockets are full of Void energy, so I¡¯m not sure. They seem to be able to hold quite a bit, though.¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°Wow, I¡¯ll say¡­ yeah, this looks pretty fresh. How is it burned to death, though? You don¡¯t strike me as a fire mage.¡± ¡°I have access to quite a few of the Aspects. Like I said, it¡¯s¡­ strange. I¡¯d prefer not to give out too much information until I understand it better, myself. Especially if you decide to kill me in the night and sell the information¡­¡± ¡°Oh, I know we Light types get a bad rep for being all mysterious and crazy, but I¡¯m not like that. I¡¯m sort of like a friar, where I get to keep most of my freedom and rational thought but I still help the church.¡± Gina started to clean the deer in brisk motions, taking off the skin and separating a few steaks before hanging the rest to drain and burying the viscera. ¡°Still, if you don¡¯t mind, I¡¯m going to keep it to myself for now.¡± ¡°I can accept that. A Twin-Tailed Fox carcass is well worth keeping my curiosity in check.¡± ¡°So, you mentioned my snares¡­¡± Kraant started whittling a couple sticks down to spit the steaks on for roasting. ¡°How long were you watching us?¡± ¡°A few minutes, just long enough to make sure you were asleep. Did you know you cackle in your sleep, by the way? I just saw the snares while I was looking for a good place to set up for the night. ¡°¡­It was a weird, dream, okay? I don¡¯t always cackle.¡± ¡°Sure, sure. You do you, man.¡± As she spit the steaks and set them up by fire, Gina pulled back the hood of her cloak and Kraant got a good look at her face. She had slightly reptilian features, not as strong as his, but she was larger and more human-looking than him. And he fingers didn¡¯t end in talons. ¡°Huh.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah, I¡¯m a Weredrake, by the way. You¡¯re a Kobold, yeah? Gutsy choice. I approve.¡± ¡°How do you mean?¡± ¡°Well, almost all players pick some kind of humanoid, and most of them are some kind of Beastkin for the racial perks they can get. I¡¯m sort of an off-shoot, as a weredrake is technically a human who¡¯s bloodline was cursed with some draconic features and a temporary transformation ability. It sounded way cooler than it is, because I forgot about racism. You¡¯ve probably encountered your fair share too, eh?¡± ¡°Uh, no not really. I¡¯ve pretty much only dealt with my tutorial area and the monks, though, so maybe I just left town too early to get thrown out.¡± ¡°Could be. You got any herbs for these?¡± Gina gestured at the skewered meat. ¡°Nope. Could maybe grind up Peblus like salt, though.¡± They both chuckled as the rock vibrated and shifted a little deeper into the fire. ¡°Too bad. They¡¯re just about ready, then. Assuming you want one?¡± ¡°Well, seeing as I watched you make them, I¡¯m pretty sure they¡¯re not poisoned. And I haven¡¯t eaten all day¡­ yeah, sure, I¡¯ll take one if you don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°No problem, I made two for a reason. This rain sucks, huh?¡± Gina gestured vaguely at what little sky was visible past the branches. ¡°Eh, could be worse. The tree keeps most of it off. The fire helps.¡± ¡°True, true¡­¡± They chatted for a while as they ate, and Gina helped him build a sort of tent from sticks and foliage so they could both stay dry-ish. It was still kind of cold, and uncomfortable, but he was¡­ happy. He¡¯d made a friend! The next day dawned brightly, and a shaft of light pierced the canopy leaves, and the shelter, and the hood of his robe, to hit Kraant directly in his left eye. He woke up grumbly and irritated, but smelled eggs and roasting meat. He sat up, instantly awake, and looked toward the smell. It was a surprisingly domestic scene, with Gina wearing her cloak tied around her waist like an apron, cooking on a couple large, flat stones near the edge of the merry little blaze Peblus sat in. He wasn¡¯t sure if the fire had gone out and she¡¯d convinced his familiar to re-light it, or if Peblus had simply kept it going through sheer Mana expenditure, but neither option really sat well with him. Maybe Peblus was about to evolve, whatever that meant. He¡¯d probably do well to find a way to introduce him to the three elements he didn¡¯t already have before then. ¡°Morning!¡± Gina chirped at him as he stood up and stretched. ¡°Good morning. Where¡¯d breakfast come from?¡± ¡°I raided a bird¡¯s nest while I checked your snares. The results are hanging up over there.¡± She gestured to the east, where he saw a small rabbit-like creature hanging next to the remains of the Twin-Tailed Fox. A minor effort of will showed him a table, like the Twin-Tailed Fox had.
Lapine Shadow: Dark
HP: 0/10 MP: 0/5 Level: 2
Deceased
¡°Huh. Was it dead when you found it?¡± ¡°No, just Trapped and Bound. Peblus actually finished it off, he could use the experience more than I could.¡± ¡°Of course he did. Would you mind shooting him with a Light arrow, by the way?¡± ¡°Um. Sure?¡± Gina reached to her side and pulled her bow out, then fired an arrow at Pebl. It shimmered in flight, and sparked far more than it normally would when it bounced off his stony¡­ well, not his stony hide, per se, but¡­ ¡°What was that about?¡± ¡°Now he only needs to absorb some Life mana. I think he sort of¡­ takes in whatever Aspects he¡¯s near, especially if he¡¯s attacked with them.¡± ¡°Neat!¡± Gina looked at Peblus appraisingly. ¡°That¡¯s so cool!¡± ¡°Yeah, well, don¡¯t stoke his ego. I don¡¯t want him to evolve into a Stone of Arrogance, or something. How does that even work, anyway?¡± ¡°Well, my friends who play as Magi all have familiars, but they¡¯re mostly cute little animals like squirrels or whatever. As you get stronger, I guess you can either make a new contract or you can sort of double-down on your familiar and make them Evolve. They get stronger, to match whatever category of creature you could have made your new familiar from. More than that, nobody¡¯s sure. I think only a few Magi have even gotten to the first evolution, yet, and most of them have chosen to get a wolf or a horse or something instead of gambling on evolution.¡± ¡°That makes sense. You seem pretty knowledgeable about this.¡± ¡°Well, while I won¡¯t be giving out personal info, you can just sort of assume that I know anything that¡¯s been posted to the forums. And maybe a few things that are supposed to stay within the company.¡± ¡°Cool, cool.¡± Kraant prodded at the fire and glanced sidelong at the eggs and roast. They smelled so good¡­ ¡°Not as cool as a multiple-aspect familiar, that¡¯s for sure. Can I post about you on the forums?¡± ¡°As long as you¡¯re not too specific. Can I include our conversations in my videos?¡± ¡°You¡¯re streaming?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m editing here and there to make for higher-quality viewing.¡± ¡°Ah. Then, if you could leave out that bit about the company info¡­¡± ¡°Can do.¡± ¡°Then yeah, go ahead. Food¡¯s ready, by the way.¡± ¡°Thank the Gods!¡± Kraant and Gina both immediately settled into prayers over the meal, although the exact wordings varied, and set in. Peblus kept watch from his nice, cozy fire. Hardwood ¡°So! Where are we headed now?¡± Gina stretched her arms over her head and twisted back and forth. Kraant couldn¡¯t help but notice that, for a humanoid, she had a decent body¡­ not too fleshy or soft¡­ but it was a clinical sort of appreciation. He wasn¡¯t some kind of pervert, after all, lusting after a mammal. ¡°¡­We?¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯re interesting, and I have nothing important going on. Besides, you¡¯re like level 3 or 4. You really can¡¯t handle these woods on your own.¡± ¡°¡­I thought I was doing alright¡­¡± ¡°Peblus was doing alright. You can¡¯t even feed yourself.¡± ¡°Fair enough. I was going to head north, following the river once I found it, and see about getting to an area less full of players.¡± ¡°Makes sense, I guess, as long as you can survive the trip. You realize that the further north you go, the harder the enemies get, right?¡± ¡°Well, yeah, but isn¡¯t that true in any direction?¡± ¡°Only technically. To the west is the easiest, to the east is the desert which, while it doesn¡¯t have many strong enemies, is a hazard in itself. And it has rare, but extremely powerful, wandering Boss monsters. The south is toward the ocean, which has its own issues but the coastal region is pretty much the best bet for newbies because it¡¯s where the most towns and villages are, and that¡¯s where most people get guided by quests and such. The north¡­ the north has more enemies, and more organized ones. You get closer to the opposing faction¡¯s territory, which means you¡¯re going to start encountering roving patrols and the like.¡± ¡°Then why are you headed north?¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t planning to go much further than this. I was gonna break west soon and see if I could find a good balance of Dark enemies, for the experience boost my class gets against them, with the lower average level to the west.¡± ¡°Sounds good, I guess, but I really want to¡­ well, I want to progress as quickly as possible for now. I think we make a pretty good team, so we could probably make it quite a ways before we encounter anything we can¡¯t handle.¡± ¡°¡­Fukkit, sure, why not? You know how death works, though, right? Where¡¯s your bound portal?¡± ¡°The Temple of Kue in the capital. I know it hurts, but that¡¯s about it.¡± ¡°¡­Hurts? We¡¯ll come back to that. You also have an 80% drop chance for each piece of equipped gear, but higher-rarity gear lowers that chance. So, a Divine piece of armor would only have a 30% chance because it¡¯s Tier Five. Make sense?¡± ¡°Yeah. I think my robe is Uncommon, but I haven¡¯t checked.