by Dakota Krout
CAL Scan complete!
Level: 0
Current Etheric Xenograft Potentia: 15/100 to level 1!
Body: 1.1
Mind: 3.75
Presence: 1.9
Senses: 2.25
Health: 59
Mana: 92
Mana regen: 1.83 per second
“Now, you see that data in front of your face?” Master Don wryly shook his head as he told her, “It should match up with your book exactly, and the Sigil is how we see that data without the potential of losing it to someone else.”
“I get it; don’t let books read me.” Taylor checked her book, and it did indeed match up, at least what had been revealed so far. “Okay… but what does each one mean? Also, there are more in the book than on this screen!”
“Take it easy; I’ll explain. I’m just going slow.” Master Don handed her another strip of meat. “‘Body’ controls your overall health, fitness, and strength. It impacts the amount of damage you can take, also shown as ‘health’, determines how much you can lift, and how hard you can push yourself without collapsing from fatigue.”
“It is important to improve your body, because spellcasting is stressful and frequently damages your body. Also, remember that health is a resource that does not replenish quickly on its own. You can use mana to heal your body, but without associated abilities to target that healing, there are often side effects. Health is not a resource to be spent lightly.”
“Got it. Healthy body, healthy mind, just like Momma used to say.” Taylor nodded to show her understanding.
“Nice way to push the conversation along. We’ll work on your subtlety. ‘Mind’ is your overall intelligence, knowledge retained, and talent toward learning and using spells. You need all of these to successfully cast spells. A very clean system, if I do say so,” Master Don grimaced distastefully, “even though certain aspects of it are taken lightly. Abyssal Enchanters, always taking the artistry out of things and inserting numbers.”
“What about Presence and Senses?”
“Presence is… hmm.” Master Don hesitated. “These two stats are less quantifiable, but equally as important. You will need to decide whether or not you want to increase them, and by how much. Presence, also sometimes called ‘aura’ determines how much force you exert on the world around you simply by being there. With your basic score in Senses… I bet you can easily sneak up on people, correct?”
“That’s what high Senses does?” Taylor thought about how often she had jabbed Andre in the ribs, and felt a wash of homesickness. It had only been half a day! “I could easily sneak, yes.”
“Good. Now, this is what it is like when you have a huge Presence.” Master Don nodded sagely, and suddenly… he was massive. No… he was there. Taylor couldn't look away from him, and she started gasping for breath, the sheer magnitude of the man in front of her causing her lungs to seize. Then her tutor was normal again, and she started gulping in air. “Obviously, you need to learn to control it. Also, to clear any lingering concerns, it is very hard to kill things with Presence alone. You may have passed out, but you would have been fine. Probably.”
“Senses are essentially the opposite, as they allow you to feel things even when they have very little Presence. It also controls your actual senses, and increasing them will allow you to see, hear, smell, taste, and feel more powerfully. Observe.” Master Don looked at her, and Taylor could swear that a predator was watching her and finding all the weaknesses that she had to offer. “As you can see, there is a feeling of danger associated with someone turning their Senses on you, also called ‘bloodlust’ or ‘killing intent’, so keep that in mind.”
“Just…” Taylor wasn't even sure what she had been planning to say. “How do I get to that point?”
“Every time you… level,” Master Don’s nostrils flared as he ground out the hated words, “you choose one of the sub-characteristics of those main characteristics to increase. Each increase is a flat five points. Now… think on this for a moment. What happens if your mind is a hundred times more powerful than your body? Can your body keep up?”
“…No?”
“Correct. There is a limit to how much you should devote to a single characteristic.” Master Don looked at her numbers again. “Now, say ‘Sub-status’.”
“Sub-status.” Taylor’s view revealed more information, but still not as much as her book contained.
Level: 0
Current Etheric Xenograft Potentia: 15/100 to level 1!
Body: 1.1
Fitness: 1.3
Resistance: 0.9
Mind: 3.75
Talent: 5.5
Capacity: 2
Presence: 1.9
Willpower: 1.7
Charisma: 2.1
Senses: 2.25
Physical reaction: 2.7
Mental energy: 1.8
Health: 59
Mana: 92
Mana regen: 1.83 per second
“As you can see, these are the sub-characteristics. When added together and divided in half, you can see that the subs equal the main characteristic.” Master Don regarded her book and cheerfully smiled. “As expected, your natural talent is crazily high for a newly Initiated Ascender.”
“Also, consider this: if you were to level right now and increase your Fitness by five points, you would increase your entire body by fifty percent. Later on, five points will seem a small thing… but right now, you would feel like you were going to die from all the changes that would be done to you. When you level, make sure I am watching over you, and you are in a safe place. You might literally die from starvation otherwise, or just from something taking advantage of that moment of weakness.”
“Yes, Master Don.” They lapsed into silence as Taylor contemplated her options, but she couldn't hold back her questions for long. “Why would anyone increase their Presence? Wouldn't it be better to be able to sneak around?”
“For certain people, yes. Mainly assassins and rogues,” Master Don answered calmly, obviously having given this talk many times before. “Do you recall how you could barely breathe a moment ago when I released my Presence?”
