With the second, he risked not finding an enemy capable of defeating the spider. The only suitable enemies that he knew off, were the skeletal warriors and they were more than three hours away.
He had gained two levels from bonding the spider though. Perhaps he could find a solution in one of the available abilities. He willed open the mental construct for his combat abilities.
Available Combat Abilities (6 AP available)
Beast Bonding: Enrage Beast, Extend Bond.
Body Control: Boost Health, Boost Speed.
Telekinesis: Teleport object, Hold.
Telepathy: Confusion, Terrify, Sleep. (Locked, skill of 1 required).
Air Magic: Shocking Hands, Blur.
Earth Magic: Grasping Roots, Earth Tremor, Poison Ward.
Fire Magic: Fire Shield.
Supportive Magic: Restore Health (Others), Healing Aura, Restore Mind, Detect Magic.
Water Magic: Freezing Hands, Ice Wall.
Longbow: Focused shot, Long shot, Quick shot. (Locked, skill of 1 required).
Longsword: Disarm, Focused strike.
He considered. If the function of extend bond aligned with its description then it was probably part of the solution. He unlocked the ability.
New ability learnt!
Ability: Extend bond
Skill: Beast bonding.
Description: Extends the bond between a beast already bonded and the player. This ability is always successful.
Rank: Novice.
Cost: 40 Will.
Execution time: 10 seconds.
Range: Up to the caster’s direct line of sight.
Duration: 10 minutes x skill.
Perfect, he thought. With this ability he should be able to extend the bond indefinitely – provided he didn’t sleep! For his next ability, considering that he might be going into battle with the skeletal warriors and their vulnerability to fire, he selected a disabling spell that he hoped would combine well with his fire spells.
New ability learnt!
Ability: Grasping roots
Skill: Earth magic.
Description: Causes magical roots to sprout from at the targeted area. The roots will cause any hostile creatures to be held unless resisted. Warning: Only one grasping root field may be active at a time.
Rank: Novice.
Cost: 40 Essence.
Execution time: 5 seconds.
Area of effect: Radius of 1m x skill around target.
Range: Up to the caster’s direct line of sight.
Duration: 10 seconds x skill.
Debuff: Causes hostile creatures in the area of effect to be held immobile. May be resisted.
He had 4 combat AP remaining. Briefly, he was tempted to unlock further abilities. He resisted this urge, and decide on a more conservation approach. He would retain the remaining AP in reserve, until such time as they were required. Next, he reviewed his skills.
Combat Skills (18 SP Available)
Psi Skills:
Beast Bonding: 7.6 (3 base)
Body Control: 2.0 (1 base)
Light Armour: 3.6 (3 base)
Psionics: 0
Psi Armour: 0
Telekinesis: 6.1 (3 base)
Telepathy: 0
Will Regen.: 0
Magic Skills:
Air Magic: 7.7 (3 base)
Earth Magic: 7.7 (3 base)
Essence Regen.: 0
Fire Magic: 7.7 (3 base)
Supportive Magic: 7.7 (3 base)
Wands & Staffs: 0
Mystical garments: 0
Spellcasting: 0
Water Magic: 7.7 (3 base)
Racial Skills:
Longbow: 0
Longsword: 1.6 (2 base)
He was bleeding essence too quickly and needed to reduce the essence cost of his spells, so he invested 5 of his skill points in spellcasting, and maximised his most important battle skills: beast bonding, light armour, longsword, fire, air and earth magic. Telekinesis and supportive magic, he retained at their current level.
Your base skill in spellcasting, beast bonding, light armour, longsword, fire, air and earth magic has increased to 5 (the maximum allowable at your current level).
At an effective spellcasting skill level of 12.8, the essence cost of all spells has been reduced by 25.6%.
After his levelling, he called up the mental construct of his profile.