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m fully kitted out and only one piece is Uncommon. So if we die, I¡¯m stuck in the Modesty Wrappings, which are embarrassing and have no bonuses. I¡¯d rather not die for no reason.¡± ¡°Alright, West it is then. Are there any towns that way?¡±This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°A few. Part of Survivalist is the ability to draw and read maps, so we shouldn¡¯t get too lost.¡± ¡°Man, Survivalist sounds way better than Trapper¡­¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m level 6 in it. You stop getting free skills and abilities after level 5 in most classes, but by then you¡¯re pretty well-rounded. Trapper should give you some neat stuff, like a more reliable way to butcher meat than my Survivalist does.¡± ¡°¡­Yeah, I¡¯m only level three in it. I¡¯ll work on that.¡± ¡°I highly recommend it. Any class, or combination, can be useful, but you have to put in the work.¡± ¡°Well, in my defense, Pebl has been useful¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s because he works hard. Not like his squishy wizard.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Kraant turned to west and started walking. He wasn¡¯t gonna take the bait. ¡°Hey, hey, we gotta break camp and put out the fire. We can¡¯t just leave it!¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°Well, first of all, a wildfire could catch us up pretty easily. Secondly, if we start a fire through negligence, I¡¯m pretty sure the God of Wood would smite us with a curse. Lastly, it¡¯s bad Survivalism. You have to actually do the things your class is based on if you want to progress any faster than a dying snail.¡± ¡°¡­Oh. Alright then.¡± Kraant turned around and started breaking down the lean-to, while he had Pebl cast Splash on the fire a few times. Pebl was not enthusiastic about losing his warm little bed of coals, but he did what he was told. ¡°While we do this¡­ what do you mean, dying hurts?¡± Gina got to work breaking down the rack where the meat was hanging, and stringing the Lapine Shadow carcass to hang on a stick so it wouldn¡¯t bleed all over her. ¡°Well, it hurts. It was like every part of my body was ripped apart, then slammed back together until they got stuck.¡± ¡°That¡­ shouldn¡¯t happen. It should feel like coming together into a whole piece, a peaceful and almost religious experience. Do you feel pain all the time?¡± ¡°Well, not all the time, but yeah. I feel pain like anyone else.¡± ¡°Kraant, my dude, nobody feels pain in Final Escape. Not unless they modded their cocoon, and even then it¡¯s got safety regulations. It has to. What did you do?¡± ¡°Well, since my warranty was void anyway when I gave an AI access to my visual and audio feeds, I sort of¡­ ignored those safety warnings? I mean, it¡¯s not like¡­ ow!¡± Kraant¡¯s head felt like a spike had been driven through it¡­ sideways. ¡°Dang. That¡¯s hardcore. You alright?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. Talking, or even thinking too hard, about the outside world, gives me a nasty headache.¡± Kraant used Siphon Life on a tree, and after the glorious sensation of vibrancy passed, his headache was mostly gone. ¡°What spell was that? Was that a void thing?¡± ¡°Uh. No. Why?¡± ¡°Well, you gestured vaguely at a tree and it just sort of¡­ withered. That¡¯s not a low-level Magus spell, unless you got a unique spellbook somehow.¡± ¡°¡­Something like that. Actually, since you didn¡¯t kill me in my sleep and it sounds like we¡¯ll be fighting together, I should probably tell you. I¡¯m a Life Magus.¡± ¡°Aspected magi are rare, that¡¯s usually a High Magus thing. At least, the only aspected magi I know of are all High Magi or higher. I haven¡¯t heard of any PC¡¯s getting that far yet, or starting out with it.¡± ¡°It has to do with my Kobold race. I guess Kobolds are like lesser dragons, except even less than drakes or wyrms. Since all Dragons were aspected, there¡¯s a chance that any Kobold Magus will have an aspect from the get-go, and I happened to luck out especially hard and get Life. I think. Ow.¡± ¡°Even that counts as meta-gaming?¡± ¡°Yeah, I gave Clara pretty strict instructions on what I could say or do without the headaches, but she¡¯s not a perfect AI yet. Her judgement is a little off.¡± Kraant had his back turned, and didn¡¯t see the way Gina stiffened at the name Clara, or the term AI. ¡°You let an AI into your head?!¡± Gina responded, only slightly late. ¡°No, of course not. Just into my cocoon.¡± ¡°¡­No wonder your warranty was voided, damn. Well, your secret is safe with me. You¡¯re way to interesting to risk offending you and making you run off on your own.¡± ¡°¡­I think I¡¯ll take that as a compliment.¡± Kraant finished up his part of breaking camp, and Gina suggested they take a quick detour to the river before heading west. While neither of them technically needed to bathe, and she wasn¡¯t anywhere near as intense in her role-playing as Kraant, she still preferred to take some time for simpler things and detours, as opposed to rushing from battle to battle. Not that her level would suggest anything of the sort. Something old, something new... It was getting on toward evening, and Kraant was tired from the walking and the occasional fight. He hadn¡¯t managed to get Pebl a Life aspect yet, which was a little worrying. He figured the soul-solidification would happen at the same time as the Evolution, so if he didn¡¯t have all 8 aspects it might limit the range of options available. He was definitely going to evolve him, too, and not just shift his contract. The little rock was turning into quite the flexible spell-slinger. He¡¯d even gained some stamina and MP, which seemed to function a little differently from Kraant¡¯s spell slots. Pebl¡¯s spells consumed one MP each, except for Spark. Since Spark had level up, he could now choose to spend two MP to cast a better version of the spell. It didn¡¯t seem quite as powerful as two casts of the level 1 version, but it was faster and it did have a little better accuracy at range, although that might have been his upgraded Control stat. It also had a better chance of catching the enemy on fire, but again, not quite double the level 1 version. As for Kraant himself, he¡¯d been able to butcher some enemies, and even tried stretching his Sculpt: Flesh skill a little, and carved a morbid meat-rose. It wasn¡¯t particularly attractive, even as far as a sculpture of meat could be attractive, but it stopped rotting entirely. It was now classified as a Trophy, and could be used to decorate a room. In theory, anyway¡­ in practice, once they confirmed the effect of the skill, they hurled it into the trees and Pebl cast Summon Bees. It was the only time he¡¯d ever used that spell, and apparently it was slightly mis-named. It actually summoned a few dozen wasps, that quickly attacked the rose¡­ and when they couldn¡¯t eat it, they picked it up together and flew off. Kraant shuddered at the thought of a nest being built around it like an altar¡­ ugh. Gina had almost hit level 8 in Arrow of Dawn, and Kraant was close to leveling up in both his classes. After setting up camp, or setting up snares while Gina set up camp, he sat down with his dinner and looked over his Status. It was¡­ not the worst. He could work with this, especially if he kept getting new spells for a couple more levels. Apparently, most magi had to seek out teachers or rare spellbooks to expand their spell list after about level 5, and the NPC¡¯s claimed that you¡¯d get another 5 for levels 1-5 of each ¡°tier¡± of your class. So, on the way to Archmagus, Kraant would get a minimum of 26 spells or abilities, including the gift of Contract Familiar. Neat! Each spell had been useful so far.
Identity and Attributes
Name Kraant, Friend of Kue¡¯s Monks Power 2 Load Cap. 40
Race Kobold* Control 6 Stamina 50
Age 22 Charisma 3 Spells 0/2
Size 3¡¯11¡± Morality 0 - -
M.Class Magus* Knowledge 3 - -
S.Class Trapper Sense 2 - -
HP 15/15 Luck 7 - -
MP 0/30 Authority 0.5 - -
* Denotes special, hidden modifiers. These can be examined only by the statholder or a Divine-level Appraisal.
Classes
Life Magus 3/10 72% 125/173
Trapper 4/10 95% 287/302
Skills, Abilities, Arts, and Spells
Skills Abilities Arts Spells
Endurance 3 5% Regenerate 1 MAX MAX Craft: Traps 4 5% Ward: Living 5 2%
Detect Trap 2 3% Stealth 4 48% Sculpt: Flesh 1 60.0% Detect Living 2If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. 23%
Raging Flurry 1 30% Engineering: Mechanical 1 0% Contract Familiar MAX MAX
Siphon Life 2 0%
Equipment
Head Torso Lower Body Arm, L Arm, R Leg, L Leg, R Hand, L Hand, R Accessories
Void Robe Loincloth Shin of Trent Claws Claws
0 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 1 0
Interaction Status
Physical P. Def. 7 P. Dodge, Complete 0.6% P. Atk., Melee 6 P. Atk., Range 0
Social S. Def. 3.5 P. Dodge, Partial 6% Soc. Atk. 4.5 Blend % 3%
Mental M. Def. 3.5 M. Conceal 1.5 M. Atk. 2.5 Retain % 3%
Legend
Kraant was dissatisfied with his life as a trapper in the Kobold-controlled Hematite Mine 175-B, and left his home and clan behind. He was able to last a few days before his first encounter with the Higher Races, and was captured by a band of elven bandits. He was sold into slavery, brought to the Irongem Mountain Mine 34-C, and used for organ storage. He was nearly killed by Rrrobert, but was saved by the timely intervention of Lung-Tze. He was put under Geas by Lung-Tze, but has been released to the world at large, under the condition that he return at least once a year. He has contracted a Familiar, a simple stone named Peblus Magnificus, and it shares the affinities of Fire and Metal. He wished to sacrifice time and effort to the Goddess Kue, out of fear of what she might do if slighted, and gained the Title "Friend of Kue''s Monks". He is traveling with an Arrow of Dawn, and looks forward to progressing as a Magus and a Trapper.
And, of course, his Familiar.
