Having surpassed level 60, you can now choose new Spells. You must choose two of the following:
Muffle – May be cast on self or ally. Dampens sound in a radius around target. Cost – 20 Aura.
Detect Life – Casting this spell allows you to detect the essence of nearby living creatures. Cost – 20 Aura.
Restore Health – May be cast on self or ally. Heals a small amount of damage. Cost – 30 Aura.
Silence – Surround target with an aura that cancels all sounds. Cost – 40 Aura.
Stone Skin – May be cast on self or ally. Hardens skin, increasing effective armor against attack or certain effects. Cost – 30 Aura
Flare – Throw a ball of fire at your enemy, which may set combustible items ablaze. Cost – 40 Aura.
Shard – Hurl Shard(s) of rock against your foes. Cost – 40 Aura.
Summon Creature – Summons a creature to aid you or fight by your side. The type of creature summoned depends on the environment. Modifier – Charisma. Cost – 100 Aura.
Charm – Beguile your target into doing your bidding. The strength of your hold over them will depend on just how powerfully you can dominate their will. Modifier – Charisma. Cost – 200 Aura.
Slumber – Area-of-effect sleep Spell. All enemy creatures caught within the boundaries of this magic who fail a Constitution check will fall into a deep state of unconsciousness. Modifier – Charisma. Cost – 350 Aura.
Fireball – Launch an orb of raw fire energy at your foes, which will explode on contact. The force and magnitude of this blast will vary depending on your proficiency and modifiers. Modifiers – Intelligence and Wisdom. Cost – 300 Aura.
Your choice is final and must be made now. Choose wisely, as you will now only gain a new Spell every 10 levels.
Considering my Quest and exactly where I’d be heading in the somewhat near future made my decision easier. Plus, it seemed like I was gaining fewer and fewer Spells and Abilities to choose from, and the newest ones were almost always better options than anything I’d passed on before, so Fireball and Slumber it was.
That should have been it, but even more came up after I made my choices.
You have reached level 60 and are now counted among the most powerful of adventurers. It is time for you to choose your final path. Will you pursue the powers of Light and devote your efforts to their healing and restorative magics, or the path of Shadow, and focus your might on death and destruction? This is perhaps the most definitive choice you will ever make. Choose wisely.
I would have liked to have been able to say that I pondered my decision for a while, but there was nothing to even consider. I had no real talents in the sphere of Light magic, but my Shadow magic was incredibly strong. I also knew that while Shadow magic tended to appeal to the darker side of people it wasn’t inherently evil, just as the Light was not necessarily good. It was what one actually did with their power that defined them, not the power itself. Or at least I hoped that was true. Either way, I really had only one option, and selected the Shadow magic path.
Your choice has granted you your first Shadow magic Spell, Life Drain.
Awesome, just what I needed—I could practically feel my own internal eyes rolling with sarcasm.
Having reached level 60, you have earned another Sintári Bonus.
The world is a harsh place for a lone Sintári. To aid you in your efforts, you have been granted a bonus to your defenses. Any armor you wear will have an increased effectiveness beyond its normal limits.
I guess that was going to happen every 20 levels too, but I wondered just how much of a difference it would make considering that I already wore God-forged armor. With that final message, the scrolling ended, and I pulled up my sheet.
I hadn’t realized just how limiting the restrictions of Skill Boost were. It made no sense to apply them to anything below 20%; that would be a total waste since I could train my talents up to that level on my own. But with the upper limit of 50%, it was also fairly inefficient to boost anything close to that number either. Considering my path into the Dark Lands helped me focus on what I needed the most, so I put the full 10% into Shockwave. It was by far the most powerful talent I had with my regular arrows, and it had saved many lives during the battle at Ondale and the beastkin attack on the road home. Besides, my proficiencies with almost everything else were either too low or too high for any other choice to make much sense.
With that done, I took a look over my fully updated sheet.
