《Macabre Mim》 Prologue: Dancing to the Devils Due I suck at first person shooters. Don''t get me wrong, I''m not a horrible gamer - I''m in the upper ranks of raiders worldwide, I get endless kudos on my White Mage, and my Zergkers are best Zergkers. But... when it comes to FPS I''m just... not there.
It''s rare to know that you''re dreaming, you know? Usually, dreams are stuttering landscapes, thrown together at the whim of a mad god, and we are left much too busy trying to keep up to leave us any time to ponder philosophical questions like, "where is my real body right now? And What The flying Fuck?" But that is what made this whole experience special. For I remembered clearly shutting my eyes, seemingly moments ago. And I knew for a fact that the only way I could be here is by some soon to be forgotten dream. Would you like to honor the deal that you have made? Y/N Choose your race: Human Elf Half-Elf Dwarf XHalf DemonX XChimeraX Select your class: Witch Sex: Female Height (5ft - 7ft): 5ft Hair color: White Eye Color: Purple Choose your soul''s affinity: Damage CC Buff/Debuff Healing/Curing Strength: 5 Base - 6. Slightly below average in post-industrial pre-AI society. -1 for selection Race:Elf Dexterity: 8 Base - 6. Subject is somewhat of a clumsy ditz. However, finger dexterity is slightly above average due to excessive writing of rather terrible ''fan fiction''. +2 for selection Race:Elf Vitality: 9 Base - 9. Average for lazy city girls. Intelligence: 16 Base - 16. IQ is noted (as subject would be happy to tell you, probably in large, pretentiously unnecessary words) as within the top 1% across all populations. Wisdom: 19 Base - 17. While difficult to measure, we are taking wisdom to represent herein a formal measure of pig-headed willfulness, bleeding heart compassion, sometimes manipulatively used empathy, and down-right nit-pickiness. Subject exceeds most commonly used metrics for these areas and qualifies for our extended scales. +1 for selection Class:Witch; +1 for selection Affinity:Healing. Charisma: 16 Base - 15. With the subjects physical imperfections being corrected in assumption of Avatar body, this measure shall reflect manipulation, presence, and sexual appeal regardless of gender bias. Subject is noted to have been described as a "Cold hearted bitch" on multiple occasions, after receiving what she sought. High marks in Manipulation. Subject is noted to often be loud-mouthed and direct, while able to avoid serious oversteps or breaches of edict. High marks in presence. Subject has been described as "desirable" and her personality has been remarked on only three times in her life (two of which by jealouscompetitors) , however, subject is a noted flirt and receives an escalated rank on the "Slut Scale" (see protocol 3Ab) despite her noted celibacy. +1 for selection Race:Elf.
Chapter 1: A Witch is Born My vision slowly cleared, to reveal a smug, reddish face and a tiny pair of horns. They would have been almost cute, if I didn''t find myself craning my neck to see them over a wall of bare chested, rippling muscle. Text flashed next to the creature''s face, filled with words that I somehow recognized were not English, yet seemed to have no trouble reading regardless: SoulLevel 1!" appear in my vision. Flashing in with a too loud chorus of excited music, somehow set in the minor key. New spells! Hellfire (Witchcraft)(Wisdom) Cast: Incantation "As my soul burns; I shall share this torment; with everyone you have ever loved" Cooldown: 5 minutes (7 minutes base: -2 Minutes, Intelligence) 1-4 points of hellfire damage per level Nifhelm''s Breath:(Witchcraft)(Wisdom) Cast: Incantation "As lost souls wander; I shall lead you; into the bowels of the frozen labyrinth." Cooldown: 1 Minute (3 Mintues base: -2 Minutes, Intelligence) Target becomes frozen (until melted) Belial''s Hate(Witchcraft)(Wisdom) Cast: Incantation "By the Kith of the King of this world; by the shackles around my spirit; bequeaththe power of your hate; upon us, your chosen champions." Party members must be touching. Cooldown: 1 Hour (3 Hours base: -2 Hours, Intelligence) Party gains bonuses to constitution, wisdom. strength, and an offensive spell boost for one day and night cycle. Eternal Pact(Witchcraft)(Wisdom)(Affinity) Cast: Incantation "By the pact between thee and me; return to us Eternity; as your servants and your bonded; Belial, listen and remember." Cooldown: 30 Seconds (50 seconds base, -20 seconds, Intelligence) Heal 2 HP per level (Base 1, +1 Affinity). Cures crippled debuffs. Restitution of the Damned(Witchcraft)(Wisdom)(Affinity) Cast: Action, spilling one''s own blood upon the body of fallen creatures. Cooldown: 2 Days (4 Days Base: -2 Days, Intelligence) Up to 4 creatures resurrectedover a 10 minute period at 50% health. New skills! Witchcraft (Wisdom)(Intelligence)(Class Skill: Limit 1) Allows the successful casting of Witch Spells. Effects ability to discover additional spellcraft. Scavenging (Witchcraft)(Intelligence) Allows the gathering and identification of piecesof living beings. Components are used in Witchcraft spells, cooking recipes, and Alchemy recipes. Deception (Charisma)(Intelligence) The art of telling the truth, even when you aren''t actually telling the truth. Insight (Deception)(Wisdom) You can''t con a con. Well, you can. But it is certainly harder. Toughness (Vitality)(Wisdom) Current bonus: 2HP Per level of Toughness. Effects max Hitpoints and resistance to pain. Current HP: 11 [9(Base Vitality)+1(Toughness)+1((Vitality bonus -2; Wisdom Bonus +3)*Toughness)] New Traits! Dreamer (Requires: Living Soul) The damned have all eternity to learn. You, on the other hand, are on a much shorter deadline. Bob 37 is investing his own power into your growth. Effect: Skill growth 200% Fey (Requires: Fey race) Your Fey ancestry bestows upon the following attributes: Weakness to iron: Wounds from iron weapons take twice as long to heal and bypass any innate resistances. Ageless mind: Your spirit rejects age and decrepitude. Immunity to any and all debuffs from aging (magical or natural). Born Witch (Requires: single class availableat avatarcreation - ''Witch'') While you lack prerequisitesfor any other class skill, this limitation comes with many benefits: Witches'' Masquerade: May change your physical form to resemble that of another humanoid of approximate size and shape, specifically or generally, at will. This form is kept so long as the Witch is intending to maintain it. (Bob''s warning: Shapechange may dissipateduring sleep). Learning Affinity: Witchcraft, and all Witchcraft affiliated skills, grow at a rate of 200% (Additive with other bonuses). Restriction (Permanent): Unable to learn skills affiliated with any other Class Skill. Witchcraft 1 Scavenging 1 Deception 3 Insight 1 Toughness 1 Chapter 2: Sidequest The woods looked to consist mainly of oaks and birch. I knew this, not because I was some survivalist outdoorsy type (not at all), but because when I inspected them a little status box appeared next to their trunks. Fantasyland had it''s perks, after all. They, still, were beautiful and I found myself wondering offhandedly whether, if this is a hell dimension, what exactly would heaven be like? Chapter 3: Wherein I discover that I am not, in fact, a Thief The forest soon gave way to fields. Wheat, it turned out, and for the first time, when I plucked the ears... are they called ears... from the plants, they remained firm in my hand. Though I ended up dropping them, leaving them scattered across the ground, as I couldn''t seem to open any kind of an inventory wherin tostash them. Error. Stealth Skill: Not learned. Restricted: "Thief" affiliated skill. ALERT YOU HAVE BEEN SPOTTED. PREPARE FOR COMBAT. "As my soul burns, I shall share this torment, with everyone you have ever loved..." Critical Hit on Kobold. 3x damage. Crippled: Blind Status. Burning Status.
Error. Light Blade Skill: Not learned. Restricted: "Thief" affiliated skill. "By the Kith of the King of this world," I breathed. Swallowing back a quiet sob and, disturbingly, the desire, also, to laugh. "By the shackles around my spirit, bequeaththe power of your hate, upon us, your chosen champions."
Error. Light Blade Skill: Not learned. Restricted: "Thief" affiliated skill.
Error. Unarmed Skill: Not learned. Restricted: "Berserk" affiliated skill.
Error. Bite Skill: Not learned. Restricted: "Beastmaster" affiliated skill.