Name Peblus Magnificus, of the Order of Kue Power 2 Load Cap. 0
Race Hot Wet Dark Shining Rooted Anti-Rock Control 3 Stamina 4
Age 2 days Charisma 8 Spells 6
Size Tiny Morality 0 Spell: Spark 2, 5%
Class Familiar Knowledge 6 Spell: Dampen 1, 10%
HP 2/2 Sense 7 Spell: Splash 1, 15%
MP 1/7 Luck 4 Spell: Summon Bees 1, 5%
Authority 0 Spell: Two Shadows 1, 10%
Spell: Flash 1, 15%
Not a bad start. He curled up in the lean-to and logged out. Nathaniel stretched and popped all his aching joints. He set Clara to editing a few videos together, including a Combat Highlights Reel, and made sure that she wouldn¡¯t include any personal information that he or Gina had shared. That part was a surprisingly tricky maneuver, since Clara didn¡¯t really understand what was too personal to share- just what made for interesting viewing. Like every soap opera or sitcom, she knew the value of secrets and drama for maintaining interest. He decided to take a walk around the block. He was feeling pretty good, all things considered, but he wanted to work the kinks out of his muscles and give his mind more than a few minutes away from Final Escape. It was a little disconcerting, how long it was starting to take before he really felt like his 1.7 meter body, shaped like a human, was really his. He found himself vaguely missing his tail, missing the ability to sense the life around him. Humanity was too tall, too unbalanced, too blind to the world around them. Although, he admitted, being warm blooded was nice. Maybe he should try to find a fire-aspected tunic or something to go under his robe¡­ No! Not thinking about the game. Thinking about reality. Smell the Chinese food from the local take-out place, taste the ozone of the oncoming storm, hear the footsteps of that person following him¡­ no, not following him, never mind. They turned the corner. Wait a second, he¡¯d been a solid five meters past that intersection when¡­ Nathaniel felt a slight chill run down his back. Had he always been this observant of the people around him? He had to get away, he realized. There were too many people, too close. None of them were in arm¡¯s reach, but they crowded him all the same. It was too much, too little space to himself, he had no way to defend himself if someone wanted to rob him, not even a pocket knife! He found himself trying to mentally order Pebl to prepare Spark. He shook his head. No, this is the city. It¡¯s always like this, in fact it¡¯s usually more crowded. And Pebl was in-game, he wasn¡¯t real. Calm down, Nathaniel. Nonetheless, he turned around and went back inside, walking a little faster than usual. He wasn¡¯t tired, but Kraant was. He could take a nap as Kraant and forget all about this. ¡°What the hell, man? I thought you were some hardcore gamer.¡± Gina sounded fairly irritated. ¡°uh. What?¡± ¡°You just logged out, without even warning me when you¡¯d be back. Kraant¡¯s been curled up in ball, and you didn¡¯t even set him to sleep! You just wasted 8 hours!¡± ¡°Uh. Sorry about that, I didn¡¯t realize he wouldn¡¯t sleep automatically.¡± ¡°Normally, he would. You must have changed the settings somewhere, so he just stays in a kind of coma until you come back. But look, I bet you anything that you¡¯ve got the ¡°exhausted¡± status from staying up all night after wandering all day.¡± ¡°Uh. Yeah. Yeah I do.¡± ¡°¡­dumbass. This is gonna slow us down pretty bad. Here.¡± Gina reached into her cloak, which apparently had some kind of pockets on the inside, and pulled out a flask of glowing orange liquid. ¡°This is a Firebrand Tonic. It¡¯s not easy to make, or to get, but I have a couple from my starting scenario. It¡¯ll help you ignore fatigue and wounds.¡± ¡°Actually, the effect isn¡¯t as bad as you think. It¡¯s only a 5% reduction in Stamina and Control until I get a full rest. One of the perks of my Title.¡± ¡°¡­Huh.¡± She withdrew the potion and tucked it back into her cloak. ¡°Well then. Let¡¯s get going?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Kraant reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of jerky. He¡¯d been experimenting a little last night, with Gina¡¯s help. It had turned out alright, all things considered. It sort of tasted like wood, though, which he guessed he deserved for, apparently, oversleeping. The rest of the day was spent trying to break through to the next level in both of his classes, and trying to find a life-aspected enemy for Pebl. The woods had, initially, seemed like a good place for that, but apparently Life was just sort of a supplement to most creatures. Everything had it, but it never seemed to be the predominant Aspect. They thought that maybe certain healing herbs might have a high concentration of Life mana, but since neither of them were particularly good with herbs (Gina technically had an Herb Lore skill, but she¡¯d never really used it, so it was¡­ unreliable at best), there wasn¡¯t any good way to test it out. Which was worrying, because everything Pebl or Kraant killed gave Pebl some mana that pushed it ever closer to the point where it would have to evolve, or explode. Kraant got the impression that Pebl had already been holding off the urge to Evolve for several encounters, probably since killing the Twin-Tailed Fox¡­ if it couldn¡¯t release the magical pressures inside, its Life mana would get overwhelmed by everything else it had absorbed. That was another good reason to find him a Life source- if he could stabilize his Mana imbalance, then he might be able to push forward a little longer and amass more Mana before the evolution. Of course, the balance was more important than anything else, but a sufficient source might let him stay stable for quite a while, as long as he could find equivalent sources for the other 6 elements. Having been a rock all his life, he was quite stable regarding his Metal Aspect, but the others¡­ they could easily get overwhelmed if he wasn¡¯t careful. Kraant wouldn¡¯t even let him near the fire when they made camp, but still had him use Spark as his main combat spell, in hopes that he could vent some of his overpowering Fire Aspect in favor of a balanced combination. While setting his snares for the evening, Kraant was delighted to feel a slight improvement in his skills mid-set. Suddenly he was a little more confident, a little more dexterous¡­ he¡¯d leveled up! He pulled up the notification, and discovered his level 5 perk for Trapper¡­ a skill called Reflexes. He skimmed the description and banished the notification, preferring to get a feel for it through practice. Essentially, it seemed like it would activate sometimes, probably based on his Luck stat and his Dodge chances, and instead of simply avoiding an attack, he would turn it somehow to his advantage. Like grabbing an opponent¡¯s sword arm and disabling the elbow with his talons, he imagined. Neat! He mentioned it to Gina around the campfire later, and she perked up a little. She always seemed more subdued at night, and he assumed it had to do with her Aspect. ¡°Speaking of which, I was wondering why you don¡¯t mix skills. You only seem to use one at a time, even when they would work together really well.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± He cocked his head to one side. ¡°For example, I have Sixth Sense: Electromagnetism from my 5th level perk in Survivalist. I got to choose what my sixth sense would be, and I picked that one because it works well with my Aspect, but also because it lets me sense hiding enemies, or the little motions they might try to cover with a cloak. I use it a lot to help guide my Light-based attack skills, but I never see you use, say, Sculpt: Flesh while you¡¯re clawing at an enemy with Raging Flurry.¡± ¡°Well, in my defense, Sculpt: Flesh only works on meat, not hair or hide. And I have my staff now, that shin the Trent dropped yesterday.¡± ¡°Still, though, you must have some useful combinations. Why haven¡¯t you been using them?¡± ¡°I hadn¡¯t really thought about it. I¡¯m used to rotating skills so that you¡¯re using the best one at any given time, and I hardly ever pick combat-focused classes anyway.¡± ¡°Well, you should think about it. You mentioned that Engineering: Mechanical was leveling really slowly, right? Maybe it¡¯s not because you¡¯re using simple traps, maybe it¡¯s because you¡¯re not making use of the tools available.¡± ¡°¡­Maybe.¡± Kraant got a little quiet after that, lost in thought. He really should have thought to use Sculpt: Flesh in combat, and he hadn¡¯t made any kind of traps that could be deployed in battle, either. Caltrops, even, would be better than nothing. He looked at his staff and remembered how the tree he¡¯d used Siphon Life on had withered. Maybe¡­ maybe he wasn¡¯t as useless as he¡¯d thought. The next day dawned bright and cheery, and as he checked the snares he worried a little less about spending his MP than he had before. He used Siphon Life to kill the sapling one was attached to, which immediately took the tension off the rope and made it easier to gather the materials he¡¯d used initially. The next, he used Ward: Living on, making the branch the snare was tied to separate from the trunk. That was easier, too, and gave him a decent boost in the spell, just like warding his foot had. It seemed that precision and focus mattered for gaining EXP from skills. He spent a decent chunk of the day tinkering as they walked, tying and re-tying knots meant to disable joints when the snare closed. It was hard to imagine the struggling of an animal, and realistically predict the way it moved the rope. His Engineering skill gained more from this theoretical practice than two nights of snare-making combined, and even his Craft: Traps improved slightly. Progression He got to test his new theories in practice sooner rather than later, when about midafternoon Gina stopped dead in her tracks. She glanced back, a slightly worried expression on her face, and smoothly drew her bow. He didn¡¯t see why at first, and when he did, he was terrified. A blob, a monster made half of jelly and half of nightmares, but with far too many teeth. He didn¡¯t see anything that looked like a mouth, and none of the teeth really seemed to match each other, but they floated within the translucent green mass of the monster. Its eyes, though, were a vicious, vile green, and they were focused on him specifically.
Host of Plagues: Life
HP: 60/60 MP: 12/12 Level: 9
Diseased
¡°Well, it looks like Peblus will get his Life mana¡­¡± ¡°Kraant, duck!¡± Gina shouted as a glob of slime shot from the beast. It moved fast enough that he didn¡¯t really see it, but it certainly made an impression in his mind anyway. Hooray for dodge chance! He ducked the slime, and threw Pebl toward it, all in one motion. He also readied his staff and started thinking about how he might be able to damage it¡­ Siphon Life might not do much against something that was so over-full of the Aspect to begin with. It didn¡¯t seem to have much in the way of flesh, either, unless those vague shapes floating deeper inside were¡­ no, better not to contemplate that right now. But, oh, he did have a weapon that would work! ¡°Gina, get back! Pebl, Spark!¡± Kraant stepped forward and drew a quick sigil in the air with the tip of his staff. He knew it didn¡¯t really help, mechanically anyway, but wizards should draw runes in the air when casting spells. It¡¯s only proper. ¡°Ward: Living!¡± The Host of Plagues¡­ didn¡¯t quite explode, exactly, but it bulged outward and the outer skin of its body writhed, as if trying to flee from the gelatinous mass inside. Because, of course, that¡¯s pretty much exactly what was happening. His ward was taking more power than focus, but he was dealing fairly steady damage to thing. About 5 or 6 damage per second, sure, but far better than nothing. And, even better, it didn¡¯t seem able to move or attack. ¡°I can only hold this for another few seconds, Gina! Spent too many MP on nonsense!¡± ¡°No problem!¡± Gina shouted back. Her bow, he realized, was glowing the way her arrows usually did. Except, no, that¡¯s not quite right¡­ her arrow, her bow, and parts of her armor were all glowing, and getting brighter. ¡°Pierce the Shadows!¡± All the light in her body, her armor, her weapons, even the sun seemed to dim slightly as the brilliant shaft was unleashed into the Host of Plagues. It shot straight into the center of the monster, and then expanded, radiating light outward and forming a small sun. Combined with the effect of Ward: Living, the results were dramatic. The thing burst, split open like an overripe fruit, and its insides went spilling out in all directions. It was, unequivocally, dead. ¡°¡­You want to loot the body?¡± Kraant heard a tinge of awe and disgust in his voice. ¡°¡­No, no I¡¯m good. We have the burn away the remains, though, or it¡¯ll spread all kinds of disease all over the area. At least, I assume that¡¯s how it works. Diseased is a pretty vague status effect, but nothing called a ¡°Host of Plagues¡± could possibly be sterile.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Yeah, sounds good. Pebl? Pebl!¡± Kraant looked to his little Familiar, and was scared to see a swirl of those green motes that signified Life Mana. There were¡­ there were way too many, and they seemed to be forcing themselves into him, rather than being absorbed according to his will. The little rock trembled, and lifted off the ground slightly, before trembling more. It was clearly in pain, but the cascade of Mana kept him from getting the message to Kraant. ¡°Kraant! DO something!¡± ¡°Uhm. Fuckfuckfuck¡­ Siphon Life!¡± Kraant tried to siphon only the free mana, and to funnel it more toward his staff than toward himself. He wasn¡¯t sure what was going on, but it looked bad. The motes twitched toward him, then toward Pebl, and then away from Gina as she positioned herself on Pebl¡¯s opposite side. He fought them with his will, and his MP dropped the last few points to 0. He¡¯d spent too much on tinkering earlier, too much fighting the Host, and now his familiar was in danger of being overloaded with what seemed like hostile Mana. It was a bad situation¡­ until he felt his mind sharpen, his senses expand, and the knowledge of a new spell. Whoohoo, level 4... He didn¡¯t have time to worry about his new spell. He had one spell slot and ten MP from the level-up, so he cast Siphon: Life again. He didn¡¯t even bother trying to funnel the hostile Life Mana anymore, just taking as much of it as possible from invading Pebl. It was, just barely, enough. He collapsed as the last of the motes entered him and his familiar, and Gina kept guard as they sank into oblivion, hovering each on the verge of death. Or, at least, that¡¯s she explained it to Kraant when he woke up. Peblus Magnificus was still hovering and glowing, but in a much more stable-seeming way than before. It also glowed softly in a shifting pattern of 8 colors, and was encased in a clear crystal. It had apparently done so since he¡¯d fainted, and he¡¯d been out for a couple hours. He indignantly explained that he passed out, but Gina maintained that he fainted. In her words, ¡°like a little bitch¡±. He finally got himself up off the ground, and walked over to Pebl. He saw a window appear in front of him as he approached, and read the contents with interest.
