by Kyle Johnson
Lily swore furiously for several long moments. “You asshole, you think it ends here?” she finally coughed hoarsely. “That bitch was only the first one of your friends to die…” The woman’s words choked off as Saphielle’s spear, gripped tightly in Aranos’ telekinetic Spell, slammed into her throat. She reached up to grab the weapon, but before she could, Geltheriel’s fist smashed into her face, knocking her onto her back. The woman’s sword flashed, severing first one, then the other of Lily’s hands. The Shadedancer stood over the crippled Summoner, placing her foot on the fallen woman’s chest and grasping Saphielle’s spear. With a quick yank, Geltheriel tore the blade free in a shower of black blood and rested her shadowy blade against the Summoner’s neck.
“Before you start going off making threats, Lily, let me tell you something,” Aranos spoke, walking to stand over the woman, his voice simmering with barely controlled rage. “I lost someone today, and in turn I destroyed a creature that had felled entire armies, one that mastered you with nothing more than a glance. You come after my friends, and I won’t do that to you.” He leaned closer to her. “I’ll wrap you up in auril chains that will steal your magic and toss your ass down the darkest hole I can find, then fill that hole in. You get to be an immortal undead, now; you want to spend eternity buried under tons of stone, trapped in the darkness without magic, forever? Because I can do that.”
He leaned back, the fire leaving his voice. “Or you go your way and let me go mine. We’ll cross paths again, and when we do, it won’t be friendly. That’s fine. But don’t try to get to me through my party. Because lady? You mess with one of us…” He glanced at Geltheriel, who nodded.
“Then you deal with all of us,” the woman said icily. “Farewell, Traveler.” Her blade slashed, just once, and Lily’s head rolled free of her body. The woman’s form shimmered and faded a moment later as she was sent to respawn.
“Think she’ll be back?” Phil asked quietly.
Aranos started to shake his head but stopped and twisted his lips in a grimace. “Yeah,” he admitted. “Not here, though. She won’t respawn in the city, and despite her bravado, with the Tree-heart healed, she’s going to be badly crippled inside the walls. She’ll probably go refill some of her summons, though, and wait for you guys on the High Road toward Stoneleague. She meant it when she said she was going to try to hurt me through you.” Tears welled from his eyes at his words, and he turned away from the Spellsword – Paladin, he silently corrected.
As he did, Geltheriel was standing before him, her arms wrapping around him firmly. Aranos stiffened for a moment, but a wave of sorrow overwhelmed him. He buried his face in Geltheriel’s shoulder, clutching her fiercely.
Uncaring of the others or their stares, Aranos, Lord Sorcerer of Antas, wept unashamedly, knowing that his dearest friend wept alongside him.
Chapter 21
Aranos sat in a room high in the Treehome, staring out the window at the restored city below him. He’d spent the last few hours meditating, allowing his heavily damaged Stats to slowly refill, and thinking about everything that had happened – while trying not to think about some of it.
He’d been a bit embarrassed when he’d realized that he was hugging Geltheriel in nothing but his underwear, but the Shadedancer hadn’t seemed to mind. He wasn’t sure – using his ring as he had drained it of power and severed the link between them – but at that moment, he hadn’t really cared.
Fortunately, Aranos never cleaned out his Storage Bag and still had the old, green tunic and brown trousers he’d spawned into the game wearing. They were torn, battered, worn, and a bit stained, but they were certainly better than nothing. He’d make something better with the hides he still had and his Leatherworking Skill later.
Once Aranos was decent, he’d checked with the party to see how they’d handled the battle in the throne room. He’d had some questions for Phil about gaining the Paladin Advanced Class, and his friend had been happy to explain. “I think it was the tests. The texts say that a Paladin had to pass tests of bravery, faith, and purity of heart, right?
“Well, I think I passed the test of bravery when Zoridos tried to panic us with a Spell, and I fought it off and rallied everyone. I passed a test of faith when we were heading to the Treehome; I was doubting what we were doing, and I decided to put my faith in you and your judgment – and in the party to handle whatever came. Finally, when I spared Rhys’ life, I showed purity of heart by granting him mercy.”