Dreya Dae
Sintári Female
Titles: Sintári, Empress
Level - 64
1883385/18911200
Health - 506/506 Aura - 1364/1364 Endurance - 506/506
Sintári – Sintári interact with their surroundings in unusual ways. The effects of these interactions can be unpredictable
Class – Warden – Wardens gain a 10% bonus to skills associated with nature or which have natural effects
Specialization – Protector
Mastery – Warlock
STR - 61 (+6)
CON - 42 (+4)
DEX - 42 (+4)
INT - 33 (+3)
WIS - 33 (+3)
CHA - 80 (+8)
Abilities
Ignore Armor – Your next arrow will ignore a portion of the target’s armor. Cost – 20 Aura. – 36%
Stun – Your next arrow has a chance to stun its target on hit. Cost – 20 Aura. – 35%
Block – You may attempt to use your bow to parry a single melee attack. Cost – 20 Endurance. – 20%
Swarm – Your next arrow duplicates itself in flight. Cost – 20 Endurance and 20 Aura. – 47%
Flurry – Perform three rapid strikes with a bladed weapon. Cost – 30 Endurance. – 42%
Parry – Chance for your blades to block next melee attack targeted at you. Cost – 20 Endurance. – 43%
Hamstring – The next arrow fired has a chance to cripple your opponent. Cost – 20 Aura. – 32%
Hilt Bash – Stun your opponent with a successful hilt strike from your bladed weapon. Cost – 30 Endurance. – 41%
Blood Price – Your arrow inflicts a damage-over-time bleed effect. Cost – 30 Aura. – 37%
Blind – Your next arrow has a chance to inflict blindness on a successful hit. Cost – 30 Aura. – 37%
Achilles Strike – Cripple your target with a slash of your bladed weapon. Cost – 30 Endurance. – 41%
Penetrator – Advanced Ability – Your arrow pierces through armor easily. With increased proficiency, it may penetrate through even greater barriers. Modifier – Strength. Cost – 60 Aura. – 20%
Disable – Advanced Ability – A successful strike of your blade to an extremity renders the affected limb completely useless until healed. Modifier – Strength. Cost – 60 Endurance. – 41%
Shockwave – Advanced Ability – Your arrow explodes on contact, dealing minimal damage but generating a stunning Shockwave in a radius around its detonation. Size and scope of this effect increase with proficiency. Modifier – Strength. Cost – 120 Aura. – 42%
Combine Abilities – Advanced Ability – You may channel more than one Ability into a single attack. Success depended on your proficiency with each individual Ability. Modifier – intelligence. Cost – 150 Aura. – 1%
Sintári Abilities
Natural Affinity – The Sintári’s unique connection with the natural world may manifest itself in random ways at times. While these effects are generally beneficial they are also typically outside the direct control of the Sintári. Modifier – Charisma.
Control – Effect varies, applies to all Sintári Abilities. – 81%
Shadow Armor – Use your shadows to form a barrier that not only absorbs incoming damage, but also lashes out at any foes within its reach. The power of this armor’s offense and defense depend on how much of your darkness you channel into it. Modifier – Shadow Magic Affinity. Cost N/A. – 12%.
Protector Abilities
See Truth – Twice per day, the spoken words
of your target become visible to you, allowing you to see the truth held within them. Strength and duration of this effect increase with proficiency. Cost – 60 Aura. Modifier – Wisdom. – 44%
Spells
Enhanced Sight – May be cast on self or ally. Improves visual acuity of the recipient in dark or obscured conditions. Cost – 20 Aura. – 52%
Create Trap – Place a magical trap upon an area. Size, type, and trigger of traps is determined by your proficiency. Cost – 40 Aura. – 53%
Elemental Arrow – Your next arrow is imbued with elemental energy and causes additional elemental damage accordingly. Cost – 30 Aura. – 28%
Spike – Launch Ice Spike(s), delivering bonus cold damage on a successful hit. Cost – 40 Aura. – 20%
Bolt – Release a Bolt of pure Lightning at your target(s). Cost – 40 Aura. – 27%
Find Weakness – Highlights vulnerable points on the target. Modifier – Intelligence. Cost – 80 Aura. – 20%
Summon Elemental – Summons an Elemental creature. If you succeed in binding it to your will, the creature will serve you faithfully until the spell’s expiration. Modifier – Charisma. Cost 100 Aura. – 42%
Shield – May be cast on self only. Manifests a forward-facing barrier against incoming projectile attacks. Duration and resistance of the barrier are based on proficiency and modifier value. Modifier – Constitution. Cost – 80 Aura. – 24%
Entangle – Create an area of entangling vines that will hold any foes caught within its radius. Area of effect, the distance you may cast the Spell, and the power of your vines will all vary based on your Abilities and proficiency. Modifiers – Strength and Dexterity. Cost – 150 Aura. – 26%