Race Change Available: Choice
Due to status points, certain options are available for Evolution Spellstone Glittering Gem Infocrystal Due to the presence of multiple Aspects, certain options are available for Evolution. Fire Water Wood Metal Void Life Dark Light Fire-Light Water-Wood Metal-Dark Void-Life Wood-Fire-Life Light-Water-Void Dark-Metal-Wood ¡­
Evolve? Y/N
He imagined that the ¡°¡­¡± referred to the various other possible combinations, but they didn¡¯t really matter. He wasn¡¯t going to choose a new familiar, so¡­ ¡°Yes!¡±
Race Choice
There are many options. Based on observed patterns of behavior, the following are recommended: Spellstone Eight-fold Path Divine Gem
Choose an option for more details
Well, that was an easy choice. He looked at both options, and while a Spellstone would let Pebl function as a remote focus for Kraant¡¯s spells, which could be useful, how could he possibly give up the Eight-fold Path Divine Gem? It was an awesome name for an awesome race. It allowed access to all eight Aspects, as he¡¯d hoped, and it seemed to allow for almost any combination within that framework. Fire-Light, for example, would allow a few spells that combined the Aspect effects of both fire and light, but this¡­ this would let Pebl mix and match up to, and possibly including, all 8 Aspects in one spell. In theory, anyway. He¡¯d still need to feed on all the Aspects to use them, while a simpler race like Spellstone wouldn¡¯t need any more feeding; or at least, it would feed off of ambient mana more than any one specific Aspect. The last thing, though, was that the Eight-fold Path Divine Gem race allowed for a much more well-rounded personality. This was a big plus, since it meant that Pebl would be able to utilize his high Charisma. While an extreme personality might be fine for most magi, who would simply pick a familiar that matched their own Aspect, he wanted to be able to do everything. He wanted a full party, and this sounded like the perfect Face. Charismatic, flexible in combat, pretty¡­ yeah, no, this was the right Evolution. The actual Evolution itself was pretty anti-climactic. The clear crystal cracked and sloughed away, and Pebl floated to the ground a bit bigger and rounder than before. The only really noticeable difference was that he could, with the expenditure of some MP, hover at about shoulder height, and perhaps that he had an iridescent sheen in the right lighting. Aside: Pebl Pebl felt¡­ odd. More accurately, Pebl felt. This was a New Thing, not unlike Being Alive, or Casting Spells. Spark, though it seemed familiar now, was something Pebl had only done for a few days. For the million days before, and the billion before that, Pebl had sat in blissful ignorance of such things as ¡°motion¡± or ¡°time¡±. But NO. That wasn¡¯t good enough for Kraant, Magus of Life. No, Kraant had to go and make Pebl a familiar. That¡¯s right, Pebl, not Peblus Magnificus. It was its own, um. Man. Rock. Thing. It was its own thing! Spark felt familiar, as a natural expression of the foreign Fire Aspect. It expelled the foreign influence and made a little [poof] of Fire. The next spell, Dampen, was a bit more difficult. Void was the essential lack of Aspect, and yet, it was an Aspect all its own. It represented the void, the space between electrons and nuclei, the weak nuclear force that maintained the tiniest distance between quarks. Void was nothing, and it was only by multiplying and releasing the concept of nothingness that Pebl could cast the spell. But that wasn¡¯t too bad, right? It was the difference between pushing out the foreign influence, and expanding the internal force. They were pretty much opposite, so they were kind of related. Right? Then Pebl got introduced to Water and Wood. Or rather, it¡¯d felt Water, but it understood Water. Water came from the sky, and cooled things, made them simpler and more uniform. It might dissolve salt, but that salt would then move everywhere the water did. It would combine with, and absorb, anything submerged within it for a long enough period. Wood was a little different. Wood was its own thing, and closely related to Life. Life was a new concept, still, to Pebl. Life was the force that cause Change, and Metal tended to resist such things by nature. A rock was mostly Metal Aspect, with a few minor influences, but Life was something else- and Wood something even more else. Wood was creeping, moving, growing, but all with the furtive slowness of a long-haul survivalist. Wood versus Life was like the tides versus a tsunami- constant, solid, and it¡¯s not the tsunami that changes coastlines¡­ usually.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. It was too much, too fast. Pebl wasn¡¯t sure how to think, or what to think, or what thinking was. Pebl simply knew that this was Too Much. So, at the earliest opportunity afforded it by its master, it released Summon Bees. This was interesting! Life was created through the usage of Wood mana! This bore some thought, probably a century or two at least¡­ No! Cast Dampen, Spark, Splash, use everything! And it never really let up. Use Everything became the name of the game. Hardly had Pebl absorbed an element before it was used in combat, and the poor thing struggled to keep up. It maintained a positive attitude, and hoped only that everyone would appreciate it for its hard work. It began to sense a shift in the attitude of its compatriots- that¡¯s right! Plural!- and recognized it as something good that it was doing. It made people happier! That¡¯s a plus, right? Well, maybe not. Maybe happiness was a delusion of the flesh-bound creatures with whom it made its acquaintance. Maybe flesh was weak, inherently, and nothing to be praised, but rather something to be pruned. Maybe every living soul should spend some time, a couple hundred years, as a stone and that would eliminate the rash, hostile environment that led to such usage of magic. Maybe conflict was a weakness of the meat, not of the mind. Who knew? Pebl hadn¡¯t hated anything in its life, and it was happy. Perhaps that was how things should be. But now, what¡¯s this? Pebl feels a thousand things changing slightly, or rather, being changed. It feels the touch of one, no two, no¡­ eight souls, and a few things that can only sort of be described in even that alien term, ¡®soul¡¯. It¡¯s molded, adapted, modified, and suddenly, released. Pebl is a Thing, now, an entity unto itself. Pebl exists as an Eight-fold Path Divine Gem, and it has opinions, and feelings, and a connection to the living souls around it. Mostly, of course, to its Master, Kraant. It is not happy about this connection, but what can it do? Nothing. It can do nothing¡­ yet. Creator and Life-Giver ¡°So it¡¯s a he now?¡± Gina asked around a mouthful of food. ¡°I guess?¡± Kraant looked into the fire, where Pebl hovered a few inches off the ground. The fire swirled around him slightly, as if he were manipulating it directly. Which was¡­ possible, in theory. Difficult, but possible. Pebl bounced slightly in a vague imitation of a nod. ¡°He also seems to be able to understand words, instead of interpreting orders.¡± ¡°Huh. Neat.¡± Gina let the conversation drop; it¡¯s not like Kraant really had any more information than her, at this point. ¡°So, now what? Do we continue northwest, or do we cut south a little, or¡­¡± Kraant shrugged. ¡°Well, you got a shiny new spell, right? And we¡¯re still trying to solidify your fighting style, although you¡¯ll get another perk next level. In my experience, the level 5 perks tend to change your whole schtick. Like, the previous levels all come together to combine with the level 5, you know? Your Trapper class lets you make traps, tell where they are, sneak around, and use the environment to your advantage- or they would, if you bothered to level them properly. Then Sculpt Flesh and Reflexes give you a way to actually kill an enemy you¡¯ve trapped. Reflexes is all about letting you dodge unpredictable strikes, like the wild flailing anything does when it¡¯s trapped and dying. Sculpt: Flesh is all about letting you hurt things way above your level, so you can kill anything that¡¯s tied down. I¡¯m really curious to see how your new spell fits into your Life Magus build.¡± ¡°Yeah, me too¡­¡± he looked around and his gaze settled on the campfire. It was ringed with stones, everything that could burn was well away¡­ why not? ¡°Imbue Life.¡± The effect was dramatic. A surge of Life mana, more than he usually could take using Siphon Life, leapt out of him and into the flames. Pebl let out a screeching blast of uncontrolled Mana, and a flicker of all eight Aspects launched him out of the green-tinged flames. The flames themselves¡­ they glowed brighter, more vibrantly, although Kraant couldn¡¯t sense any major concentrations of Light through Pebl. Just Fire and Life. It was a mere second before he realized that the fire was looking at him, without eyes or face, and if his familiar wasn¡¯t a rock before he wasn¡¯t sure he would ever have realized. It was an odd skill, noticing the attention of normally-inanimate things, but hey. Whatever worked. He looked at the fire, and realized it wasn¡¯t actually consuming the wood anymore. It had started feeding off the surge of Life mana, and was¡­ slowly drifting toward him. Or at least, leaning toward him. It crossed the stones, and Gina drew her bow. Kraant stuck an arm out toward her, but didn¡¯t speak. This was¡­ this was almost like making another Familiar contract. But not quite, not quite at all. ¡°Go back into the pit.¡± He whispered. The fire obeyed. ¡°Sustain yourself on the wood in the pit.¡± The fire obeyed. ¡°¡­Sing.¡± He wasn¡¯t sure why he said it, but it was an interesting idea, so he went with it. The fire obeyed. The song was a whispering lullaby, the crackles of popping wood augmented by dancing sparks that twirled and spun in vague patterns. The flames themselves hissed a low melody, and the coals flickered in a delicate rhythm. It wasn¡¯t long before the fire had consumed its Life mana, trying too hard to imitate a Life that didn¡¯t truly belong to it. ¡°Huh. Neat.¡± Gina breathed as the song ended. ¡°I can¡¯t for the life of me see a use for singing fire, but I bet you a thousand bosses against a village that that spell is gonna be a big one for you.¡± ¡°Yeah. Imagine living traps, that could wait for the right target¡­ or walls building themselves¡­ or a blanket that smothers an enemy in their sleep¡­¡± he drifted off. ¡°I¡¯m gonna get so many viewers. Ow.¡± ¡°Well, that settles it. I¡¯m sticking with you, you weird little reptile.¡± ¡°Hey, you¡¯re a reptile too!¡± ¡°Nah, I¡¯m a humanoid Beastkin, so I¡¯m warmblooded.¡± ¡°Must be nice.¡± He grumbled under his breath. ¡°Yeah, well, being able to take an enemy¡¯s Life mana and then give it to their weapon and make it stab them? That sounds pretty nice, too.