“Don’t Paladins have to be sworn to a God or something, though?” Aranos had asked dubiously.
“That’s just one way to do it. Divine casters can also draw power from an ideal, and that’s what I’m doing.”
“Okay, so what ideal?”
“Duty,” Phil had said solemnly. “I promised you that we’d hold for you, and I saw it through. We held.”
“That you did,” Aranos smiled, happy for his friend despite his deeper sorrow. Phil had wanted to be a Paladin since entering the game, and it was awesome that it finally happened for him. In a way, it’s probably better that it happened like this, Aranos realized. It was something he earned, not something he was given by anyone else, and he’ll value it a lot more because of that.
Aranos still wasn’t sure what he was going to do about Rhys. He’d heard all about the Druid’s betrayal, and while he didn’t doubt the reality of what happened, he didn’t think that was the whole story. Rhys had been behaving strangely for a while, and before he’d unlocked mind mana, Aranos might have written the Druid off as a simple traitor. However, the idea that the elf might be under someone else’s control was something Aranos simply couldn’t ignore.
Still, he didn’t want to delve into that until his Stats were fully restored, which wouldn’t be for another couple of hours.
He and Geltheriel had been content to quietly comfort one another. She’d known Saphielle for far longer than he had, and while the two had grown apart over the years, they’d managed to reconnect in his party. Aranos had lost a lover, but Geltheriel had lost a lifelong friend.
Silma eschewed going off scouting to remain near him, which he truly appreciated. The wolf understood him in a way that no one else in the game really did, especially as the bond between them continued to deepen. Having her around was comforting, and Aranos could use all the comfort he could get.
Defeating Zoridos and freeing the city had been a massive XP windfall for the party, even Meridian, despite the 10% XP hit she’d taken from dying. The woman had returned understandably pissed, but the notifications about the results of their efforts had calmed her down a bit:
Hidden Quest Completed: To All Things, An Ending
Objective: Free the Fallen Realm of Antas
Difficulty: S
Reward: 12,500 XP, Title, Title Upgrade, +250 Global Reputation, +500 Reputation with Lands of Light
Optional Objective: Free the souls trapped in the Tree-heart
Reward: Stat Bonus, Skill Bonus, Perk
World’s First!
Your party is the first to defeat a Raid-level Boss! As a reward, you each receive the Title “Slayer of Titans”!
Title Earned: Slayer of Titans
Benefits: You gain a 15% damage bonus when fighting enemies more than 10 levels higher than you. You take 15% less damage when fighting enemies more than 10 levels higher than you. Global Reputation bonuses are increased by 25%.
Aranos’ “The Liberator” Title had been upgraded to “Grand Liberator”, giving him a 75% bonus or penalty to his interactions, depending on the Light/Dark alignment of those he interacted with. The party members had each gotten the Title “Liberator of Antas”, which gave them each a 25% bonus to Charisma-based interactions with Lightborn creatures and a 25% penalty to interactions with Shadowborn. Phil had also snagged the Title “High Paladin”, which boosted his Paladin Abilities by 10%.
McBane, Longfellow, and Martina had each taken their Advanced Classes and finally gotten their saved levels. McBane had gotten a Class called
Giantbane thanks to his new Slayer of Titans Title, and Martina had taken a Class called Duskstalker her Liberator of Antas Title opened up that gave her big benefits to Stealth, Tracking, and combat. Both were Rare Classes, which made McBane happy. Longfellow, on the other hand, grabbed an Exotic Class called Deadshot that gave him really big bonuses to his Archery Skills, along with access to simple Spells that improved his Archery even more. Meridian and Hector were still holding off until Aranos had a chance to meet with them; since logout was tomorrow, Aranos promised them he’d help them out first thing when they came back into the game.
Aranos wasn’t sure if Rhys got any XP or a Title, actually. Until he figured out what was going on with the Druid, he honestly didn’t know if he cared.