“Clearly.”
“That was actually merely my Charisma sub-characteristic. To fend off Charisma, you need to use your own characteristics to fend it off. Your Willpower is the most direct way; it is a direct contest between mine and yours.” Master Don explained as if this were a simple concept. “There are other ways, of course; either a Mind that could withstand it, a Body that can power through, or manipulating the Senses to find a way to turn yourself inward and fend off the effects.”
“There are many things that refuse to acknowledge beings with a lesser Charisma, which makes the stat important for people who are intending to tame things. That means us. There are many spells that will never allow themselves to be cast by someone they see as weak.”
“I’ll think about this,” Taylor told him as she took another bite of food.
“See that you do. We will discuss what each of the sub-characteristics control at a later time.”
“There’s more?” Don rolled his eyes at her question, not deigning to reply. A few minutes after Taylor finished her impromptu meal, they got back up and continued walking. “Thanks, I needed that. So, not to be pushy, but what spells are we going to get?”
Her book perked up, peeking out of her backpack like a pet hearing that a treat would soon be offered. Master Don flushed a deep red. “It’s a… surprise.”
“Don’t want to say it?”
He cleared his throat. “Not really. We will just… show you, if that’s okay.”
“All right? We?” Taylor’s question went unanswered.
They continued in silence for a bit, Master Don sweating lightly until he suddenly felt the urge to continue teaching her. He launched into a lecture without preamble, “About this spell that we are going to get… you have to understand, mana either comes from somewhere either deep in the earth or from the sun. It is required for all things to live, and
all living things contain mana. In fact, everything about you contains magic, including your sweat, because it comes from you.”
“When you use all of your mana quickly, it depletes your very essence. You can replenish yourself best with liquids and dense foods. Liquids, even water, can help you regain mana quickly, but you can’t drink enough to make it useful over time. Dense foods, like honey, are the best sources, because they contain mana from so many different sources. It is jam-packed with power. Now that I mention it, jam is pretty good too.”
“Oh. That sounds good. I mean, it makes sense. Um, sorry to bring this up, but I really need to use the bathroom…?”
“Hold it.” When Taylor gave him a scathing look, Don swallowed and stated, “I have a good reason for it. We are almost there.”
Taylor looked around, but saw only empty shelves. “Where are we?”
“We are about to get your first spells!” Don informed her brightly. “They are considered tier one, the weakest of all spells. Still, every Mage worth their salt has these particular spells; they are that useful.”
Taylor looked around much more eagerly, trying to spot whatever she was about to tame. “I don’t… see anything. Is my Sense characteristic too low? Are you sure we’re in the right place?”
“Positive. Now, let me explain something. Sometimes when collecting spells, you use force, and you’ll need to fight desperately to survive the encounter. Sometimes, you bend them to your will through sheer Presence. Other times, you can… make deals or bribe them. This is one of those bribe spells, but unlike your book… the spells here aren’t after ‘pure’ mana.”
“So, what do I need to do?” Taylor pulled her book out of her bag, and it rustled menacingly and floated up to perch on her arm like a hunting falcon. “I’m ready to do whatever I need to do, Master Don!”
“Ahem. Um. Well, that’s good. The two spells in this area are known as ‘Cleanse’ and ‘Purify’, and both are immensely useful! Though nearly every Mage has them, you never hear how they are captured because… it is not very… dignified.”
“What do you mean?” Taylor was becoming concerned at Master Don’s non-forthcoming manner.
“You have to bribe them with their… ahem… function.”
“I don’t…”
Turning beet red once more, Master Don looked away and spoke in a rush, “You have to mess your pants!”
“No!” Taylor flushed scarlet at the words. “What? No!”
“Trust me… you absolutely need these spells. Listen, being a powerful Mage means huge compromises with dignity, and some people are just too proud to do what needs to be done. Are you one of those people?” Her Master turned to face her, and it seemed like his face was carved from stone. “Are you actually willing to do whatever you need to do to become powerful? Or will you falter at the first step because it is embarrassing?”
“I… what do I have to do?” Taylor spoke flatly, her face burning red.
“Good. Go over there, and… do it. When they swarm you, only let two versions of different types come near, and make them a deal. One will look like a fly, one will look like a firefly. Here is the deal you offer. They get everything your body collects and produces normally, like dust, sweat… poo, all forms of excreta… and you are able to use them on other people and things.”
Swallowing hard, Taylor nodded once and trudged like a condemned person around the bend. No words were passed between them. A few minutes later, she came back, perfectly clean. Sweat and dirt that had clung to her were gone, as though she just had taken a bath; her clothes were clean and apparently ironed.
Master Don chuckled and started to speak. “Good! I see you succeeded! Now that you have your first two spells-”
“We never speak about this again.”
“Taylor, those spells don’t even require mana! They pull it directly from what they take, and are therefore essentially free passive spells. We should really discuss the benefits-”
Taylor whipped around, looking Master Don in the eye, “Never speak about them again, Don!”
Chapter Ten
- Andre -
“This sucks,” Andre stated petulantly as they plodded along the seemingly endless plains.