¡± The rest of the night was spent practicing with his shiny new spell. He could sleep, but¡­ this was too good to be true. He wanted it to get better, and quickly. Nathaniel pulled himself out of his cocoon and checked Clara¡¯s results. She was almost caught up to the ¡°present¡±, just after the battle with the Host of Plagues, and he figured that was a decent enough spot. Nothing since then had really changed the context of the fight, and even the Evolution barely got included at the end. It was a big treasure for him, but not really interesting to watch. He posted the videos she¡¯d put together, with a little bit of editing of his own here and there, and went for a walk outside. He was firmly holding the name Nathaniel in his mind, and he was determined not to have another¡­ incident. He really did need to buy some food, but the trip was more for his mental health than anything else. He wanted to prove that he was sane.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. The trip was mostly uneventful, although he had caught himself reflexively trying to prepare Siphon Life when he was startled by a dog. He failed, of course, and then felt stupid. Maybe he should take a break for a little while and¡­ do what? He didn¡¯t really have any close friends, and most of his contacts had been his employees. Maybe¡­ ¡°Yo, hop in!¡± A shout jerked him out of his own head, and he looked around. He¡¯d sort of just been wandering, and apparently his feet wanted to go the other grocery store, the one that was a few miles away. Judging by where he was, he¡¯d been walking for at least half an hour. ¡°Dude, you alright?¡± ¡°Huh? Oh. Yeah. One sec.¡± He looked toward the voice and saw one of his old college buddies, Derek, leaning out the passenger window of his truck. Derek was a big guy, the type to get into a college on a sports scholarship, and in fact had. He¡¯d helped the University into the top 16 bracket for hockey, but had actually left the sport after a major knee injury. He had enough academic scholarships by then to stay enrolled, and had been in a lot of Nathaniel¡¯s classes. Nathaniel hopped in, and Derek pulled back onto the road. ¡°Long time no see, Mr. Moneybags! How¡¯s it been?¡± ¡°Ah, not bad, not bad. Sold the company, been real quiet since then.¡± ¡°So I hear. You know it was in the news? The merger, I mean, not your private life.¡± ¡°Yeah, I heard a little about it. I don¡¯t know why they¡¯re making such a big deal out of it.¡± ¡°Well, our class hasn¡¯t even had a five-year reunion yet and you¡¯ve made and sold a brand-new concept for tons of money. You¡¯re kind of a genius, man.¡± ¡°Aw, schucks.¡± Nathaniel smiled. Derek had always been easy to talk to. ¡°Where you headed, anyway?¡± ¡°Groceries. Figured I¡¯d get some fresh air.¡± ¡°Right, right, you totally didn¡¯t wander off and forget your car. I get it.¡± ¡°¡­Well, maybe that too¡­¡± ¡°Hah! I was on my way to pick up dinner anyway. You want to stop by, see the kids?¡± ¡°Plural? Last time we talked, Phyllis was barely pregnant with Jason!¡± ¡°Yeah, well, that was two years ago. You sort of dropped off the radar once the company got some sponsors.¡± ¡°¡­Damn. Well, if you¡¯re willing, I¡¯d love to see some real people. Computers aren¡¯t really good at chit-chat.¡± ¡°Well, not yet¡­¡± ¡°You shut up about your conspiracy theories. The Singularity will be a glorious ascension and I won¡¯t hear a word to the contrary.¡± ¡°Aw, man, but you¡¯re the only one who evens knows what I¡¯m talking about! You haven¡¯t even heard about my latest project yet!¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Yeah! See, you know how Colorado Computations made that big neural net last year?¡± ¡°Yeah? So?¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m in a group assigned with testing its security. If we can¡¯t break it, then they¡¯re keeping it¡­ but it was designed by the machine itself.¡± ¡°No shit. You¡¯re kidding?¡± ¡°No shit. Here we are¡­¡± Derek pulled his truck into an open spot and killed the engine. He locked eyes with Nathaniel, his gaze serious. ¡°If I can¡¯t hack into this machine, then it built a security system better than we can. You know me, I got hired to hack the Pentagon once. That¡¯s what we cyber-security consultants do. And Nathaniel¡­ I¡¯ve got three days left, and I don¡¯t think it¡¯s happening.¡± ¡°Damn.¡± Nathaniel suppressed a shudder. If a computer could lock humans out of its systems¡­ that would be huge. One step closer to the Robot Uprising. He took his time getting out of truck and collecting his thoughts. ¡°Okay, Derek, I¡¯ll definitely keep in better touch. That¡¯s not a conspiracy theory, that¡¯s a global threat. Point made.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Derek grunted. ¡°By the way, Phyllis wants pierogi for dinner. That alright?¡± ¡°Yeah. You ever figure out how to make the dough?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just say I¡¯m glad I ran into you for more than one reason, eh?¡± The two friends chatted as they shopped, but the lingering specter of Derek¡¯s words put a chill into their hearts. This was¡­ big. Huge. Dinner was at least nominally more cheerful, Phyllis shocked and delighted to have a guest. She managed to get the kids to bed early, which seemed like a monumental undertaking to Nathaniel, and the three of them clustered in the living room, sharing a few drinks over the corpses of some vast and brutal toy-soldier battle. Jason had, according to Phyllis, thoroughly defeated the Lego Empire through strategic airbombing. That is, he¡¯d stood on the couch and thrown things. His younger sister, Evelyn, had recorded the whole thing under her direct supervision, and shouting when things had gone poorly for the entrenched defenders. The way she told it, it was a glorious struggle, but ultimately futile. According to Derek, the kids had been playing earlier and were sleepy now. It was coming up on midnight when Derek drove Nathaniel back home, and they exchanged contact info for the PRVR network. They¡¯d be able to communicate in any PRVR games they happened to be playing, and apparently Derek even had a Final Escape character. A level-two Carver and level-1 Painter. He¡¯d been using an older, less-modified version of the VR cocoon than Nathaniel, so he couldn¡¯t play for long stretches at a time even if his schedule allowed it, but he still wanted a place to go and create things. He¡¯d gotten too into breaking down and analyzing things, Phyllis had said, and the game provided a place to unplug and just¡­ make art. At least, that was how they justified the expense to themselves. Surprisingly, Phyllis also had a character- a level-three Monk and a level-2 Barbarian. He wasn¡¯t sure how the careful control and discipline of a Monk worked with the wild fury and aggression of a Barbarian, but apparently she did. She¡¯d gotten to a respectable level for such a new game, and with her limited schedule. Derek mentioned on the drive back that he wasn¡¯t in the least surprised by her class choices¡­ Nathaniel responded that maybe he should keep an eye on his pretty little wife with the hidden wild side. Derek laughed, and said maybe he was right. Nathaniel collapsed onto his bed the instant he got to his room. Between the weird fatigue of playing for long stretches of time, the late hour, and the alcohol¡­ he¡¯d barely gotten his shoes off before he fell asleep. DREAM SEQUENCE Nathaniel was almost certainly dreaming. He could feel his skin crawling, with scales appearing and disappearing in swirling patches over his arms and chest. He was naked, or close to it, with only loincloth on. He could see swirling colors, and heard distant voices, but he couldn¡¯t move toward them. They each, one at a time, dove into and through him, leaving him with eight little sparks of¡­ something inside him. The voices were clearer now, whispering to him of the way the world worked. Of the limitations of flesh. Of how he would be reborn, again and again, until they were satisfied. Then he was running through the halls of his old university, holding a baseball bat. Something flew at him out of an open classroom, and he swung at it, hard. It slid around his weapon, and clapped him across the head. He spun as he fell, and siphoned its life away. It dwindled, and died, and he got back to his feet and kept running. The end of the hallway loomed, and as he burst through the door he was scorched by fire. He instinctively threw himself back, and waited for Regeneration to cure his burns¡­ but it didn¡¯t. His scales flickered again, and he ran the other way, right into a massive boulder divided into eight equal wedges, each a different color. The stone rolled forward, and would grind him to a paste. He ran again, and fell into the arms of a naked woman. She clutched at his loincloth, and he kicked her away. She was beautiful, he had time to notice through the panic, but she was¡­ wrong. She was too mammal. He ran past a dinosaur, that tried to bite at him, and breathed fire when it couldn¡¯t reach. He saw a locked door ahead, and imbued the lock with life so that it would open when he arrived. It did, and it followed him, detaching from the door with a small sound like tearing muscle. Looked at his hands, and they had long talon-like fingernails, but no scales. He caught a glimpse of himself in a window as he ran past, and saw him mouth hanging open, reptilian forked tongue lolling out one side. No fangs, no snout, just the reptilian tongue¡­If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Nathaniel woke up in pain. His head hurt, and the light from the window was too bright, and he¡¯d slept like absolute shit. He¡¯d had¡­ some kind of weird dream? With lights and¡­ something was chasing him? Whatever, it was gone. He got up got some water, trying to clear the cotton out of his mouth. Buh. Never drinking with Derek again, that¡¯s for sure. The man was like a machine¡­ although, on second thought, he probably hadn¡¯t been drinking much if he planned Nathaniel home. It was Phyllis who was mixing the drinks. It was possible, he admitted to himself, that he was simply a lightweight. He hadn¡¯t really drunk alcohol since he graduated a few years ago. FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT Kraant regretted not sleeping. He was sore all over, his had felt muzzy, and he could swear Pebl was gloating. Stupid rocks, what with their ability to ignore fatigue¡­ Kraant was a wielder of Life, able to give and take away sentience and sapience both! But, alas, he was still a Kobold at heart. No amount of stolen Life mana would let him ignore the demands of flesh. He¡¯d tried, using Siphon Life on trees and the like, but it was only ever a temporary high. His body had an MP limit, and that was that. Anything else felt good, but quickly dissipated. He idly wondered if he could bottle a Mana Overcharge, but decided that alchemists could handle such things. Maybe he should replace the Trapper sub-class¡­ Gina¡¯s shout pulled him back to reality. There was a group of Kobolds, judging by the swarm of reptilian bodies rushing toward Gina. Or, rather, toward the pit Gina found had fallen into. Luckily, Kraant mused while preparing Ward: Living so he could cast it at the far edge of the pit, these were bad Kobolds. That is, they were all Warriors or Leaders, which meant they would prey on the weaker castes like Trapper or Forager. What with Kraant¡¯s previous experiences, he felt no sadness blowing apart one or two of the faster Leaders by releasing his spell right on top of them¡­ whoops. Sorry. Heheheheh. Gina almost managed to pull herself off of the sharpened sticks at the bottom of the pit, but she had lost too much blood and been stabbed too many times. She was weak, and getting weaker. Kraant divided his attention between giving Pebl orders and casting Imbue Life on Gina; he wasn¡¯t sure how this would work out, but it had to be better than nothing. Right?Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Just as Peblus Magnificus released a veritable torrent of flame (compared to his usual little falsh; it really wasn¡¯t impressive unless you knew the context like Kraant did), Kraant sent a flood of green-tinged Life mana toward Gina. She absorbed it, or it invaded her spirit, one of the two¡­ Kraant was too busy to tell for sure. He was rapidly alternating between Raging Flurry and normal, controlled strikes and all the while he hemorrhaged mana from his Ward: Living and Sculpt Flesh. Normally, Sculpt: Flesh wouldn¡¯t drain mana, but in this case it kept him from devoting enough attention to Ward: Living to really use the spell efficiently. The Ward itself was only half-effective, keeping about 40% of the Kobolds at bay. And that for only a few more moments¡­ he was glad that the Shin of Trent had counted as a staff and not, say, a club. He really needed new gear¡­ A snapping sound brought his focus back to the battle. He¡¯d let his Raging Flurry take over on accident, which let him think but also let him get distracted. In this case¡­ definitely the latter. He¡¯d missed Gina pulling herself out of the pit, cloaked all over in a strange flickering. He understood instinctively that Two Shadows was interfering with a Light-Aspect spell or ability of hers, but also that the combination led to some¡­ unique opportunities. Gina seemed to flicker between two points, each of them obscured by radiant Light mana, and it was impossible to predict which one would launch the next Light-Aspected arrow. The Kobolds were dropping like flies, unable to defend against Kraant¡¯s wild flailing, Gina¡¯s constantly shifting positions, and Pebl¡¯s occasional spell. Eventually, the small group won against the larger- although, all three of them bore scars. Even Peblus Magnificus, the Eight-Fold Path Divine Gem of the Order of Kue, would likely hold these¡­ blemishes¡­ for another Evolution or two. And that was if he kept himself in top condition the whole time; somehow, knowing how useless his Master was in a straight fight, he doubted that would happen. He sulked. Sorry. Kraant fights off a minor group of enemies, but has no MP to do so with. Gina explains how her class levels, and by extension how Pebl''s levels should work. Kraant exposes a few troubles, but they are ultimately inexplicable for now. Kraant is uneasy, and hopes that Nathaniel can answer his questions (about levlels and the gods). Nathaniel cannot, and has trouble explaining what is true in game versus what is true in "real life". this is his ifrst-ish clue that the two are more closely related than he thinks. Nathaniel begins to delve into the AI progression; he had made Clara, but she is not the onlty AI on the market.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Recovery This was a time of reflection; even Pebl was injured, although, admittedl.y, he recovered faster than most. He only had 5 Hp, after all. He recovered in about an hour, maybe less. It was hard to tell. Kraant ached all over, and when he rubbed his head a few flakes of scale came off. On the plus side, he hadn¡¯t taken any scarring damage¡­ Gina explained, as she bandaged up a knee that had been almost completely torn off by her awkward landing, that she¡¯d stayed on her knees for the last part of the battle. Large wounds, especially to limbs, had a chance to either cripple that part of the body or, more often, leave a scar. If she¡¯d forced herself to stand on the wounded leg, she might have pushed beyond the limit of scarring and, possibly, even taken the limb to ¡°removed¡± status. This was, obviously, not something the agile archer really wanted to deal with. Kraant shivered a little. He should be covered in scars, from his time in the Organ Mine. It¡¯s not like the Donors got the best of medical care, and he¡¯d given up¡­ shit, when you can¡¯t count how many organs you¡¯ve had pulled out of you, maybe that¡¯s a bad sign. At least 20 that he could remember. ¡°So, why am I not covered from head to toe in scars?¡± ¡°Hmm? What do you mean?¡± He explained his Starting area in more detail than he really wanted, trying to stress that the Overseers were able to graft organs from any of a dozen different races into the Donors, who kept them in the best shape they could. This often meant going immediately from surgery to a pool of blessed water that slightly improved HP regeneration, and then going through whatever physical conditioning the new organs required. Holding onto a Goblin¡¯s stomach meant eating things that no Kobold would willingly touch, for example, or a third leg meant running with whatever weird gait kept it exercised. Since any given Donor usually had at least two or three ¡°augmentations¡± at a time, it was a hellish life. And no recovery period, so the whole thing was coated in a thick layer of agony. And then, when the buyer arrived, another surgery (hopefully. Some buyers liked to eat living flesh, or wanted to rip the limb off themselves, or any of a thousand other demands) to remove it and attach it to the new patient, or it would get put in a chest to keep it cold, or whatever. Then back to Conditioning. Gina vomited twice. Once when he described Rrrobert¡¯s penchant for eating the augmentations, then blaming the Donor¡­ and again when he mentioned that his favorite snack was Roast Leg of Rainforest Frog. Sometimes he even removed the leg before roasting. Sometimes.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°I have no idea why you¡¯re not more scar than scale. It might have something to do with how Kobolds are, or your Life aspect¡¯s Regeneration, or because that was technically all backstory in your Legend¡­ or maybe because you chose your appearance, and the game couldn¡¯t override that. But geez. This is why most people don¡¯t play with modded capsules. I don¡¯t know if that starting area would even work for a normal player¡­ it might be a special thing for modders, or maybe Clara decided to help you out and make it more realistic, since that¡¯s what you wanted. She is all about things being ¡°interesting¡±, right?¡± ¡°I really, really, hope that I didn¡¯t make a sadistic AI a major part of my Roleplaying scenario. Oof.¡± ¡°Anyway, point is, you might still need to worry about scars and crippling wounds now, even if you¡¯ve never had one. The other point is that I¡¯m not gonna be particularly helpful until this heals up.¡± ¡°Well, I think Imbue Life should help¡­ even with the Host, all the excess Life mana just made it heal over healthy tissue, so I doubt a much much smaller and more controlled excess will cause any permanent damage. And aside from that¡­ can you move well enough to get to a better campsite?¡± ¡°As long as we don¡¯t move too quickly, yeah. And remember, it wasn¡¯t a Host of Tumors, it was a Host of Plagues. I don¡¯t want a whole bunch of diseases because you couldn¡¯t keep your magic in your pants.¡± Gina glanced at Kraant. ¡°Well, in your loincloth anyway.¡± ¡°Hey! I got a fancy robe, with pockets and everything.¡± ¡°Whatever. I¡¯ll stand guard, you loot the bodies before we head out.¡± ¡°Yeah, you kneel guard while I do the hard work¡­¡± Kraant flashed her a grin and set to work. Loot drops in Final Escape were¡­ odd. Corpses would act realistically as long as a player or certain NPC¡¯s were near, but if they were left unattended for too long then they¡¯d just dissolve away and leave behind a random pile of the dead creature¡¯s possessions and organs. So, a wolf wouldn¡¯t drop a sword, but if left alone it might make a pile of fur, a fang, and a shinbone. Not unlike Kraant¡¯s ¡°Shin of Trent¡±. Of course, certain classes had harvesting abilities that would help them get those materials more quickly and reliably- technically, Kraant¡¯s Sculpt Flesh was such an Art. Gina had a couple from Survivalist that worked better on certain types of creature. Butchering worked well for getting edible meat from animals, but Herb Lore helped her get herbs of all kinds, and sometimes helped if she was fighting a particularly Wood-aspected enemy. Without a Tailoring skill (or any skill at tailoring) or a place to wash them, Kraant wasn¡¯t interested in the minor pieces of armor the kobolds had worn. He¡¯d briskly checked for pockets or pouches, gathered weapons, and then moved over to where Gina was crouched with her bow. He also offered her his Shin of Trent until he could find a good branch for a crutch, which she accepted gratefully. Pebl then immediately floated over to an excellent branch for a crutch, and Kraant grumbled a little as he trimmed and cleaned it for use. Gina giggled. Pebl¡­ preened. The Elder Scrolls Approach to Alchemy ¡°So how is magic spread? I assume there are ways to create or learn spells that go beyond the scope of the leveling system.¡± Kraant asked idly, several hours into their journey. Gina wasn¡¯t moving quickly by any definition of the word, so Kraant had more than enough time to ponder some logistics. Frankly, they simply didn¡¯t add up. ¡°I hear that Magisters can develop new spells, but it¡¯s mostly done by Sages and Archmagi. Because of the power they can bring to bear, the spells tend to be fairly difficult and wide-ranging¡­ anything from salting an entire field, to prevent the locals from growing crops during wartime, to erupting dormant volcanoes. At your level, it¡¯s not really practical to try to learn customized spells. It¡¯s better to find clever uses for the ones you have, and raise their levels. Especially since you can get custom classes, like my Arrow of Dawn, that¡¯ll change your spell list. I figure Life Magus has to be pretty powerful, if you¡¯re smart.¡± ¡°Sure, but it¡¯s almost completely ineffective against both Wood and Dark aspects. Wood creatures just absorb it, way better than any normal animal could, and Dark magic seems to¡­ well, if there was a Death aspect, it would turn it into that. It corrupts it, and makes it useless.¡± ¡°Yeah, sure, but how often are you going to fight rocks or plants? Most living things, tautologically, live. That means life mana for you to take away. Worst case, you cast Imbue Life on their weak aspect, like Pebl, and he turns the Life mana into Fire mana. You realize, by the way, that your familiar is crazy OP?¡± ¡°Over Powered or not, he¡¯s still a rock. Don¡¯t feed his ego. And I suppose that¡¯s the whole point of partying up, isn¡¯t it? I might not be too good against a Dark Goblin, but that¡¯s your bread and butter. I guess we just need a Fire Paladin and we¡¯ll be all set, really.¡± ¡°Well, no. My Light would still be weak against Void aspect, and the Fire would be weak against Water, so we¡¯d need to round those out. The strong aspect against Void is Metal, which is only weak to Life so we¡¯re good there, but Water aspect is also weak against Void, so our Metal expert would have to be able to defend both me and the Water user. And so on. Actually, I think I can draw you a chart¡­¡±
Read across, then down. O is positive, # is negative.