Profile (Condensed)
Name: Kyran Seversan
Race: Elf
Combat Level:5 (24,255/ 30,000)
Civilian Level:2 (2,175 / 4,000)
Health: 50 / 50
Stamina: 320 / 500
Will: 960 / 1020
Essence: 868 / 1200
Attacks
Physical: 1 (slash).
Mental: None.
Spell: 12.8 (fire)
Defences
Physical Defence: 5.1
Psi Defence: 5.0
Spell Defence: 5.0
Combat Skills
Beast Bonding: 12.7 (5 base)
Body Control: 2.0 (1 base)
Light Armour: 6 (5 base)
Psionics: 0
Psi Armour: 0
Telekinesis: 6.1 (3 base)
Telepathy: 0
Will Regen.: 0
Air Magic: 12.8 (5 base)
Earth Magic: 12.8 (5 base)
Essence Regen.: 0
Fire Magic: 12.8 (5 base)
Supportive Magic: 7.6 (3 base)
Wands & Staffs: 0
Mystical garments: 0
Spellcasting: 12.8 (5 base)
Water Magic: 7.7 (3 base)
Longbow (Racial): 0
Longsword (Racial): 4 (5 base)
Civilian Skills
Commander: 0.7 (1 base)
Feudal Lord: 0
Governor: 0
Mage Lord: 2.4 (1 base)
Scrying: 1.4 (2 base)
Travelling: 1.4 (2 base)
Nature Lore (Racial): 2.4 (2 base)
Vassals & Minions
Maximum allowed: 3 (5 base)
Current: None.
Combat Abilities (4 AP available)
Novice:
Beast Bond I, Extend Bond.
Truesight, Fire Dart, Slippery Ice, Grasping Roots.
Base:
Calm beast, Mind over matter, Teleport (self).
Blend, Barkskin, Flaming Hands, Restore Health (Self), Water Armour.
Civilian Abilities
Novice:
Travel (self), Basic Scrying.
Base:
Inspiring, Channel Essence, Show Hostiles (map), Show Portals (map), Show Plants (map).
Equipped Items
Chitin helm (2 base armour)
Rusted longsword (1 base slash damage)
In satisfaction, he reviewed his profile. No longer was he a glass cannon. His health had improved to the extent that he could withstand a few blows. He considered his options. With his improved health, new abilities and most importantly his new pet, he felt up to the challenge of tackling the skeletal warriors. He extended the bond on the shadow spider.
You have cast extend bond on a tamed shadow spider. At an effective skill level of 12.7, your beast bond has been extended by 127 minutes. Remaining beast bond duration: 190 minutes.
Ordering, the spider to follow, he began the long hike back to the citadel.
✽ ✽ ✽
Undead
Levels, skills, abilities, classes items, armour, weapons, resources and various other aspects in the Game are categorised according to rank. In general, ranks are defined as follows:
Level 0 – 19: Novice / Common / Poor
Level 20-39: Apprentice / Uncommon / Basic
Level 40-59: Journeyman / Rare / Advanced
Level 60-79: Adept / Epic / Exquisite
Level 80-99: Master / Legendary / Masterful
Level 100+: Grandmaster / Mythic / Wondrous
A player is restricted to spells, abilities, armour and weapons of the equivalen
t rank. A level 15 player (novice) may only equip common weapons and armour and use novice spells and abilities.
Weapon rank is determined by damage output. A knife that does a maximum of 39 piercing damage is considered of uncommon rank and may only be equipped by players level 20 and above. Note, this allows weapons within a rank to significantly boost the damage output of players within the lower end of the rank. Armour is ranked in a similar manner to weapons.
Rank restrictions do not apply to item accessories (such as rings and jewellery) or quests. Such items may adorn a player of any level. Likewise, a player may complete a quest of any rank – Mechanics of the Game by legendary scholar and champion of Weeran, Jostfyler Graldvir.
Three hours later, Kyran stood silently in the corridor leading to the citadel guardroom, with the shadow spider in close attendance. In the passageway, it loomed large, its bulk occupying nearly the entirety of the passage. The trip back had been uneventful. He had maintained control of the spider without any mishaps.