Error. Consume Living Flesh Skill: Not learned. Restricted: "Necromancer" affiliated skill. Skill Increase! Witchcraft +1 Skill learned! Interrogate +1 (Charisma)(Intelligence) Increases the chance of learning information from captured opponents. In combat: +1 damage done on helpless or prone creatures per level. Skill increase! Scavenging +1 Chapter 4: We cant all be the Hero, after all The town seemed lively enough as I approached, despite the slowly darkening twilight hour. Children milled about in the street, merchants pushed carts through town, and smartly dressed (well, compared to me) villagers moved through the streetswith purpose. Arrol Vendetta Level 2 Human is a gift. It''s rare, rare indeed, for a soul with a propensity for healing to find itself damned and in this place. Yes, yes. It''s actually quite a gift you have got there. Quite the gift indeed." He quickly rubbed his hands together, and, it seemed to me, that the little drop of drool at the corner of his mouth, it dropped just a little bit further down his face. It was only then that I became, suddenly, very aware that I was alone in a room with a man who was, presumably, about twice as powerful as myself. And that I was armed, mainly, with a shordsword I couldn''t use and healing-focused spells. Chapter 5: My very own (Hellish) Montage All in all, it wasn''t an uncomfortable little room. They brought me bowls of gruel twice a day, and a washing basin in once a week. My biggest fear, all in all, was that someone would walk in on me while I was sleeping, and I quickly learned to fall asleep with the blanket twisted tightly across my face. For the first few days, every few hours the old man would bring some new villager in for me to see. Some were older men, missing an arm or a leg. Somewhere wives or children, missing fingers or teeth. I found myself somewhat surprised that my little first-level heal spell was able to regenerate limbs from injuries that happened so very long ago, but I was also gratified to be shown the limits and the scope of my own hitherto untested ability. I watched closely for an opportunity to escape. But the old man was always there, in the doorway, watching me with waiting, hungry eyes. Especially when he thought that no one else was watching. I found myself wishing madly for a bra. Or even just a more modest shirt. But such things, I guessed, were not meant to be. And I had not yet the confidence to ask. The villager''s screams wore on me a bit. Agonizing monologues of opratic notes that provided a soundtrack for their regrowing limbs. But, with repeated casts of Belial''s Hate, they started to sound almost soothing to my ears. And, by the end of my first week, after many bland meals and a freezing bath in a bucket, they became almost gratifying to hear. Arrol, apparently, too was pleased with my work. I started receiving the occasional book delivered with my meals. Maps, histories, novels. Though they were mostly random, poor quality things. Even still, I slowly began to gain a very general understanding of the world in which I had found myself. There were a couple of maps in those books. From the look of them, they were fanciful, dated things. Even still, the basic kingdoms and layout of the continent became known to me. I had found myself in the middle of the western-most country, named appropriately ''Westershire'', inhabited mostly by ''humans''. I put ''humans'' in quotes because, it turned out, that wasn''t quite the case. As it turned out, in a hellscape, the only creatures that could survive being born (or even, apparently, conceived, if the book was to be believed) where those with some small measure of demon blood in their veins. If I was to have relations with another human, for example, or another elf, supposedly there would be a 0% chance of conception. Unless, of course, the embryo had enough demon genes that it would be able to survive the first week due to some apparent demon ancestor. Therefore, the only natives to this world where, in some part, related to demons. It explained, I supposed, the ''Half-Demon'' racial option that had been grayed out during my own character creation. That was a race that would be, presumably, set aside for those born native to this plane. The elfin kingdoms, I read, resided far to the north and had some form of, what sounded like, extremely overpowered magi-tech that would have easily conqured the mainland. If not, of course, for some heavy restrictions that prevented most devices from working if they were taken too far from some very stationary batteries. Or ''towers'', in this case, which functioned as large magical batteries, with some odd kind of magical channeling devices built solidly therein. Still, it went a long way toward explaining why elves were so hated in this world. No one likes a brat with some overpowered gimmick that can just destroy you without a fight, after all. And, from the sound of it, elves were kind of like the ultimate Flavor of the Month class here - except without any devs around to nerf them back to nothing. Well, we were hated because of that and... the books may have noted a few elfin genocidal rampages that may have occurred at some time in ancient history. But hey, bygones, am I right? I considered fleeing north to meet some other elves briefly. But, again, it turned out that there happened to be a frozen wasteland filled with a sentient kingdom of undead, standing firmly between there and here. So, you know, it would have to be a last resort kind of a thing. I mean, ya, liches and vampires were probably bad, evil... people... I guess. But, you know, I was in hell, after all. And Mr. Vendetta wasn''t exactly ''Mother Teresa'' himself. After the first week, the number of villagers per day seemed to fizzle down a bit. What had once been three or four a day slowly faded one a day or even one in two. Which was mainly annoying because my witchcraft skill was no longer being power-leveled, and I sat around becoming more and even more bored. It was around week three, I think, that I started going stir crazy. Books were all well and good, but there where a number of hours after twilight where it was too dark to read, but yet still too early to sleep. The good village hadn''t been so kind as to even give me a candle, let alone one of those light bulbs that I hadthought out of place. It was then that, one night, my eyes alighted upon the straight razor that had been provided. Presumably for shaving my legs and... other things. Not much use, I had thought, on the days when there was no washing basin - I wasn''t about to try to dry shave. Especially not with a medieval type of straight razor, after all. But, in those hours of boredom, I slowly began coming up with... other ideas. My Witchcraft Class Skill had already been given quite a boost, having risen to 9 that first week, then to 11... and 12 in the weeks that followed. But I had no idea how long it would be before I was able to awaken once more to my other world, and the lack of progress had begun to bother me. Also, my toughness remained sitting there at ''one''. Taunting me, almost. I hadn''t received any experience since I got here, save for those skill levels, and I was starting to understand that I might be stuck at Level 1 for a very, very long time. So, far as I could tell, toughness was the only way for me to raise my number of hitpoints. And, for lack of a better option, there was only one way to raise my toughness that came to mind. I started using the gruel bowls to collect the blood and other biological detritus that resulted from my experimentation. I had to live in this room after all, and it already wasn''t the freshest smelling place, what considering my only relief was the infrequently emptied bedpan (Fucking medieval societies, I swear). So it started becoming my daily habit to cast my Buff, eat my gruel, then fill the bowl and send it back filled with the results of my grinding. Eat dinner, fill the bowl, heal. Go to sleep. That was my day. But, even after half a week of this, I still had only raised my toughness by one and my Witchcraft by... well... not at all. It wasn''t until I took the razor to my entire finger that I actually started to get a result: Skill Increase! Toughness +1 The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Skill Increase! Witchcraft +1 Ya. Jackpot, right there. Also, friggin OWIE. @#^%@ But, the days were long, and my nights were even longer. So, sure and steady, I started filling up my bowls with fingers. Plop. Plop. Plop. Fun fact - if you have a spell that regrows limbs, you are able to actually cut off more than you have in the first place. It became a game to me, to see how many I could fit in the bowl. 20 one day. 30 the next. It was like a game of really hideousjenga. Only the more fun for the fact that I got to watch the servants'' pale faces as they came to take the bowls away. Balanced so very carefully, terrified that the pile of decapitated digitswould tumble down all over their dress. Of course, after a while, simply chopping and healing wasn''t enough to keep me occupied. And I began dissectingthe severed appendages to see the actual construction of bone and blood that makes me who I am. It was after about the third finger that I received the following notification: Skill learned! Anatomy +1 (Intelligence)(Dexterity) Increases Critical Strike chance by 0.01% per level. Effects successful use of other skills. Current synergy bonus with: Scavenging; Interrogate. I noticed, as time went on, that around skill level 5 in Toughness, the whole process actually started hurting quite a bit less. I quickly shrugged and moved on to delivering whole dissected hands in return for my infrequent meals of sub-standard quality. Three, four. sometimes with twenty fingers also accompanied them in turn. My Witchcraft Skill had peaked around 18 and seemed unwilling to climb any higher, even after I had gone to the trouble of burning and freezing the mess of a bowl for good measure. But that said, my toughness had climbed to 10, which in turn added another 20 hit points to my total. Thus pushing my maximuim hitpoints up to 29. Additionally, about an hour after delivering my first bowl stacked high with entire hands (Subsequentlyburnt and frozen with the accompanyingHellfire and Frost spells), I received a new notification: New Title Available: ''Macabre'' Level 1 You have developedquite the reputation in this town for being, ''The Macabre girl in the Hall.'' Stories of your grotesque exploits have traveled far and wide amongthe townsfolk. Benefit for equipping: +1% Critical Chance; +1 Fame Additional bonuses may apply as this title is leveled. Title may only level while equipped. Would you like to equip this Title Now: Y/N No-brainier, of course. Sweet, sweet lootz. You have acquired: Fame! For better or for worse, it doesn''t matter what they know you for. What matters is only that they do, in fact, know you. This stat increases disposition and difference of others toward you. This stat is affectedby: Charisma Curious, I managed to pull up my status screen, and I noted that my name reflected the new title. I would now be known to all as ''Macabre Mim''. Or, you know, all those who were able to pull up and read my status bar. Which I still wasn''t entirely sure was a widespread thing. Regardless, Fame, I considered, would be necessaryif I ever wanted to leave this damnableroom. And for better or worse, I was going to pay close attention to ways by which I might grow it even more in the future.