Light Water Wood Metal Fire Dark Life Void
LightThis tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. x - - - - # - O
Water - X - - # - - O
Wood - - x - O - # -
Metal - - - x - - O #
Fire - O # - x - - -
Dark O - - - - x # -
Life - - O # - O x -
Void # # - O - - - x
The chart itself was pretty simple to look at, but tough to follow. Each aspect had at least one weakness and one strength, but Light and Dark had two strengths, and Life had two weaknesses. ¡°And that¡¯s to balance the difficult of accessing mana versus the amount of use you get?¡± Kraant asked when Gina had run through the basics with him. ¡°Essentially, yes. Life mana is everywhere, so it¡¯s weak to more things and only strong against a Basic element. Light and Dark are much harder to access, and replenish more slowly, but they¡¯re strong against two things and have Rare weaknesses. Light to Void, which is extremely hard to gather but is extremely effective against mana as a concept, and Dark to Light, which is both rare and hard to gather.¡± ¡°So, essentially, we need a balanced part that includes at least a damage dealer, a defender, and an offense expert from each aspect, plus some healers. That¡¯s, what, 25 people if we only include one dedicated healer?¡± ¡°Right. That¡¯s well beyond the administrative effort most people are willing to put forth, so it¡¯s technically not even a party. Any group of more than seven members is a Guild, and has to pay taxes.¡± ¡°¡­Does Pebl count?¡± Kraant asked. Gina burst into laughter, and couldn¡¯t crutch her way forward while consumed by the giggles. ¡°You just got a lecture on the strategic value of Aspected classes, the economic foundation of adventuring, and you want to know if your pet rock has to take the census?! God, I love you. You¡¯re one of a kind, you know that?¡± Kraant would¡¯ve blushed if he¡¯d been warm-blooded. ¡°Well, on the other hand, shut up. Did you think of that?¡± ¡°HAHAHAHahahahaHAHahahaHAh¡± Gina was useless for a few minutes, and Kraant had to do something while he waited for her to calm down, so he started looking at their resources. He had a decent supply of meat, both cured and fresh, but he had no idea what to do with it. They¡¯d mostly been leaving it near a fire long enough for Gina¡¯s Survivalist skill to tell her it was edible, but that meant dry, tasteless meat. He wondered if he could find some herbs that might add flavor, at least. Texture could wait. It wasn¡¯t long before he realized that, technically, everything had flavors. He¡¯d sort of relied on Regeneration to get him through any trouble, and fallen back on the classic trick- eat everything until you know what it does. As it turned out, the grass tasted almost good, but the bark of that skinny and lopsided tree had caused him some¡­ personal distress. That is, he¡¯d needed to release a mudslide of terrible proportions¡­ and when he was done, he was thirsty. This led him to discover that the stream really needed to be boiled before ingestion¡­ by the time he was done polluting the local environment, he was quite sure that he would only eat burnt food that he had killed himself. Raw food was terrible. Peblus Bastardicus Kraant struck, violently, at his opponent, but could score no more than a glancing blow. It was infuriating, this¡­ this thing being stronger than him, but he could absolutely, under no circumstances, ever let that win. That was the path of Raging Flurry, and while it was certainly ferocious, it was ultimately weak. Gina had finally gotten through to him, over the past few days, that he could not simply rely on strength. His magic, and his last-ditch attempts at melee combat, were both reliant on creativity, on intelligence, and not on brute strength. Perhaps, he admitted, letting his stat points allocate semi-randomly was a bad idea. The annoying thing was that he was getting better. While he left his stats to luck (to a degree- he had a weighted-chance randomization formula), he couldn¡¯t expect his first few levels to be easy. But if he switched to a more ¡°optimized¡± formula, then he would lose the elusive ¡°outlier¡± bonus that Gina insisted he still enjoyed- if only barely. Apparently the rumors were true, and more extreme playstyles would lead to more extreme results. Someone who had planned for a specific role since even before they created a character, and played that role to the hilt, would be more¡­ impressive, than their counterparts. The hellish part was, it had to differentiate to a fairly extreme degree from the ¡°average¡± playstyle. His choices were, apparently, random enough to give him a sort of ¡°wild card¡± effect. Luck would play a much more obtrusive role in his game than in most anyone else¡¯s, but he had to continue to rely on Luck to keep getting the benefit. It was both easier and riskier than relying on, say, a careful balancing of stats. So, in order to capitalize on his¡­ odd... stats, he had to find a balance between magical and mundane combat techniques. He pulled up his Interaction window, which showed (theoretically) his odds of success at various types of encounter, from physical combat to social intercourse.
Interaction Status
Physical P. Def. 7 P. Dodge, Complete 0.7% P. Atk., Melee 6 P. Atk., Range 0
Social S. Def.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. 3.5 P. Dodge, Partial 7% Soc. Atk. 4.5 Blend % 3%
Mental M. Def. 3.5 M. Conceal 1.5 M. Atk. 3 Retain % 3%
His Shin of Trent was helpful, at least slightly, as both a physical and magical weapon. Those specific stats were in his Weapons Table, but they were good enough for now. His Physical attacks were¡­ fine, as long as nothing needed him to attack at range (and he suspected holding a ranged weapon would change that value from zero¡­ hopefully), but for some reason his Magic Attack value was still horrifically low. Maybe Trent shins just didn¡¯t conduct Life mana well, who knew? There certainly weren¡¯t a lot of Life Magi around for him to ask. So, despite his decent complement of surprisingly useful spells, he had to rely more on physical damage for now, so he could keep enemies off of Gina. Which would be easier, he suspected, if he could devise traps that he could deploy later¡­ but his Trapper skill, even at level 5, wasn¡¯t letting him create anything beyond set-and-wait traps. On the positive side, at least Gina was better! She did, in fact, get a small scar on her knee, which didn¡¯t impair her at all, and Pebl was¡­ Fuck! OW! Pebl was smirking mentally as he chided Kraant for not paying attention during training. He¡¯d been Kraant¡¯s partner during these physical spars for a few reasons. First, he hardly took any damage from anything, while Kraant might accidentally injure Gina and mess up their progress¡­ again. Second, Pebl needed practice moving under his own power, now that that was an option. As it turns out, gliding along behind a Master isn¡¯t nearly the same as ducking and weaving while casting spells in combat. The last reason was that it gave Pebl an excuse to burn off some of his extra MP, which seemed to return according to different rules than Kraant¡¯s. While Kraant had a certain chance of recovering an MP over time, based on how much effort he was spending and what he¡¯d eaten or drunk, Pebl simply seemed to recover his at exactly one MP per 5 minutes. Which left him, normally, with a lot of downtime at Full MP. Since there was no reason not to cast spells, then, he¡¯d been casting them pretty indiscriminately with the hope of improving his reserve and his skill at casting. Sadly, no real results could be seen yet, but everyone agreed that it was worth the risk of being caught early by a raiding party. Pebl never dropped below 4/5 MP, and if a group was near enough to notice any of his spells, they were near enough to catch the travelers anyway. All in all, it had been a very boring couple of days¡­ but look! Through the trees! Kraant could almost see the vague outline of what might, possibly, be a village! Of course, Gina had gone on ahead to determine what inhabitants the village might have, their disposition toward travelers, and a thousand other important details, leaving Kraant and Pebl to¡­ train. Kraant swung his Shin of Trent half-heartedly. This game was boring. At least he could look forward to editing out this bit for the viewers- ow! Stupid Clara- ow! Fuck! Fine, full immersion¡­ ¡°stupid dumb grumble feggin¡¯¡­. BASTARD. Grumble grumble¡­¡± he muttered under his breath. He caught Pebl trying to send the image of birds winging toward his sudden outburst, but he resolutely ignored the rock. After several days, he was pretty sure his mental defenses had shored up enough to keep the rock out of his mind, dammit. His stats hadn¡¯t changed, oddly, but the results were better. Buying Into the Scam ¡°It¡¯s a town.¡± ¡°Well, gee thanks. That really clears it up, Gina.¡± Kraant rolled his eyes as Gina tossed a couple small food-animals by the fire. She hadn¡¯t cleaned or skinned them, so he assumed they¡¯d been incidental to the mission and she¡¯d killed them on the way back. Either way, the meat was pretty tasty, so he didn¡¯t mind prepping them¡­ they were, after all, ¡°food animals¡±, not ¡°skill-raising animals¡±. Technically, ¡°critters¡±, but the point was that they wouldn¡¯t raise even Survivalist skills by being killed, butchered, cooked, or turned into leather. They were just¡­ sustenance. Ambience. Irrelevant. ¡°I mean, it¡¯s got an economy, there¡¯s a hierarchy of authority¡­ the town guard wears a special emblem, even. And I think they¡¯re the only ones allowed to wear weapons, but it might just be that they¡¯re the only ones who feel a need to. They¡¯re the most peaceful, and most organized, goblins I¡¯ve ever seen.¡± ¡°¡­So we shouldn¡¯t kill them?¡± ¡°Not unless we can get them all at once. Even then¡­ I know they¡¯re Dark, but I¡¯m not super-jazzed by the idea of unprovoked genocide.¡± ¡°Cool. Me neither.¡± Kraant stood up and stretched. Pebl spat a Splash on the fire pit, and they both headed toward the town. ¡°What the ever-loving Gonads of Kuo do you think you¡¯re doing?¡± Gina asked tartly. ¡°Shopping. You need anything while we¡¯re in town?¡± Kraant responded almost offensively casually. ¡°A new goddamn party, if you¡¯re planning to just waltz into a Goblin township!