The Sorcerer also had a slew of notifications that were just for him, most of which were combat logs that he barely even glanced at. A few of them were important, though, and those he read carefully:
Evolved Aspect Discovered!
Aspect: Warding
Warding mana is a mixture of spirit and void mana. It is deadly to spirit-based creatures and can be used to keep such creatures out of an area or return them to their own realm.
Associated Stat: Per
Requirements: Spirit mana unlocked, void mana unlocked, Per 75+ (50+), Mana Manipulation Expert+.
Using Warding Mana: Warding mana is typically used in two ways: to guard an area against intrusion by creatures from other realms, or to banish those creatures from Ka. Warding mana, like spirit mana, is chaotic and difficult to control. Because of this, it is often placed within specially prepared metals, minerals, or crystals to generate its effect.
Damage: You can only use Warding SP equal to double your Per Stat per hour without harm. Exceeding this limit drains your Per: you lose 1 point of Per for every 1% of your max SP of additional warding mana you use. This damage heals at a rate of 10% per hour of rest or meditation. Warding mana requires the use of the energy of the void and thus does 1 LP damage per 2 SP of mana used. This damage is negated if the caster’s Mana Control Skill is at the Master rank or higher.
Warding and Spirit Mana: Warding mana is the antithesis of spirit mana and will nullify 1 SP of spirit mana per SP of warding mana applied to any spirit-based Spell or construct.
Barriers of Warding Mana: Creatures from realms beyond Ka have difficulty crossing a barrier of warding mana. A creature attempting this must make an Opposed Check: the creature’s [Cha + Class level] versus the caster’s [Int + Mana Manipulation Skill + Spell level]. If the Check is failed, the creature cannot cross the barrier unless either its Charisma or Class level increase, allowing it to try again. If the Check is failed and is less than or equal to 50% of what would have been required to succeed, the creature is banished to its own realm.
+450 XP
Ascended Spell Created: Fire of the Martyr
Rank: Novice 1
Cannibalize your body to massively overpower any, single Spell
Effect: When you cast this Spell, you convert your vital essence into Enhanced SP. Your current SP is boosted by 25% and further increased by 10 points for every Stat point you have (in every Stat), plus 2 points per point of LP and Stamina you have. This SP is then channeled into a Spell you are currently casting, or the next Spell cast within 5 seconds if no Spell is currently being cast. The boosted Spell receives a 100% boost to its Spell Power for every multiple of the base SP added. Thus, if a Spell’s normal SP cost is 150 and you add 1500 SP to it, it would be boosted by [100 x (1500/150)] = 1000%. If no Spell is cast within 5 seconds, the boost is wasted but you still pay the cost for the spell.
Cost: 95% of all Stats, SP, LP, and Stamina. SP, LP, and Stamina regenerate at half normal speed. Lost Stats heal 10% per hour of rest.
Special: This Spell can only be cast when the caster doesn’t expect to survive the current encounter and must be cast for someone else’s benefit. The overwhelming energies of this Spell will destroy any worn Enchanted or Runecrafted items on the caster.
+500 XP
Everything I do, it’s all for you…
New Titles Earned!
Title: Undead Bane
Benefit: You have slain more than a thousand undead in a single encounter. Your base Reputation with all undead is now Hated. If you have had prior encounters with an undead creature that gained you a Reputation with it, that Reputation drops by 5000. Any undead viewing you must make an Opposed Check: the undead’s [Wis + Class level] versus your [Cha + Class level]. Failure means the undead takes a 15% penalty to all hostile actions against you or your allies for the duration of that encounter.
Title: Heart-bonded
Benefit: You have bonded to a city’s Tree-heart. This grants you the inherent Abilities of that city’s Heart and allows you to add effects to the Tree-heart’s area of effect. At need, you may draw on the Tree-heart’s energy to heal LP or in lieu of SP or Stamina.