Even still -if I didn''t get rescued soon, I was quite certain, I would have to take the initiativeand do it my own damn self. Especiallyconsidering the Old-Man leers from Mr. Vendetta (which I now recognizedwas probably more a title than a name. But never the less) that were becoming longer and longer with every infrequent visit to my room. It was becoming clear to me that my free lunch was about to expire, and it was clearly in my interest to leave before additional payment became due. Chapter 5.Duex: Appendix of Maps somewhat dated A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Chapter 6: Five Hours, Forty Three Minutes, and Thirty Seven Seconds of Freedom The next three days I spent listening quietly at my door. I paid careful attention to the regularity and pattern of footsteps, morning, noon, and night. As I had suspected, it seemed like the only time the building stood vacant was in the early hours of the morning. Some time before the sun would raise its head. lookedat me, as if seeing not just my face and limbs, but the bones and organs struggling to give me life beneath the skin itself. Skill Increase! Insight +1 Skill Increase! Insight +1 Chapter 7: Rebooted Nightmares My memory of the time that followed is... spotty, to say the least. And what I do remember is both graphic and horrific, in ways that I would usually try not to dwell upon. I should warn you, dear reader, that should you continue on you may not like the things that you see. Indeed I beg of you, truly, to turn the page. I beg you to continue on into Chapter 8 and forget the things that I am about to tell you. The things that I have seen. Chapter 7and not Chapter 8. I will go ahead and give you the benefit of the doubt. Easy mistake, after all. Go on now. Skill increased! Witchcraft +1 Skill increased! Toughness +1... By the pact between thee and me return to us Eternity as your servants and your bonded Belial listen and remember by the pact between thee and me return to us Eternity as your servants and your bonded Belial listen and rememberby the pact between thee and me return to us Eternity as your servants and your bonded Belial listen and remember..."
Skill increased! Witchcraft +1 Skill increased! Toughness +1 Skill increased! Toughness +1 Skill increased! Toughness +1 waterwhich they would dribble upon my lips. Letting me taste the thin portions of broth and gruel and that life-giving liquid, before taking it once more away. he would come. Hewould walk in once again and continue upon his foul experimentations against my body. Chapter 8: Mercy The slightly dull razor dropped lazily from my fingers. Covered, for the very first time, in blood that was not my own. It fell against the sheets, creating ripples in the deep, red pool that seemed to grow and grow across the bed. And, for the first time that I could remember, I laughed. Congratulations! Level Up! "Soul Level 2!" New Traits Unlocked! Enhanced... status text that tried to spoil my view of the blossoming artwork beneath me. hisfeet, as his arms waved pathetically above. Pinned down with the rest of his body by his own sword and its sharp bite, buried deeply in the mattress and the frame of the bed. You appear to have disguised yourself as one ''Arrol Vendetta''. Would you like to disguise your nameplate as well? (Difficulty level 6: Deception 4, +2 Charisma) Yes/No Chapter 9: Level Up! I made sure to leave town before anyone had a chance to see through my disguise. I wasn''t entirely confident in that ''Difficulty 6'' thing, and I knew that, regardless, the gig would be up once the body was discovered. I had no idea where the old man lived, and I, likewise, had no desire to set foot near his Chimeraagain, so the wisest thing for me to do, no doubt, was to set out straight away. I grabbed some jerky and other essentials from the vendors on the way out of town. The men looked at me funny, I supposed at the time that my voice wasn''t quite right, but I didn''t have trouble procuring supplies for the next month from the gold in my pocket. In retrospect, I am certain that the trouble was less about my voice and more about the dark bloodstains dribbling down my shirt and dripping softly from my spare money pouch. I can only imagine that the villagers thought Mr. Arrol had finally finishedoff the ''poor girl'' he had been keeping chained away, but, either way, they didn''t comment on it and I hardly even realized that it was a problem in my elated state. Skill Increased: Deception +1 Not one to press, my luck, however, I stayed not a moment longer than I needed to. I traveled out, west, instead of the east this time, and I quickly looped around north. It seemed a bad idea to follow the same escape route I had taken before, and I took comfort in the fact that there would be another forest to potentially hide in if I were to travel far enough north. It took some work, but I was eventually able to review my status update history as I walked. If I ever spoke with Bob 37 again, I decided, we were going to have words about how living in a hellscape did not in any way justify a clunky, third rate UI. But I had no desire to suck up to him ritually, only so I could bitch him out moments later. Thus, I supposed, the matter was tabled for the time being. I scrolled through the messages I had been dismissing over the last couple days until I found the key bits that I had been looking for:
Congratulations! Level Up! "Soul Level 2!" New Traits Unlocked! Enhanced Skills (Lvl 2): Skullcap raised from 25 to 50 for all applicable skills. Skill advancement penalties likewise reduced. Secondary effects unlocked. The following skills currently known have received secondary effects: Witchcraft - Increased chance of learning or discovering new spells. Witchcraft may unlock new, spell-like abilities. Toughness - Elemental resistance increased by 0.4% per level of toughness Anatomy (Affinity) - Now boosts the effectiveness of healing spells and restoration magic. Enhanced Trait: Born Witch Witches'' Masquerade size and shape restrictions lessened. Limbs no longer required to remain entirely humanoid in form. Creative usage may unlock additional skills or abilities. Champion: Level 2 Level 1 characters meeting applicablepre-requisites may now level up by killing you. Have fun out there! New Ability Points Available! +10 (current ability cap: 20) Skill Increase! Interrogate +1 Skill Increase! Anatomy +1 It was all very interesting. What really stood out to me, personally, though was the whole ''Limbs no longer required to remain entirely humanoid in form'' thing under the ''Masquerade'' trait. The other abilities and warnings seemed more passive, or more applicableat some future date or skill level, but that... well, that was an ability I figured I could use, literally, right friggin now. Miles away from Oak Town and finally turning north, I let my shape slide back into my original, soft elven form. It seemed like it would be best to work from a blank slate, with the tricky business of changing or improving upon assumed forms better left to some future day. I narrowly focused on my nails as I traveled. Concentrating on chipped ivory and misshapencuticles. It... wasn''t quite the same as wearing a shape that was well known to me, such as my old human form, or the face of my tormentor, and it took some time for me to figure out the trick. Even still, I breathed a sigh of wonder and relief when, finally, my fingers bent and twisted into a new, more animisticform. And indeed, the feel of claws extending and retracting from my slim fingertips was unlike anything I have felt before in my entire life. I watched, entranced, scarcely aware of my footsteps, while I rhythmicallyplayed with the sharp points. Claws out! Sheathed. Claws out!Sheathed. And, more, I was quickly rewarded with yet another status notification: Skill learned! Wicked +1 (Witchcraft)(Dexterity)(Wisdom) True Witches learn to overcome their limitations by twisting their own anatomy. With some creativity(and a high tolerance for pain) the truly Wicked may learn to duplicate other, forbidden, effects. Skill Increased! Wicked +1 Skill Increased! Wicked +1 Skill Increased! Wicked +1 Skill Increased! Wicked +1 Skill Increased! Toughness +1 Skill Increased! Toughness +1 If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Skill Increased! Toughness +1 Skill Increased! Toughness +1 Do you wish to increase your Wisdom attribute to 20? (1 Ability Point invested) Y/N
Do you wish to increase your Charisma attribute to 18? (2 Ability Points invested) Y/N Yes. And there we go. I hoped that that would dramaticallyincrease my chances of outmaneuveringmen like Arrol in the future. Or, if not, at least convincing more people to aid in my escape. You know, rather than just sitting there like lumps and waiting for the enslaved lady to come heal their boo-boos. Fucking ingrates. Anyway, for the remaining points, I decided to do something a little bit more practical, if it wouldn''t help my actual Witchcraft all that much either. I, too, had noticed that my new Wicked skill was affiliated with my Dexterity. And, after the many days of running, the wind in my hair and the taste of freedom finally, once again upon my lips, I found I was quite taken with the stat. More than anything else, I decided, I needed to be faster. I needed to be more lithe, and swift, and daring. What use, after all, where claws if I was constantly tripping over my own feet? What use were fir and teeth and tail, if I was to spend the rest of damned eternity trapped in a room being force-fed gruel and stale potatoes? I sighed as I pulled up my interface and allocated the rest of my points. It was almost sad that my intelligencewas going to be completely ignored - I am, after all, a creature of the modern world. And, I held in my heart a half-acknowledgedhope that, when I finally did awaken, these new skills and boosts would be carried with me into my mundane, human life. Who, after all, would hesitate to max out their intelligence if it meant better scores on tests, and aptitudeexaminations, and performancereviews? But the wind in my hair and the dirt beneathmy paws would not be denied. And, for now, survival was paramount.
Do you wish to increase your Dexterity attribute to 15? (7 Ability Points invested) Y/N Yes. And with that confirmation, I felt something different than I had when raising my less physical stats. It felt like my body became lighter, like a feather dancing across the rocky plains. Each loping step carried me farther, each bouncing footfall carrying me higher than ever before. I felt like I could do cartwheels, could do handstands, could walk across water itself. And it was an amazing, beautiful thing. It''s a good thing, in fact, that no one was there to see me as I spent the rest of the day half loping, half dancing along, hardly even bothered to move in a straight line. Rather, I moved, dancing along further and further north for the pure and simple joy of the experience. Chapter 10: A disappointing end to a disappointing night The excitement I felt soon faded into a grim monotony as the weeks passed. Either the forest had been cleared ages ago, or the maps I had seen were very much not to scale. I was getting hungry now, my rations almost were gone, and I had taken to scampering after rabbits and small rats.
Error. Hunting skill: not learned Restricted: ''Ranger'' affiliated skill. Skill increased! Witchcraft +1 Skill increased! Wicked +1 Skill increased! Interrogation +1 Skill increased! Interrogation +1 Skill increased! Anatomy +1 This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Human heart Used for necromantic rituals and as offering to Demons. Skill increase! Anatomy +1 Skill increase! Scavenging +1 Human eye Used in potions of sight and blindness Skill increase! Scavenging +1 Pineal Gland Used of potions of spirit sight.