¡± ¡°Nah, we¡¯ll be fine. I¡¯m technically Void-aspected at the moment, and Pebl has a decent stock of Dark mana, so we¡¯re neutral at the very least. You might have trouble, but he and I can buy some supplies and ask around for news. It¡¯ll be, like, a day at worst before we come back, or else I¡¯ll message you from the Altar of Undeath.¡± ¡°¡­I need at least 7 new arrow shafts, but no arrowheads. And some spices.¡± ¡°Done.¡± It wasn¡¯t anything special, Kraant noted. The buildings were rather lower to the ground than in a normal village, but goblins were somewhat shorter than most ¡®normal¡¯ races. He noticed that the hygiene was actually noticeably better than any other city he¡¯d dealt with, and that there weren¡¯t any beggars or even noticeable classes. Each goblin wore essentially the same clothing, and while none of it was as fine as his magic robe, it was all better than the rags he¡¯d been expecting. ¡°You, sir, want a Magic Orb. I can tell.¡± A crone called from the other side of the street. ¡°Orgal has what you need, about four minute¡¯s walk to the east.¡± He nodded his head in thanks, and angled his path. How in the 18 Transcendental Horrors had she known he wanted a magic focus? But, lo and behold, a few minutes later Pebl started vibrating in his pocket. The familiar wasn¡¯t floating along, so as not to draw any more attention than the Kobold would do anyway, but Kraant sensed a sort of second-hand resonance with magic inside a shop. He immediately turned and went inside. The interior of the shop was huge, much much larger than the outside would lead one to believe. It was also packed, floor to rafters, with shelves of items both magical and mundane. He saw sulfur-tipped matches next to gems infused with the same Spark spell that Pebl used so often. He saw a Potion of Waterbreathing, level 8/10, next to a glass bowl labeled as ¡°Eternal Air Pocket¡±. He was¡­ overwhelmed.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°Ah, good, this way please.¡± A smug voice called from the counter to his right, and Kraant barely even noticed as he wandered that way, still looking around him in wonder. ¡°Yes, you¡¯d be the Koboldish Life Magus, yes?¡± a seated goblin asked Kraant, without looking up from a ledger. ¡°Yes, I suppose so.¡± Kraant tore his eyes away from the bounty surrounding him and studied the shopkeep. Squat, green, spindly limbs and long fingers¡­ definitely a Goblin. ¡°Good. Where¡¯s the rock?¡± ¡°¡­Uhm, here.¡± Kraant mentally prodded Pebl, who reluctantly rose out of his pocket and floated to the counter. ¡°Good. Any others?¡± ¡°¡­Other whats?¡± ¡°Familiars, you daft dragonling!¡± The shopkeep looked up from his tome to glare at Kraant, revealing that his eyes were both missing entirely. ¡°No..? Can¡¯t I only have one?¡± ¡°Fuck no, who told you that? You can have one per tier, plus one per Summon: Familiar spell you¡¯ve learned.¡± ¡°¡­Huh. I wish I¡¯d known that before. How would I contract with other familiars, if I can¡¯t use the spell?¡± ¡°Normally you¡¯d learn the spell by making a contract, but since you have it already, you can either try to learn it again the natural way, which I won¡¯t help you with, or you can just cast the spell again. If you do manage to cast it naturally, though, that counts as learning the spell anew and you¡¯ll still have a slot free from your tier 1 Magus class.¡± ¡°¡­Huh. Thank you.¡± ¡°No problem. Now. I assume you want to sell that rotting stick and buy a proper staff, eh? As well as some basic traveling supplies, it¡¯s a long way from the Capital.¡± ¡°Uh. Yeah, please.¡± ¡°Good manners. This way.¡± The goblin hopped off its (his?) stool and strode off down the maze of shelves, and Kraant hurried to follow. He suspected getting lost in here might be a death sentence, if the shopkeep didn¡¯t bother to save him. They took a twisting, turning path that felt like at least a mile to Kraant, who had gotten good at judging such things, while the shopkeep took items from shelves seemingly at random, and always without looking. Eventually they wound up back at the counter, somehow, and Kraant was looking at an odd pile. ¡°That¡¯s seven ashwood arrow shafts, with Golden Owl fletching, two potions of Greater Restore Mana and two of Greater Restore Health, a Souls Crystal, a Staff of the Wandering Druid, a pair of blankets, a nice-looking brooch that stores light and can release it at the wearer¡¯s will, two cloaks of Dark-aspected wool that smell vaguely of half-forgotten memories, and about three ounces each of cinnamon, peppercorns, salt, and sugar. And in return, you offer..?¡± ¡°Um.¡± Kraant placed the Shin of Trent on the counter, along with almost all of his money. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ you have no idea how much any of this is worth, do you?¡± the shopkeep sighed. ¡°I have literally never bought anything with money, and I haven¡¯t seen the like of most of these wares¡­¡± Kraant offered a plausible excuse. He knew barter was a common system outside the main cities. ¡°Here.¡± The goblin divided about two-thirds of Kraant¡¯s money, and the Shin of Trent, and pushed the rest back towards him. ¡°You can either take this and hope it¡¯s fair, or try to haggle with no idea what anything is worth.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take your pity, thanks.¡± Kraant immediately recognized that he was probably being fleeced, but that he would be lucky to escape with half this much and any of his money if he tried to lower the price. ¡°Good choice. I actually gave you a deal, only 20% profit for me. I like your honesty, kid. Now get out of here before the Hobb gets word of your presence.¡± ¡°I will. Go in peace.¡± Kraant instinctively bowed, slightly, and Pebl flashed a sort of¡­ un-light over the shop, that instantly faded away.
Blessing: Kue¡¯s Embrace
This place is under Kue¡¯s watch, and any who approach with hostile intent will be utterly unable to locate it. The owner, and any recognized by Kue, are the only ones able to dispel this blessing. Will not interfere with any previous or future blessings, except as noted.
Note: Overrides Kue¡¯s Touch
¡°Huh! Thanks.¡± The shopkeep bowed to Pebl, and seemed a bit lost in thought as they left. Kraant decided not to tempt fate, and immediately headed back toward the city gates. ¡°Halt, Minion of Life! The Hobb demands your presence.¡± Two guards stood directly in the center of the next intersection, and Kraant was far too unique to escape their eyes. Half Chapter: Well, Shucks. The Hobb¡¯s house was¡­ impressive. Kraant realized it would have to be, to serve as a power base, but it still seemed odd that he was brought to a place of residence instead of a designated Business Building. He assumed that either the Hobb had built his power from nothing, and had simply accepted the risks of living so close to a place his enemies would target, or that the Hobb was an arrogant ass. Upon entry, he was disposed towards the latter. The building had an impressive fa?ade, more than two stories tall and covering what Kraant couldn¡¯t help but think of as a ¡°city block¡±, but the grounds were more full of masonry than greenery. The main building, into which we was led, was less a home and more a palace. Lots of marble, lots of metallic highlights, and lots of empty space dominated his view. This was clearly a space meant to intimidate visitors with wealth, rather than a place to comfort the inhabitants. The occasional glimpse of a servant scurrying from one shadow to the next reinforced this impression, and Kraant immediately felt a loss of respect for the Hobb. Nobody should be feared in their own home, and anyone who disagreed was clearly not someone he should respect on moral grounds. That said¡­ as he walked, and walked some more, he began to respect the Hobb on the grounds of power, if nothing else. He clearly managed to thoroughly cow his servants and his citizens, if he could live in such an overly-large building. It was when he saw the Hobb, though, that he realized what he might have gotten himself into. The Hobb met him in a small room, barely large enough for a desk and a couple bookshelves- each filled to the brim with tomes of legal and political data- and sat calmly. His desk was full of paperwork that, probably, could have been delegated. Rather than the look of an arrogant noble, however, he had the bearing of a competent administrator. Had he been a clerk or secretary, nobody would have blinked, but Kraant took a second to prove to himself that this was, in fact, the man who¡¯d demanded his presence. The Hobb was a shortish kobold, almost a full two inches shorter than Kraant himself, but with radiant green scales that showed nary a blemish or scar, and he was fat. Extremely fat. But, all the same, Kraant felt a constant trill of danger running down his spine¡­ he could not afford to discount this person as a weak enemy.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°Good, uh, afternoon Hobb.¡± Kraant nodded his head. ¡°I hear you wanted to speak to me?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± The Hobb glared slightly, but made no other notice of Kraant¡¯s vague disrespect. Adventurers, after all, were their own breed. ¡°Please, sit.¡± After Kraant was settled across the desk, the Hobb put his elbows on the desk and leaned forward slightly. ¡°You are Kraant, kobold miner of Hematite Mine 175-B, correct?¡± ¡°Yes, but-¡° ¡°Good. You are under arrest on the authority of me, Hobb of Gastronomia. I will hold you until such time as your tribe transfers ownership.¡± A greenish-red glow swirled around the Hobb, and then struck at Kraant¡¯s chest. Immediately, a pop-up appeared before him.
Arrest Warrant: Filled
You have been arrested. You have the right to attempt non-violent escape, with no repercussion. You have the right to escape violently, with the penalty of physical violence up to death, with the obligation of the restraining party to heal you to non-lethal levels or face repercussion. You have the right to escape using Soul or Spirit damaging magics, with the obligation of the arresting party to enact any standard legal repercussions, up to permanent death.
Due to the nature of an Arrest, you have no right to refuse. Y/Y
Well, fuck.