He peered into the guardroom. All was as expected. Without further ado, he cast his buffs in preparation for the assault.
You have cast barkskin. At an effective skill of 12.8 you have gained +6.4 natural armour. Remaining duration 128 seconds.
You have cast water armour. At an effective skill of 7.7 you have gained +3.7 physical armour and +3.4% water resistance. Remaining duration 77 seconds.
He had spent the long walk back planning this attack and felt confident of his chances for success. He had even expended essence to ensure the spell combinations he prepared would work as expected. He ordered the spider into position and verified the status of his buffs.
Profile (Summary)
Name: Kyran Seversan
Race: Elf
Level: 5 / 2
Health: 50 / 50 (base 50)
Attack (Physical/ Psi/ Spell): 1 / 0 / 12.8 (fire)
Defences (Physical/ Psi/ Spell): 5.5 (base 5.1) / 5 / 5
Shield strength: 0 / 0
Stamina: 140/500
Will: 980/1020
Essence: 924/1200
Active Effects:
Water Armour (+3.7 physical armour), 70 seconds remaining.
Barkskin (+6.4 Natural Armour), 110 seconds remaining.
Blend (invisible), 126 minutes remaining.
Truesight (12.6m), 86 minutes remaining.
With his pre-battle preparations completed, he breathed in deeply to settle his nerves and initiated combat. Channelling his essence outwards he cast grasping roots.
You have cast grasping roots. At an effective skill level of 12.8, a field of radius 12.8m has been placed. Remaining duration: 128 seconds.
Each skeletal warrior has a 36% chance to resist the spell’s effects.
2 of 6 skeletal warriors within area of effect resisted debuff.
4 of 6 skeletal warriors entangled (immobilized).
Within the guardroom gnarled roots magically sprouted from the flagstone floors, seizing onto anything within reach. In seconds the entire room was blanketed with the verdant green of a forest floor. At the appearance of the grasping roots the skeletal warriors sprang to life, searching for the source of the attack.
Spotting him at the entrance the skeletons attempted to charge. Four of the six however were held fast by the grasping roots, having failed to resist its initial effects. The other two managed no more than a few steps in his direction before also succumbing to the effects of the root field. But the roots only immobilised the skeletons’ legs, it left their arms and weapons unimpaired. Trapped, the skeletons unsheathed their axes and began hacking themselves free. To entangle the skeletons further Kyran ordered the shadow spider to shoot its webs. The spider, lying in wait besides the entrance spun its webs with dizzying speed at the hapless skeletons, ensnaring their limbs and fouling their strikes.
Having successfully trapped the skeletons, even if only temporarily so, Kyran cast his fire darts and called down a rain of fire, targeting not the skeletons but the roots instead. He focused his essence on a particle of air, and flooded it with energy until it ignited and with yet more essence, he accelerated the miniature flaming ball towards the roots. In a fury of flame the fire dart struck the grasping roots, rapidly igniting them.
Your fire dart spell has ignited your grasping roots, transforming it into a burning root field.
6 of 6 skeletal warriors are caught in the magical flames, and will sustain 1-3 fire damage/second.
His earlier experiments on the long trek back had revealed the roots to be highly flammable. They caught alight immediately and would continue to burn for as long as the root field lasted. Trapped amidst the burning roots the skeletal warriors burst into flames. This did not distress them in the least. Undaunted, they continued hacking away.
His opening gambit complete, Kyran retreated a few paces back, drew his longsword and set his stance. At the room entrance the spider continued spinning its ensnaring webs, further fuelling the flames and hampering the skeletons’ efforts to free themselves.
The one variable his plan could not account for, was how the skeletons would react once they freed themselves. Would they push forward in attack? Or would they instead flee back into the citadel? If they fled, with the burning field between, Kyran would not be able to stop them. In this event he risked the skeletons summoning forth more undead denizens from the citadel in aid. He would have no choice then but to rapidly retreat back to the mines. It was a calculated risk and one that he hoped did not materialise.