Skill increase! Anatomy +1 Skill increase! Scavenging +1... Chapter 11: Wherein I make my first fri3nd It wasn''t a day and a half more before I caught sight of the forest ahead of me, a long line of birch in the far distance. There was, still, no sign of civilization as I moved closer with every passing hour, and there was really no way for me to tell whether I had overshot too far to the east or too far to the west. Ability: Feline Senses (Witchcraft)(Wisdom) Through trial and error (mostly error) you have successfully recreated the enhancedsenses and abilities of a common housecat (difficulty: low). You may now access these enhancements at will through successful transformations. wasan added bonus or two in there of which I was hitherto unaware - because I smelled the human encampment long before I arrived anywhere near its outskirts. The sounds where what came upon me next. The soft thudding of an axe against wood; the stomping of many, many feet; and, most of all, the den of agonizingly harsh voices against my lonely ears. Fr33ze the Wrathful Level: 2 Race: Human to me than he threw it atme, and it bounced off the side of my head before I managed to snatch it out the air. Chapter 12: Wherein I discover what passes for coffee in a hellscape The next morning, I was gently awakened by the soothing sensation of boots stepping on my hand. "Awyaaaa..." was my enthusiastic greeting to the world, I''ll be it that the yelp was muffled somewhat by the layers of wool and burlap wrapped around my face. Olum Treechief Level: 3 Race: Dwarf haveto be nocturnal. Let''s go, no time to get you proper clothes or anything now. Not if you want any dinner." Chapter 13: Into the jaws of the Pit itself, I will follow you Fr3 was using some kind of glowing rock to light his way - tied around his wrist like a friendship bracelet and dangling down below his white knuckled sword arm. Dire rat Level: 1 Race: Beast Rat Heart Used for cooking. Skill increased! Anatomy +1 Rat liver Used for potions of poison resistance Skill increased! Scavenging +1 Rat tail Used in Witchcraft. Spell Recipe: Poison Mist 1/3 ingredientsdiscovered Skill increased! Scavenging +1 Increased skill! Wicked +1 Skill increased! Insight +1 Skill increased! Interrogate +1 Skill increased: Toughness +1 Skill increased: Witchcraft +1 Chapter 14: In which I am not in any way hit on That night we sat by the fire and ate with the other guild members. We laughed, and joked and spoke of home - and were careful never to bring up what had happened in that cave. Even still, when he thought I wasn''t looking, Fr33ze would cast looks my way, a strange expression of weariness and awe in his eyes. right nowat all. Fuck. No. Fuck him. You found: Crude Broom Would you like to store one of your spells? Y/N Input spell. Spell: Eternal Pact Successfully stored. Skill Learned! Spell Foci (Witchcraft)(Wisdom) Increases the number of spells that may be successfully stored in a Witches'' focus. Also increases the potencyof spells cast while the foci is held. Only one foci may be active at one time. Chapter 15: Get Gud We wandered through the woods for an hour, but didn''t see any signs of monsters. It was actually kind of a nice day out, and I found myself relaxing next to the boys as we walked. They made the occasional childish joke but, all in all, the two of them turned out to be good company. Skill increased: Spell Foci +1 Skill increased: Spell Foci +1 Skill increased: Spell Foci +1 Skill increased: Witchcraft +1 Skill increased: Spell Foci +1 Skill increased: Spell Foci +1 Skill increased! Witchcraft +1! Congratulations! Your Class Skill level has increased from ''Apprentice'' to ''Skillful''. New Spells! Remove Affliction (Witchcraft)(Wisdom)(Affinity) Cast: Action, placing your hands upon the subjects head. Incantation, "Nine Devils, in nine Hells reside; ever watchful, ever vigilant; We guard against the unborn." Cooldown: 1 Hour (3 Hours Base, -2 Intelligence) Removes all Curses and Diseases from the subject. Devour Enchantment (Witchcraft)(Wisdom) Cast: Action, pointing the first two fingers of the right hand. Incantation, "As your power grows, so too does our hunger." Cooldown: 1 Minute (3 minutes base, -2 intelligence) Target loses all enchantments and enhancementeffects. The caster''s stats are empowered based upon the strengthof enchantments consumed. Skill increased! Spell Foci +1
Congratulations! Your Spell Foci Skill level has increased from ''Apprentice'' to ''Skillful''. New abilities! Ability: Persephone''s Breath (Witchcraft)(Spell Foci)(Affinity) Target creature gains regeneration. Requires concentration, Spell Foci,and line of sight. Ability: Wings of the Witches'' Sabbath You gain flight for up to 1 hour a day. Slow acceleration. Requires Concentration and Spell Foci. Chapter 16: A tale of Five Paladins, an Aberration, and a Demon Prince Sullenly, unwilling to say a word to break the grim seriousness in Olum''s eyes, the three of us sat down there in the dirt by the tent. Olum took a knee, leaning over toward us and lowering his voice, "I''m going to need to borrow your Druid here," he glanced at me, but was clearly talking to the boys. "There''s been an incursion, and we''re going to be left cleaning up the mess what spills past the Rose." otherpurse), I slammed the leather on the table. As expected, a single, dried testicle rolled out, spinning its own little lopsided dance until it fell from the table. And, for effect, I crushed it smoothly with my boot as I took my next breath, "You think to intimidate me? Scare me with some foreign order of.... Paladin wannabes? Well think again. I will stand with you. We will kill this aberration. And, when it is done, I will walk away with whatever the hell it drops." tryingto kill their opponent. Skill Increased! Scavenging +1 Chapter 17: Somewhere Theres a Mother From the sound of it, no one was actually asleep. I laid in our tent, backpack tight over my head, per usual - but even the thick wool and burlap couldn''t drown out the sounds of rustling, feet shuffling about, the whispered conversations. Those who were not coming with us, Fr33se included, seemed to be restless and troubled. As if the mood were blanketing the camp like a spell, filling every single one of us with unaccountable dread. Mostly, I just laid there with my eyes closed, trying to quiet my mind and get what rest I could. I think I drifted off, maybe three or four times - though, in the early hours before daylight, it''s hard to tell what was remembered and what was only imagined in those eerie hours of night. I was sitting next to the World Tree, waiting, hours before dawn had arrived. But I was not the first, not by a half dozen. A coven of my restless, insomniac brethren. They whispered conversations and clung together, for warmth or comfort it''s hard to be sure. But I didn''t know them, and most I had recognized only from the council of Threes. So I kept my distance. I put my hand against the bark of the World Tree once, for luck. I''m not sure what I expected to happen. Announcements? New Skills? Buffs from touching a mystical fount? But no, the tree was about as mystical as Niagara Falls back home - somewhat impressive to look at, perhaps, but that was all there was to it. As the sun rose, Olum joined us. Standing on the rocks, forming a little stage for the even littler man. He cleared his throat and the conversation dimmed, though it did not die completely. Our nerves were running too high, and even otherwise seasoned guild members seemed unquiet and anxious. He didn''t seem to mind, however, and he raised his voice for all to hear, "Good members of the esteemed guild of the Great Tree of the World, hear me." He began. If this was how the whole speech was going to be, I decided, I was probably going to throw up in my mouth a little. "Good Guild Members and brothers and sisters alike, you are our best. You are our our brightest. And, above all else, I am proud to be standing with you all today. Come what will, there is nowhere else I would rather be. And, if today is my last day alive, I would not take a last meal in Paris, nor a boat ride through Italy, over the chance to stand here all with you. Side by side. In the middle of fucking hell itself." Ya. There it was. Urgh, I took a long swig from my waterskin. And, I noticed, a few of the others here having the exact same idea. "But, our enemy today is ruthless. If we give him but a moment, he will swallow us up. And not even our souls will survive to regret our mistake today. No, in fact, I command you - if one of your brothers is about to be consumed, you are not to jump in the way! You are not to try to free them, nor heal them," his eyes met mine for a moment, with a disturbing intensity, "nor assist them in any other way. What you will do, and I will only say this once, is you will put an arrow between their eyes and pray they die before the beast has had it''s way with them. Because at least, then, there is a chance, however small it is, that that soul will return. And some day, months or even years down the line, it will be one less of our own that we will have had to mourn." There was a low murmur at his words, as if the men and women around me were confused. Wondering if he was just talking a good show or if he, in fact, meant what he said. Well, I could tell them. We weren''t in Disneyland, after all. No, we were in hell. And I supposed if shooting a friend in the face was the most horrific thing I would have to do today, I should count my blessings and give thanks to the Devil for his mercy. When Olum turned and started marching us toward the forest, the murmuring stopped dead. As if the true gravity of his words and of what we were about to do had stolen the breath from us - and stolen the words from the soldiers that followed. He called a cadence as he lead our march - quietly at first. Building, as we went, into a mournful yet merry tune: "Some where theres a mother She¡¯s crying for her boy He¡¯s an Hellborne Ranger With his orders to deploy Don¡¯t you cry for him He don¡¯t need your sympathy He¡¯s an Hellborne ranger Thats the best that you can be "Some where theres a father He¡¯s crying for his son Son¡¯s an Hellborne ranger With a war on to be won Don¡¯t you cry for him He don¡¯t need you sympathy He¡¯s an Hellborne ranger Thats the best that you can be "Some where there¡¯s a sister She¡¯s crying for her bro Bro¡¯s an Hellborne ranger Thats the only way to go And don¡¯t you cry for him He don¡¯t need your sympothy He¡¯s an Hellborne ranger Thats the best that you can be "Some where theres a daughter She''s crying for her dad Dad was an Hellborne ranger Now he¡¯s just a folded flag And don¡¯t you cry for him He wouldn¡¯t want your sympathy He was an Hellborne ranger Thats the best that you could be* We walked on, somehow both pushed on and yet taking heart in the strange song. It was hours of walking, and the Threes took turns singing their little songs as we went. It made it seem a little bit less torturous, somehow - the little glimpses the songs gave of hope and of who we were. Before we has been consigned into this place, for eternity. After hours of walking, we would take a ten minute break. Threes would pass out flatbread and bring water around for anyone that needed it. I wasn''t sure where the water came from, it didn''t look