Heart-Bonded
You have bonded a city’s Heart and have linked yourself inexorably to this city. As the Bonded Ruler of this city, you gain benefits according to the nature of its Heart:
Heart of Antas
Heart Type: Scholarly
Bond Rank: 1
Active Radius: City walls
Inherent Heart Ability: 10% bonus to all Skill training within the active radius. 20% bonus to all Lore training within the active radius.
Defensive Benefits: 50% resistance to Dark-based Spells, Abilities, or attacks.
Current Energy Stores: 5,000/5,000 (+10 /day)
Current Draws: None
As the Bonded for this Heart, you can add additional effects to the Active Radius or remove non-inherent effects. Doing so requires an expenditure of energy from the Heart’s Stores and may alter the amount of power the Heart regains daily.
You also personally benefit from all of the Heart’s benefits, whether you are in the active radius or not. If you leave this radius, though, all benefits are halved.
Skill Boost: Soulmending (Redeemed, T) has gained a level!
New Rank: Adept 6
Adept Level Ability: You can mend multiple souls at once, so long as you have the SP and LP to do so.
New Perk Gained: Selfless Soulmender
Benefit: You gain a 1% cumulative bonus to all Skills and non-damaging Spells for one hour after mending a soul.
You have slain Zoridos, King of Antas! 7,989 XP Gained (63,912 split among party members)
Your Companion has gained a level!
Current Level: 17
Per +6, Agil +6, Other Stats +4, +10 Stat points to assign
Your Companion’s End Stat has exceeded 50!
End: 53
Benefit: Gain 25% more LP per level (rounded down), LP regen increased by 25%.
Your Companion Bond has Deepened!
Effect: You can use your Companion’s senses as your own. Doing so requires you to remain still and concentrate but lets you sense everything your Companion does, just as if you were experiencing it yourself. You and your Companion now automatically sense all strong emotions in each other.
Congratulations: You Have Leveled Up!
Sorcerer Ascendant Level: 9
Current XP: 168003/171000
Int +5, Wis +5, Cha +5, +5 Stat points
Sorcerer Level: 15
Current XP: 106502/120000
Int +3, Wis +3, Cha +3, +3 Stat points
I am without peer! Without sane peer, anyway…
Apparently, the combination of mana he’d used to kill the necrotic spirit had been a new aspect. Aranos was now convinced that life and void energy would meld with every Enhanced mana type; playing with that was definitely one more thing on his list. It seemed like an aspect that had very narrow utility, but Aranos imagined there was more that could be done with it than what the description said. It could probably be used to counter certain divine Abilities or Spells, for example, or even to ward out magical effects that had some sort of spirit aspect to them.
His newly crafted Spell was
massively powerful – probably the single most potent Spell in his inventory, all things considered, because it could turn even the simplest of Spells into an overwhelming attack. He roughly calculated that he could do something like 10,000 LP damage with a single Kinetic Bullet empowered by the Spell, for example, or create a Fire and Ice Spell that did a couple thousand LP damage per second. The limitations were equally stringent, though; he could cast it, but it would leave him all but helpless afterward, and he basically had to do it as a last resort to save someone else’s life. He wouldn’t be casting it often, for certain, and if he did have to cast it again, he’d take his Enchanted items off, first.
Now, he had to start all over again crafting things for himself, which in and of itself wasn’t that bad of a thing. Most of his Enchanted gear had been created earlier on, when he was much worse at Enchanting. This would give him a chance to create a suite of complementary items using his new Metallurgy, Faysmithing, and better Runecrafting techniques. He also had the book on High Enchanting from the Library he wanted to read more; that book hinted at ways he could more subtly weave his Enchantments similar to how he had started crafting his Runes.
For his new levels, he dropped all his points into his Charisma, which he decided was probably the smartest path from here forward. After all, thanks to his racial Ability, he could shift his Cha Stat around to boost any of his Stats, something he honestly hadn’t used effectively to this point. While his effective Charisma did give benefits to the party through his Leadership and Battlesense Skills, temporarily boosting his Int before casting a Spell or his Dex before a ranged attack would be useful. It was something he’d need to practice so he could do it effectively in combat.