“Yup,” his teacher agreed sullenly. He had his own reasons.
“Are we just gonna walk forever, or are you gonna actually teach me?”
“If you were paying attention to the land around you, you would possibly notice that you didn’t exactly come through to the safest area in this world,” his new Master spat at him. “And you either call me ‘Master’ or ‘Xan’. Here, first lesson for free: respect in all things, Initiate.”
“Fine, Xan. Are we just gonna walk forever or are you gonna teach me eventually, Xan?” Andre grumpily demanded.
“You know what? I just realized! We can master your powers right now! Surely you can do it really fast, even though no one else ever has without a solid decade of study! Abyss, six times time dilation? Making it one of the most dramatically large time dilation effects so that you can learn properly? Who needs that? Tell you what; there’s a bugbear tribe over that hill. Go tame them, and learn what they offer the earth. Any questions before you become all-powerful?”
“Yes!” Andre angrily exclaimed. “What… is a bugbear?”
“Hopeless.” Xan sighed and stared up at the green-tinted sky.
“Excuse me?”
The trainer took a deep breath, “Can you not just wait until we get to a safer place?”
“C’mon, man. Something! I’m so ready… I wanna do something cool!” Andre’s eyes were shining.
Xan eyed his pupil with disgust. “Do you ever wonder why they didn’t take people so young into training before? You. You are the reason, and are also everything that is wrong with this whole debacle.”
Andre waved the admonishment away and flashed a brilliant smile. “I’m adorable. C’mon, you know you wanna show me how to blast people.”
“Blast people…? You’re not a Mage! Do you know what being a Druid even means?” Xan was working hard to keep his jaw from dropping as he caught the obliviousness on Andre’s face. “They sent you here with no knowledge? Nothing?”
“Nope. Are you gonna… teach me?” Andre wiggled his eyebrows at the man that appeared to be just barely older than himself.
“Fine! Abyss, but you are annoying! Sit down.”
Andre plopped onto his butt with a feces-eating grin spread across his face. Xan snarled at him, “You put the ‘suffer’ in ‘insufferable’. What do you know about Druids? What we do, where we go, how our power works?”
“Nada,” Andre smiled cheekily.
“Great. Just great. Our Archmagis make a deal to solidify the alliance and save tens of thousands of lives, and yet I’m the one stuck teaching you basic information that every child in my country knows. You’re lucky I can’t die of old age or I’d be really furious.”
“Burning daylight, Xan.”
“Shut it, mouthbreather. First and most important: a Druid is a person inextricably linked to the land, with everything that entails.”
“Such as?”
Xan took a deep breath to collect himself, then spoke with gritted teeth. “Mouth. Shut. A Druid can interact with everything natural in the world: dirt, water, metal, plants, natural forces, and animals. With the proper instruction, you can be useful by interacting with these forces for the good of everyone.”
“Neat.”
“If you say another word, I won’t.” Xan looked at Andre until it was obvious that he was staying silent. Xan calmed himself with another deep breath. “Look… I’m not from your Kingdom, but your survival has been entrusted to me. Not only that, but as a Druid, you are very needed on our home plane. Do you want to know why there will be people trying to kill you?”
Andre nodded his head with a look of confused horror on his face; the warning about talking seeming to be taken to heart. “You were sent here by your Hollow Kingdom’s Archmage, right? Where was your Arc
hdruid? The leader of your Druidic groves? You can answer this one question.”
“There… isn’t one? The Mage guy said I was the Kingdom's first Druid.” Andre proudly announced.
“So, what does that mean for you when you are trained?” Xan made a ‘come on’ gesture.
Andre opened and closed his mouth a few times. “What do you mean?”
“If your Kingdom has no Archdruid, and you are your Kingdom's first Druid…” Xan leadingly taunted the lad.
“Me? You’re saying I’ll be the Archdruid?” Andre gasped as a look of glee appeared on his face. He had just realized that he was even more important than he’d thought he was!
“Correct!” Xan agreed patronizingly. “Do you now understand why I’m trying to get you out of an area that I’m unsure I can survive in?”
“Got it. Let’s make some tracks.” Andre hopped to his feet and walked in the direction they were traveling.
Xan gasped and put his hands over his mouth. “Look at that, Andre! You are learning!”
“Is your full title ‘Xan the grumpy Druid’, or…?” Andre quipped.
Several hours later, trees started appearing on the horizon. Xan and Andre slowed down when they reached them, and Xan’s face started to relax. He pointed out a house built between a few trees which supported it. “Up you go.”
Xan pulled out a rope ladder dangling from the small building and handed it over. Andre looked at the rope in his hand, then up at the Druid. “A tree fort? What, are we stopping for the day?”
“Yes and no. This is where you’ll be living for roughly the next… oh, ten years or so.” Xan grinned at his student’s horrified expression. “This is a neutral Grove.”
“That? It looks like it’ll fall at the first sign of wind!” Andre was seething at the unfairness of the situation.
“Would you rather sleep on the ground? I’m sure you’ll survive the nocturnal predators,” Xan offered hopefully.