like we had anyone rolling a barrel along or wheeling buckets with us, but I was never a one to look a gift horse in the mouth. And I took my bread and refilled my water with a word of thanks to the Threes. None of us were talkative, much. Especiallynot after the second break that we took. Hour seemed to pass into hour, and Olum lead us deeper and deeper into the darkening forest. As if he was being pulled along by some invisible compass that none the rest of us could see. When we made camp that night, Oluf and the threes assigning guard shifts randomly (though mostly to the other Threes). Honestly, it took the last of my willpower to pull my pack once more over my head. To wrap my woolen blanket around my face. I woke up several times that night, the chill of the forest creeping into my bones and joints as the fur had faded from my body. Leaving me to cycle between growing my thick coat of fur to warm up and get another hour of sleep, and sleeping soundly as the fur, in turn, faded away while the chill of the dirt seeped back into my aching body. It seemed like I hadn''t slept at all yet, at the same time, like I had been laying on the stony ground forever, when Olum''s voice rang out across the company. The sun hadn''t even peaked over the horizen yet, not a single ray of light shown above us, but the crazy Dwarf had already decided that it was time to go. He walked through the camp personally shaking (and sometimes kicking) the sleepers who were loath to rise. It took twenty more minutes for everyone to get their stuff together. Some of us brushing our hair, some of us lacing and relacing our boots to fit over the swelling blisters. But, with Olum in charge, soon enough we were off and trudging into the still dark forest like nothing had happened at all. It was around our first break that we all started to figure out something was up. After the previous day, we could almost feel it when our hour was up - when it was time for us to finally sit again, for a moment, and have those few precious minutes of peace. But this time, instead of slowing down, it seemed like we picked up the pace - moving faster and faster, even while we were hushed into absolute silence. No one dared to utter a cadence, no one, even, dared to utter a word. You would think that would have warned us, that we would have been prepared, but, somehow, even still we weren''t. We couldn''t have been. Not for what we were blindly, slavishlyrunning toward. No one could. There was no warning, none. Not as it started raining the strange, writhing things. They fell from the trees above us and, without a whisper, they started to latch on to our people with their five, twisted limbs. They were like starfish, I think. Five tentacled limbs surrounding a single hole. A hole with the sharpest, pointed teeth, that was always opening and closing - as if aching for something new to chew. Only these were larger than starfish, and while a starfish had bright, scaly skin, these had only the dull grey flesh of an octopus. They didn''t do as much damage when they landed on a shoulder or an arm. They took a few bites before they could be stabbed, over and over again - until all of the creatures arms had been separatedfrom their bodies, and left to twist, futilityand menacingly, against the earth. Rather, it was the ones that managed to alight upon some poor soul''s head that did the real damage. It never seemed to happen to the defenders, with their shiny metal helmets, but always to the mages or the swordsmen or the thieves. Instantly, the arms would wrap their way around the head, latching at the chin, and the mouth would start burrowing it''s way into the delicious grey matter held within. Stabbing them was hard, and we even lost one of our own as someone''s sword got overzealous- slamming down on the creature and splitting it''s poor victim''sskull in two. Most of them, however, fell to the razor strikes of a nearby thief or swordsman. A swordsman, lucky enough to have avoided an attack, separatedthe creature on his buddy into quarters, before it could get at the brain. After that initial attack though, it didn''t stop. I was hard pressed to regenerate so many, and I dipped into my healing spells too when I thought I could spare them. With every step we took, deeper into that wood, it seemed like more and more rained down upon us - until we were holding our packs over our heads as they beat down from the trees like a summer storm. It was during the worst of the insanity that we had lost a second Guildmate to a creature who we just... didn''t quite notice in time. Not in time to save him at least. Before I could even take a clipping of him, to try and restore him at some, later, time, before I could even react, there was a thunderous shattering. The trees in front of us splintered, ripped apart, as if with a giant hand. But it wasn''t a hand, it was a tentacle. Like the smaller creatures that had been assaultingus non-stop for the last half an hour. It seemed to have five limbs, and where it''s mass peeked out from the ruined forest, you could see the waiting teeth between them. Opening and closing. Opening and closing. Like the trees had been assaulted, the giant tentaclesdarted at us. Our defenders, mostly, managed to deflect the initial assault. But one of the swordsman got hit too - and before I could react, his crumpled, popped body flew far into the woods. Out of sight. It was horrific. Beyond anything that I could have ever imagined, even. But I had spent thousands upon thousands of hours, there in front of my computer... RPGs, my MMOs... well those hours had taught me my role. And I stood there, battered still with the rain of tiny, hungry, writhing limbs, even while restoring the tanks in front of me with an unexpected focus. My little beams of mist spun through the chaos - a small cloud of life whispering through the splintering wood, and limbs, and teeth...Yet someone was grabbed. Someone died. Not to the chewing mouth, but to a rain of friendly arrows, mercifully sending him to his torment. A few of the mages were not able to both cast and protect themselves from the rain of minions, and down one went; two. With the tiny creatures finally getting their chance, sucking hungrily at the distracted mages'' most prized possessions. Dinner, right there in their skulls. Soon, too soon, I ran out of spells to heal. I emptied my staff in the first few minutes, without thinking. I just prayed that we would manage to survive that initial assault. I focused on my regeneration then, putting everything I had into maintaining the focus that I had practiced. But, occasionally, I failed. And we lost a tank to the creatures limbs and chomping jaws. Another one went down. A thief this time... he just couldn''t quite dodge fast enough. And I realized, quick enough, that no Healing spell in the world could have saved him. Not from the sickening ''splat'', as his body was crushed between the limb and tree. Yet another Tank fell. This time I was channeling everything I had, using every last spell. But it just wasn''t enough and so... down he went. Again, the archers (mostly thiefs with bows, in retrospect) took him out before he met his fate, death by way of bestial jaws and teeth. Everything turned into a blur, dodging the little starfish children, yet struggling with everything I had to focus, to concentrateon regenerating the wounds of the too, too many injured in front of me. It could have been another five minutes. It could have been five hundred, for all of it that I remember. All I know is that, eventually, the creature went down. One limb had been torn off, the mages burning the stump. It would regenerate otherwise, we discovered. Another. Another. It seemed like a game of attrition, just a numbers play, where we fought only find out whether it had more arms than we did lives to feed it. I didn''t even realize it, at first. Even as the flesh of the creature, of all its fallen children, they burned around me in a dark, purple flame. Status notification, after status notification, flashed in my face, but I couldn''t read any of it. My mind just couldn''t focus on the words. Rather, I stood there, channeling for all I was worth, even then, trying desperatelyto see through the cloud of nonsense letters that tried to drown my vision. It was Olum, I know, who finally said the words. Who, finally, stopped swinging his heavy hammer and looked up, looked around him. I remember hearing the words at first, not understanding what they meant, "It''s dead..." He said them quietly to himself. As if unsure whether to believe. But then Olum raised his voice and shouted, deep baritoneechoing through the devastatedwood, "It''s fuckin'' dead! You fucking did it, boyos!" And we didn''t cheer. No one stood up and no one said another word. Rather, it was like a collective sigh went out of us, and we, everyone, collapsed down on the ground in relief and in exhaustion. I ended up dismissing the prompts. My mind wasn''t clear enough that I could make any sense of them. It was like I saw the words, but I couldn''t figure out quite how to make them go together, how to figure out the sentences. So I put it aside and went through the survivors, healing and curing anyone who I could find. I took the dead too. I managed to convince some Defenders to roll the bodies together, the bodies that were left. I wasn''t sure if I could resurrectall of them. I wasn''t sure if they, or how many of them, were lost to us. So I just shrugged and bled across the lot of the bastards. Of course, it made it hard to tell, still, which were lost to us and which were just exceedingmy spell limit So when four of them did, finally, get back up and look around like they had just awoken from a long sleep, it was as as confusing as it was a relief. I went ahead and took clippings, kept separately, for the ones who failed to rise. I would keep them and, two days from now, I would see who it was that still waited for my call. From the other side of the rift. The thing was... an Aberration. Aberrations... yes. I understood why they were called that now. We spent the rest of the morning in the clearing, resting and tending to our battered equipment. Few of us tended to our notifications. They weren''t important. The important thing was only that we had survived. We had won. Olum didn''t let us sit idle either. He set off at a brisk pace back toward camp. Back towards his home. And we followed. I''m not sure if it was just because we were so used, now, to following his orders, or whether it was because we knew that if we were left behind we would be utterly and unavoidably lost. Whatever, without a word of complaint, we all found ourselves falling into step behind him. Marching quietly under the sun''s warming rays. It wasn''t until two hours had passed, until we took our second break and were passing around the bread, that we finally started smiling. Started cheering and singing and chattering like soldiers who had just won their last battle. Someone lead us in a sea shanty, though I can''t remember the words, now. It was lively and happy and fun. All the things that it should have been, I thought. And, as Olum stood in front calling us back into our march, we laughed and sung his own cadence back at him. This time, filled with joy and the absolute pleasure of having just survived.