Anxiously, he watched the guardroom entrance, waiting to see how the skeletons reacted. Two of the skeletons eventually disentangled themselves. In relief, Kyran watched, as instead of fleeing, they chose to charge towards the spider and him. The spider ensnared the first the moment it stepped into the corridor, and quickly engaged the other.
Kyran, standing two steps behind the spider, stepped further back and towards his left, flanking the skeletal warrior slightly. For a few seconds he observed the battle.
Your shadow spider hit a skeletal warrior for 1 piercing damage (9 piercing damage resisted). Poison ineffective. Remaining health: 80/120 HP.
A skeletal warrior has hit your shadow spider for 10 slashing damage. Remaining health: 140/150 HP.
Your shadow spider hit a skeletal warrior for 2 piercing damage (7 resisted). Remaining health: 78/120 HP.
A skeletal warrior has hit your shadow spider for 8 slashing damage. Remaining health: 132/150 HP.
The spider’s attacks against the skeleton were ineffectual. The greater part of the damage from its piercing attacks were resisted and its poison was fully ineffective. The skeleton’s attacks on the other hand were carving out large chunks from the spider’s health. Without assistance the spider would be quickly defeated. Having seen enough, Kyran sprang to the spider’s defence and hammered the skeleton with a volley of fire darts.
Your fire dart has hit a skeletal warrior for 15 fire damage (+3 additional damage dealt due to vulnerable to fire trait). Remaining health: 65/120 HP.
Your fire dart has hit a skeletal warrior for 10 fire damage (+2 damage). Remaining health: 55/120 HP.
Your fire dart has hit a skeletal warrior for 14 fire damage (+3 damage). Remaining health: 41/120 HP.
The skeleton ignored the devastating volley and continued its attacks upon the spider. He struck it again. This time it disengaged and charged him. Meanwhile the second skeleton freed itself and also began charging Kyran.
In the face of the onrushing skeletons, Kyran rapidly backpedalled and ordered the spider to intercept the second. He narrowed his focus onto the first. It was only a few steps away. With left arm extended and sword held in guard position, he unleashed another fire dart. The dart rocked the skeleton back slightly, but failed to stop its charge. It reached melee range. The skeleton wound back its arm and launched a huge overhead strike. Kyran dodged to the right and parried the descending axe. However, the blow was too strong. The axe ploughed through his guard, turned only slightly from its p
ath and struck him a glancing blow.
You have been hit by a skeletal warrior for 7 slashing damage. Remaining health: 43/50 HP.
He staggered with the force of the blow and pain erupted as the axe drew a fiery line down his left side. Blinded by the excruciating pain, he momentarily lost track of the battle. He clutched his left side in a futile bid to stem the blood and agony gushing from it and overcome with fear, hobbled backwards frantically. He looked up.
To see the skeleton with its axe readied for a second blow.
In desperation he dived backwards and barely managed to dodge the axe as it whistled by. Relentless, the skeleton followed. He scrambled to his feet in time to meet its next blow. This time he gripped the longsword with both hands as he parried. The blow struck with resounding force but was turned aside. Undaunted, the skeleton pulled back its axe, preparing for the next strike.
Kyran realised that trading blows with the skeleton was a losing proposition. In the panic induced by the wound to his side, he had forgotten to use his greatest weapon. Marshalling his anger, he overcame his fear, and abandoned pointless defence in favour of attack. In the split second before the skeleton completed its next strike, he launched a fire dart squarely into its midriff. The skeleton saw the flaming projectile but at such close range was helpless to avoid it. The fire dart struck and the skeleton staggered back slightly with the impact.
Swiftly, Kyran struck again with another fire dart. Off balance, the skeleton attempted to dodge but failed. It collapsed to its knees. He hit it one last time and it burst apart.
You have killed a level 10 skeletal warrior (4,830 XP gained: 29,085/30,000 combat XP).
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