"Somewhere theres a mother She¡¯s crying for her boy... Chapter 18: Ladys Return We hauled through the early hours of the night, and we made it back to The World Tree just as midnight came and went. My first thought, easily, was for sleep - and I trekked straight back to Fr3''s tent as soon as our company had trudged back in and started to disperse. Fr33ze was, thankfully, fast asleep when I snuck in, and I quickly moved to crawl, quietly, beside him - sprawling out on the familiar blankets as though it twas a five star hotel. Skill increased! Toughness +1 Skill increased! Toughness +1 Skill increased! Wicked +1 Skill increased! Witchcraft +1 Skill increased! Spell Foci +1 wasinteresting, however, was a new icon flashing on the bottom right of the interface - in the form of an old AOL ''Got Mail'' icon. It was very hard to miss, glowing red and spinning every few seconds, so, after some failed fumbling, I managed to activate it. Mim, The Prince has... taken an interest in you. More so, I fear, than is really appropriate. He has been delving into my records of your past and your placement herein, and I very much expect that I will likely be selling your contract to him at some point in the future (at quite a nice price, I might add). I wanted to offer a word of warning, however : those who ''interest'' our Prince, they rarely have much of a life expectancy. I wonder what you did that might arouse such interest. I rather think it may have been something you said, though choosing that title did not help. Macabre. How very interesting that you could achieve such a title in Hell itself? But no matter. I have been instructed to deliver the attached message to you, as your current overseer, and so deliver I shall. I do hope you will follow any instructions therein. Because if you ruin this deal for me, I swear by Luciferhimself that I shall make you pay a thousand times the price of whatever it is that our Prince is asking of you. Anyway, good chat. And try to have some fun out there! Your faithful (current) lord and master, Bob XXXVII Little Mim, As we feel confident our messenger has hitherto explained, we have taken an interest in your, somewhat unfortunate, situation. While it is not in our power to award you the ''Level Three'' advancement that you most require, we have taken it upon ourselves to arrange some small rewards for your service today. Moreover, please do consider this a thank you - not only for your participation in the extermination of the Borneless One''s minion, though that is appreciated, but also of providing us with some small entertainment as we have followed your exploits. When you are provided your Soulbound Item set choice, we have arranged for a third, we believe, much more lucrative option to be provided you. We have gone to some considerable lengths to arrange this, and we wished you to understand that we would be quite disappointed if you did not select our gift as your reward. Quite disappointed indeed. We feel that we may be working together much more... closely... in the future. And we wished to send this note both by way ofexplanation as well as formal introduction. Your Prince, ''Oro''. xoxoxox Congratulations! You have created a new location! Achievement added! ''Mother of Bleeding Harvests'' added to avatar report. The ''Grove of Bleeding Harvests'' has been added to the world map. ''Due to unprecedentedamounts of life magic unleashed in a grove, littered with the limbs and organs of three companions, this grove has now taken on new properties! All trees within a (1) mile radius shall sprout, not fruit, but human hands and organs. Additionally, when cut, each tree''s sap shall be found to be the consistencyand texture of human blood. Title rank up! Macabre Lvl 2 Due to the synergyof your achievement with your chosen title, the level of this title has been advanced by (1) and Title Reward has been adjusted to account for this achievement. Title is now permanent. Benefit: +2% Critical Chance; +2 Fame; Critical Chance now applies to Healing and RegenerationMagic Congratulations! Your raid has defeated a Level 3, Elite, aberration! Error: You do not yet meet the requirements for advancement to Level 3. Level increase denied. You have received Soul Points! 3000 points for elimination of Level 3 Elite aberration! 1000 points for defeat of 1000 aberration minions (minor)! You have received 4000 Soul Points! Congratulations, you have enough Soul Pointsto buy your Soulbound Set! Warning: If you do not select your set in (23) hours, a set shall be assigned to you at random. Note: Soulbound Item sets are not standard equipment. Once selected, this set will become an extension, and enhancement, of your immortal soul. All sales are final (no refunds). The following Item Sets are currently availableto you:
Demonsteel Armament (Offensive): Cost 1000 SP Devouring Threads (Support): Cost 2000 SP Living Demonskin (Oro''s Gift): Cost 1 SP
Congratulations! You have selected the ''Living Demonskin'' set. This equipment will now be added to your Soul. Set Properties have been generated and are now available! Living Boomstick (Item level: base 5; Durability 3000/3000): Imbued with the soul of a departed friend - now joined with you, for eternity. Living Demonskin Leather (Item level: base 5; Durability 1000/1000): A gift from your Prince of his own living flesh - ensuring you will be a part of him, forevermore. Set Properties: Durability may not be repaired by usual methods. Durability will regenerate over time by 10 Points/Day per item. Additionally, healing spells cast upon the wearer will repair an equal amount of durability in each item of this set. If Equipment set reaches 0 Durability, the corpse will remain on the wearer and be unable to be dismissed. This equipment may be resurrected. Additional properties hidden. *Loading, please wait* Chapter 19: In which I rediscover the joys of pet ownership Olum had come for me at the tent as soon as the sun peaked over the horizon. I hadn''t slept, but I knew better than to argue. For I had experienced firsthand his ideas of how to properly ''wake someone up''. notto be drawing attention to ourselves. But... I also had no desire to sit in the council chamber and visibly argue with a broomstick. Fuck. You have chosen to allocate Soul Points - 3999 remaining. You have selected: Pan-Dimensional Storage Would you like to allocate 500 points to: Pan-Dimensionalstorage? Y/N Response confirmed. You have chosen to allocate 500 points to: Pan-Dimensional Storage, 4 Slots. 3499 Soul Points remaining. Would you like to allocate 100 Points to: Increase Storage Capacity? Y/N Response confirmed. You have chosen to allocate 100 points to: Pan-Dimensional Storage, four bonus slots unlocked. 3399 Soul Points remaining. Skill increase! Scavenging +1 Skill increase! Scavenging +1 Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Skill increase! Scavenging +1 Skill learned! Block +1 (Strength)(Dexterity) The art of turning slashing damage into bludgeoningdamage. As skill increases, blocked attacks are less likely to cut off a limb (but more likely to knock you into a wall. You weigh like, fifty pounds soaking wet, after all). Chapter 20: Beholden By the end of the day, I had gained another point to Witchcraft, a point to Spell Foci, five points to Block, and a whopping 10 points in Wicked. Congratulations! Your Wicked Skill level has increased from ''Apprentice'' to ''Skillful''. Secondary Effect unlocked: Successful transformations generate a moderate amount of self-healing to applicable areas. Critical Hit against Mim! Critical Hit against Birch! Mim is stunned. Error: Birch is immune to ''stun'' condition. Skill increased! Toughness +1
Congratulations! Your Toughness Skill level has increased from ''Apprentice'' to ''Skillful''. Additional Secondary Effect unlocked: Resistance to non-magical damage, 0.4% per level. Skill requirement for 100% immunity tonon-magical weapons: 250. Current skill requirement for 100% resistance tonon-magicalelements: 125 (Witch Level 2).Current skill requirement for 100% resistance tomagicalelements: 250(Witch Level 2). Macabre Mim Level: 2 Race: Catgirl (Local) Skill increased! Scavenging +1 Skill increased! Scavenging +1 Skill increased! Anatomy +1
Skill increased! Scavenging +1 Skill increased! Scavenging +1 Skill increased! Anatomy +1 Skill increased! Anatomy +1 Skill increased! Interrogate +1 This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
"Lullaby and good night, with roses bedight With lilies o''er spread is baby''s wee bed
Skill increased! Anatomy +1 Skill increased! Interrogate +1 "Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed
Skill increased! Anatomy +1 Skill increased! Scavenging +1 "Lullaby and goodnight, thy mother''s delight Bright angels beside my darling abide
Skill increased! Anatomy +1 Skill increased! Interrogate +1 "They will guard thee at rest, thou shalt wake on my breast They will guard thee at rest, thou shalt wake on my breast
Skill increased! Anatomy +1 Skill increased! Scavenging +1...
Congratulations! Your Anatomy Skill level has increased from ''Apprentice'' to ''Skillful''. Additional item descriptions unlocked.
Congratulations! Your Scavenging Skill level has increased from ''Apprentice'' to ''Skillful''. ''Rare'' components may now be gathered. Achievement:''Mother of Bleeding Harvests'' upgraded Grove of Bleeding Harvests has increased to a (2) mile radius. Mim, The Prince has been very taken with your work. In fact, he spent the entire day looking in on you, ignoring all else (much to the dismay of his administrative staff). I like your initiative, I really do! In fact, with him over the table like this, I have been able to negotiate a much more lucrative deal than even I was hoping! In appreciation, I have decided to reward you in two ways. First, I will leave your ''Dreamer'' Trait in play for the course of your natural life. It would really be more trouble to remove it than to leave it active, so don''t thank me overmuch for that. Secondly, however, I have arranged to bestow a new perk, as a part of the buyout package. Generous, I know, and I trust that you shall talk me up to the Prince in return, should you ever have the chance. Indeed, I expect you shall like me much better as a friend than an enemy. And I hope that you shall remember it. Still better than you, Bob XXXVII
***Announcement*** Your soul has just been sold to the Demon Prince of your hell verse, Oro[xxx], from the Administrative Demon of Exulia - Bob XXXVII. All rights, privileges, and features of this ownership shall be transferredforthwith. (All sales are final)
New traits! Profitable Investment: (Requires: Macabre Mim) Sale of your soul was more profitable than initial projections had anticipated by a substantial amount. Good on you! Skill advancement penalties have been substantially reduced across all levels. Beholden to the Demon Prince (Requires: Owned by a Level 6 entity) Level and spell restrictions have been removed up to: Level 5. Chapter 21: Through the [Battered] Looking Glass That was... weird. And I had no idea what most of it meant, though I was eager to start grinding again later and find out. I absently swirled my index finger through the cooling sack of intestines, hugging Arrol''s body close to me, as I pondered. Anatomy +1 Anatomy +2 Scavenging +3 Spell recipe: Roll the Bones (Restricted) 5/5 ingredientsdiscovered. New Spell! Roll the Bones (Witchcraft)(Scavenging) Cast: Material Component, five human finger-bones. Action, rolling components along the ground. Incantation, "Blood and bone of those, before; Help me out, this little chore; for Tiamat sleeps, not dead but drawn; Whom Hel does guard, sad and lone; We hold the line from times long gone; With sword and wand, our flesh and bone." Wicked +1 Insight +1 Insight +2
Would you like to allocate 100 Points to: Increase Storage Capacity? Y/N Response confirmed. You have chosen to allocate 100 points to: Pan-Dimensional Storage, four bonus slots unlocked. 3299 Soul Points remaining.
Would you like to allocate 100 Points to: Increase Storage Capacity? Y/N Response confirmed. You have chosen to allocate 100 points to: Pan-Dimensional Storage, four bonus slots unlocked. 3199 Soul Points remaining. Authorization.... granted. Credentials... verified. Identification key... missing Generating administrative I.D.K. Administrative access granted: Level 5 (Restricted) It looks like you are attempting to scry on: Bushwar. Would you like to see Bushwar now? Y/N Chapter 21.Duex: Prequel of Facts Most Pertinent I feel like I should preface this with some little bit of background. What I am about to see, what I am about to describe and my reaction to it - well, I don''t feel like you would understand, dear reader, if I did not first take the time to explain some of my history. thatway but pitied me, I tried to be grateful that he was my friend. I introduced him to other girls and I tried to make him happy. Chapter 22: Boy Trouble I was suddenly looking through his eyes. I was seeing and hearing and feeling the world through Bushwar''s senses. It was horrifying, for a moment, as I struggled to move his body and failed. Twisting and turning in my mind, I found myself a helpless passenger, who was unable even to make him aware of my existence. his mouth. Authorized window for scrying has been exceeded. Would you like to pay (5 Gold) to continue watching? Y/N knewme, after all, in a way that no one else here did. Knew me in a way that no one else here could. Witchcraft +1 Scavenging +1
You have chosen to allocate Soul Points - 3199 remaining. You have selected: Advanced Flight
Would you like to allocate 1000 Points to: Advanced Flight? Y/N Response confirmed. You have chosen to allocate 1000 points to:Advanced Flight, flight time (Currently 4 Hrs/Day: 1 Base, +3 Legendary Boomstick) doubled; Maneuverability Increased; Boomstick self-flying proficiency increased; maximum speed increased significantly. Congratulations! You have unlocked new SP options. 2199 Soul Points remaining. You have selected: Demonskin Hat
Would you like to allocate 500 Points to: Demonskin Hat? Y/N
Response confirmed. You have chosen to allocate 500 points to: Demonskin Hat, new armor option activated.
1699 Soul Points remaining.
Chapter 23: Murder in the First We Stopped for lunch after we had crossed into the desert of the Neutral Grounds. It was amazing to me - you never quite realize the convenience of modern travel until you have to go without. I remembered how it took me a month to walk from Oak Village up into The World Tree, scrounging for food, pushing on with aching, tired feet. Yet, now, in a little over three hours we had covered, from what I remembered of the maps, approximately the same amount of distance. Wicked +1 Spell Foci +1 Ellie Nightsorrow Level 3 Elf Congratulations! Level up! *Soul le.... Chapter 24: Give a Girl a Hand, Luv
I awoke to the sound of mailed feet stomping around outside the door. Someone was pounding a fist against the last and I quickly realized the only reason I hadn''t yet been caught was because Ellie had the forethought to lock the door. I saw the fading glow of a spell and I looked up, Lady hovered above me, trailing sparks of light behind her in the air. *We''re out,* I heard her breathy voice in my mind, *Time to go, Molly.* I shook my head - a quick back and forth to clean out the cobwebs. Despite the tingling from being healed, I could feel a massive headache growing. Lady flew to me and I leaned my hand against her, letting her help me stand shakily. I slowly lowered my weight against her and held on tight - but, even as the guards stormed in, I kept feeling like there was something I had forgotten. Something I needed to do. Lady had us half-way out the window when it struck me and, despite the guards sprinting toward us ten... no, five feet away now, I screamed, "No wait, stop. Stop damn you." A sad voice sounded in my head, even as a hand closed on the air where I had just been moments before, *No time, Molly. Later.* And as we flew straight up into the night, putting as much distance as we could between us and the sad little town below, I could only gaze forlorn at the scene of my crime. I didn''t have her finger, I didn''t have a hand. There was no way I that could bring Ellie back from the grave I had stuck her in. Or... wait. Was there? I didn''t have time to scroll through my notifications. Rather, I opened my ability panel. There, in the corner, were points as before. Waiting to be distributed. I didn''t stop to look at them, once I saw that they were there, instead, I simply worked my menu.
Do you wish to increase your Intelligence attribute to 20? (4 Ability Points invested) Y/N I slammed the ''Yes'' button as fast as I could and pulled up my spells, watching them spin as the Cooldowns updated. The other spells I ignored, focusing only on the one that mattered:
Restitution of the Damned(Witchcraft)(Wisdom)(Affinity) Cast: Action, spilling one''s own blood upon the body of fallen creatures. Cooldown: 23 Hours (-1 Intelligence) Up to 4 creatures resurrectedover a 10 minute period at 50% health As I watched the ground spin further and further away below me, I leaned over and whispered to Lady, "Ok now, how many hours left until we canresurrect her?" There was no response for some seconds but, when my answer came, the voice sounded more refined, more thoughtful maybe, *Eight hours, forty-two minutes and twelve seconds." I gazed at the ground below us looking for a... there. Within walking distance, there was a church. The steeple rose up into the sky and, toward the very top, was a lonely bell. I guided her toward it. "We can''t stay up here then, Lady. Let''s go, there." Pointing, "We can watch from the belltower." We swept down, sweeping through the night''s air to hover beside the bronze bell. It was high up in the stepped tower, with ropes holding it and linking to it from below. So far as I could tell no stairs led up this way and, all in all, it was exactly what I had been looking for. I tried, for the thousandth time, to shift my eyes into those of an eagle. But where every time before my attempts had been met with blood and burning pain, now I met with a different result. It was like zooming in on a camera, things far, far away suddenly zooming in. The sight made you think that you could reach out and touch the cobblestones, the grains of wood on the buildings down below. It was then, pulling my head back in shock and blinking furiously, that I really understood that something had changed for me. That I was now... better. I couldn''t see any movement in the Inn but, just in case, I darkened the shade of my fur - shifting into a shadowy black figure crouching in the bell tower, shrouded from head to toe in the darkness. I knew it would be no good in the light, I would be easily spotted and shot down from the street below. But, for now, I felt like the silent watcher. Free to observe and to see all the sights below me as though I were seeing a silent sitcom play. Keeping my attention half focused on the guards, who were coming in and out of the inn, I made sure the men and women weren''t carrying a body. I turned to my interface. I opened the status interface to see what had changed: Congratulations! Level Up! "Soul Level 3!" New Traits Unlocked! Enhanced Skills (Lvl 3): Skillcap raised from 50 to 100 for all applicable skills. Skill advancement penalties likewise reduced. Secondary effects unlocked. The following skills currently known have received additional secondary effects: Witchcraft - Increased chance of learning or discovering new spells and abilities. Wicked - New abilities now discoverable. Enhanced Trait: Born Witch Witches'' Masquerade size and shape restrictions lessened. Witch is no longer required to remain humanoid in form. Champion: Level 3 Level 1 & 2 characters meeting applicablepre-requisites may now level up by killing you. Have fun out there! New Ability Points Available! +15 (current ability cap: 25) It was somewhat less impressive than last time. Still, raising my skills from 50 to 100 was a pretty huge leap and it was going to take some time to max these, even for me. The Ability Points were nice too, though I was, admittedly, kind of hoping that the increases would have doubled from the last time. Still, I considered the fact that I had received more than ten a pretty good deal, all in all. I had eleven points left, I realized. And having already boosted Intelligence, the next two were kind of gimmies:
Do you wish to increase your Wisdom attribute to 25? (5 Ability Points invested) Y/N
Do you wish to increase your Dexterity attribute to 16? (1 Ability Point invested)
Y/N I went ahead and locked these in. Wisdom appeared to be my primary attribute and, while I wasn''t entirely sure what it did, I had decided from day one to do whatever it took to keep it maxed. Dexterity, on the other hand, was somewhat less critical. What I noticed with intelligence, however, was that the only seemed to have an effect when I allocated in even numbers of points. In a hellishly Gygaxonian fashion, I had decided to try and keep my totals away from odd numbers whenever possible. Well, except vitality. I wasn''t even going to waste a single point in that stat. Not when I had healing spells available at my fingertips. That left me with five additional points. I considered my options: Strength? No. Vitality? No. Not interested in those at all. Especially if there was a chance they would affect my frame or girth. I had invested too much into Dexterity to be stumbling around like the jolly green giant, with a larger hitbox as well as the target currently on my back. Which left Dex, Int, or Charisma. Dexterity was nice and it seemed to be helping me a bit, but it didn''t feel right investing much more in it. Almost all of my spare Level One points had gone there, as well as one from Level Two already. Intelligence was likely to be a decent stat, but I needed to be sure that it actually affected my personal ability to strategize and plan. I had the seen what a boost had done to Fuzzykins, turning her into a bored house cat to a mad, spell slashing familiar, but I was having a hard time coming to terms with the idea that intelligence wasn''t innate to my soul - rather, instead, being a manipulable aspect of my Avatar. That left Charisma. I admit, of all my attributes, it was the most tempting to me. I am fundamentally a girl. And the idea that I could pump a few points into a stat and, suddenly, I would make Prom Queens look like uncultured hicks? Well my instincts, every single one, told me to hit that fucking button and sign my ass up for that shit. So... I did.
Do you wish to increase your Charisma attribute to 23? (5 Ability Points invested) A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Y/N Hell ya, yes, please. Get it, daddy. This time, with the large increase to Charisma, I actually felt something. My bones seemed to move slightly, reforming themselves after a few seconds. I wouldn''t say that it was unpleasant, only that it felt... strange. Like I would expect it to feel when the baby kicked in your womb, except here you felt it in your neck and shoulders and face. I ran a hand over my fur and it struck me: even my animalistic Wickedness was softer, sleeker, firmer. Caught with my own indulgent vanity, I spent the next hour crouching in the bell tower, attempting to create a pair of angel wings from the skin of my back. Every time I came close, however, every time I felt that I had grown... something. Yet when I went to check the growth, the only wings I seemed to produce were the stumpy, hairless appendages of a bat. Leathery wings with long, finger-like digits, moving the web of skin. Wicked +5 Well, I told myself, at least I was leveling my skill. Still, I had no desire to walk around with the ugly things. And every time they appeared from the folds of my leather jerkin I stuffed them quickly back away. What was quite nice, however, was that the Living Leather of my armor seemed to move and meld with my transformations. No matter where the wings ended up on my back, no matter how much I accidentally grew my spine or shoulders while I was straining, I always remained immaculately covered in the armor. As if it has been fitted just as exactly to the new, twisted proportion as it had to my old. I glanced down, gazing at the ground around the church as I worked on my wings, and I discovered something interesting. There was a small graveyard behind the building and, somehow, the graves seemed to me to glow. "Lady," I nudged her, "Lady?" She sounded a bit confused and annoyed at the sudden attempt at conversation, *What?* Whatever, I didn''t much care, "Are those grave sites, over there, glowing to you?" Her voice came back, somewhat more concerned, *No. Why do you see something?* I had a new pair of wings mostly formed at that point. Of course, they were ugly bat things yet again. Still, I stretched them out behind me and, for the first time, I focused on growing and extending the wings of an imp. Then I jumped into the air. I trusted Fuzzykins to catch me if this didn''t go well, after all. Spread a full five feet on each side of my body, great wings of red and black billowed around me. I didn''t dare to try flapping them, I simply focused on catching the air, as I glided to the ground. In the dirt, I took a knee as I hit the end of my fall. Checking, manically in my mind, for anything dislocated or broken, after several seconds I finally took a breath. Lady, however, was less than impressed. *I''m still cashed, you idiot! I''ve got no spells! You could have died!* she yelled to me as she caught up with my winged body, obviously concerned. It was kind of annoying, really. Especially since she was sort of right. Before I moved or did anything else, I fed her a spell of healing, a spell of fire, a spell of frost, and a spell of Cure Affliction. Now that she had found a way to cast herself the spells that were stored within her, I wanted her to have as wide a breadth of selection as possible. Witchcraft +2 Spell Foci +3 Ya. Also, I was really liking how fast skills were coming along as a Level 3. At this rate, I would become fairly powerful in no time at all. Oh! Speaking of which, I still needed to check the cooldowns on my other spells. Let''s see...
Hellfire (Witchcraft)(Wisdom) Cooldown: 3 minutes (-4 Intelligence) Nifhelm''s Breath:(Witchcraft)(Wisdom) Cooldown: 50 Seconds (-10 Intelligence) Belial''s Hate(Witchcraft)(Wisdom) Cooldown: 40 Minutes (-20 Intelligence) Eternal Pact(Witchcraft)(Wisdom)(Affinity) Cooldown: 15 Seconds (-35 Intelligence) Restitution of the Damned(Witchcraft)(Wisdom)(Affinity) Cooldown: 23 Hours (-1 Intelligence)
Remove Affliction (Witchcraft)(Wisdom)(Affinity) Cooldown: 40 Minutes (-20 Intelligence) Devour Enchantment (Witchcraft)(Wisdom) Cooldown: 40 Minute (-20 intelligence) Wow, that had actually made a bigger difference than I had expected. I regretted putting points into Charisma for like, half a second before I came back to my senses. Approaching the glowing mounds next to the gravestones, now that we were all powered up, I glanced over my shoulder. I was now exposed and vulnerable, I realized on an almost primal level. And as I pawed my way over to the glowing patches of earth, I kept my ears peeled and focused on the world around me. I really shouldn''t have worried about the glow, though. Well, not in that way at least. Either my new points in Level, Int, or Wisdom had, apparently, unlocked a hidden effect. As I approached the glowing patches of dirt I carefully reached over and picked up a handful. To see if the glow was coming from the dirt or from something below. Immediately, as I touched the earth (Well, maybe not earth. ''Helldirt''? Whatever) the glowing effect disappeared. Instead, a status notification flashed across my vision.
Discovered: Graveyard Dirt Discovered: Consecrated Graveyard Dirt (Rare) Scavenging +10 Spell recipe: Rage of a Dying God (Advanced) 1/1 ingredient discovered. New Spell! Rage of a Dying God(Witchcraft)(Scavenging) Cast: Material Component, consecrated graveyard dirt. Action, blowing dirt into the air from palm. Incantation, humming in A Minor while blowing. Cooldown: 6 Days (-1 day, Intelligence) Curse: Every living being except the caster is cursed with a time-dilution effect. Radius of 1/2 mile. Caster and physics ofinanimate objects will appear vastly accelerated to cursed creatures.
Spell recipe: Poison Mist 2/3 ingredientsdiscovered. Ya, I didn''t waste any time. I went ahead and scooped as much graveyard dirt as I could into my pockets. I was relieved to see, when I had finished, that the total load I had desperately shoveled in my bag only was taking up two Stacks - each with a counter of 99/99. Of course, yet again I had allowed myself to become distracted. And again, it was only barely that I managed to grab Lady and spin away (by my the skin of my fingers) to screams of "Graverobber! Graverobbers at the church!" So, I was developing something of a reputation in this town, I could see as we darted up. Hell, it was only my first day here - not even that as the sun had yet to have risen. You would think there would be some clemency or something until a person could get used to the local laws, not everyone could adapt instantly to all of the fine customs. You know, like ''no murdering'' and ''no graverobbing'' and little subtleties like that... Meh. Or not. Whatever. We moved over to a local hilltop, maybe a mile or two away. It barely even took us a minute to get there. I could still see the inn, distantly, in the slowly brightening dawn. So I waited, biding my time and staring single-mindedly into the sprawling city. I still had one last crime to commit before I could depart. In the blooming light of the sunrise, I waited silently for my cooldowns to expire, feeding the final spell into my Boomstick. Spell Foci +1