Compel – Force a sentient creature to answer a single question. If you successfully dominate their will, the target will reply with a truthful answer to one question you ask. Modifier – Charisma. Cost – 80 Aura. – 1%
Slumber – Area-of-effect sleep Spell. All enemy creatures caught within the boundaries of this magic who fail a Constitution check will fall into a deep state of unconsciousness. Modifier – Charisma. Cost – 350 Aura. 1%
Fireball – Launch an orb of raw fire energy at your foes, which will explode on contact. The force and magnitude of this blast will vary depending on your proficiency and modifiers. Modifiers – Intelligence and Wisdom. Cost – 300 Aura. 1%
Shadow Magic – Affinity 17%
Life Drain – Rip the life force from your target and add it to your own. This will either restore your own Health or add a temporary boost to it if it is already full. Modifier – Constitution. Cost – 150 Aura. 1%
Skills
Bow – 68%
Critical Hit – 54%
Blades – 51%
Long Sword – 50%
Short Sword – 53%
Dagger – 60%
Critical Hit – 44%
Two-Handed – 57%
Pole Arms – 14%
Spear – 23%
Armor – 45%
Medium Armor – 47%
Perception – 58%
Environmental – 59%
Identify Enemy – 56%
Identify Person – 54%
Combat Dodge – 26%
Subterfuge – 41%
Stealth – 41%
Find Trap – 20%
Disarm Trap – 20%
Set Trap – 20%
Manipulation – 57%
Persuade – 68%
Barter – 41%
Survival – 24%
Tracking – 27%
Identify Creature (Beasts) – 19%
Skinning – 16%
Field Dress – 15%
Alchemy – 19%
Herbalism – 31%
Potion Craft – 27%
Lore – 8%
Identify Magical Item – 14%
Damn, that was pretty awesome!
Long ago, my rough math told me that at ‘max level’ of 80, each my stats would fall in the mid-50s range, assuming the even distribution that the game, Second Skin, had implied. But that game was no more, and even distribution had gone by the wayside with it, so some of my Attributes were well above that mark already, even though I had over 15 levels left before I’d reach level 80. And the bonus from my Amulet made me even more powerful—only my Wisdom and Intelligence lagged behind, but not by much, and I didn’t seem to be suffering for it.
I’d gone over most of my messages and decisions with Venna but kept the note about my path and everything else regarding Shadow magic to myself. Venna understood who I was well enough, but I wasn’t sure that pushing the issue with her was a good idea. Besides, I was entitled to keep at least a few of my own secrets, right?
Sharing the experience with her seemed to help Venna unwind a little, and she stayed to talk with me for a while afterwards. She let me know that Stel was doing fine, but that the experience of dying and being resurrected had been stressful for him. It wasn’t the first time I’d heard that, so it didn’t surprise me; I told her to let him know that I’d look in on him the next day before she left.
I called Bane to me almost immediately after, and I spent the night huddled against him. I missed Tási being next to me, but Bane provided me with the comfort that I needed to fall asleep—eventually. Even knowing that Tási wasn’t entirely gone didn’t completely fill the hole in my heart, but it helped. And deep down inside, I knew that with Bane and my Tári, I would emerge from the shadows of my grief even stronger than I was before, and that the Dark Lands would feel the fury of my wrath when I did. Every orc, ogre, or other foul creature I came across would be an outlet for my rage until there was no more of it left. Which was just another way of saying forever.
Second Skin
Green Eyes
By: M Damon Baker
Copyright © 2019 by M Damon Baker
All Rights Reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
ISBN: 9781687161086
Interior design and ebooks by Booknook.biz.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Epilogue
Prologue
Deep inside her hidden retreat, the Mistress of Shadows hovered impatiently above the floor of the empty chamber. She did not like having to wait for her minions to report to her, and the indignity of it still galled her, even after having endured it for so many centuries. The limitations she’d had to put upon herself were simply an intolerable affront, one that she’d been forced to accept in order to maintain the secrecy of her continued existence.
The fact that she even had to hide herself from the petty, faithless Gods brought forth a surge of outrage within her whenever she was reminded of it. She would’ve been much more pleased to unmask herself; to finally flaunt her presence to them, but she couldn’t. The worthless Gods were just too powerful for her to resist, and once they discovered her, she knew that they would come to finish the job they’d failed to complete so long ago.
They’d taken everything from her, leaving her with nothing but the comfort of her own darkness and shadows. For centuries, that was all she’d had, and she’d drifted formlessly through the ages, lacking the strength to pull herself together. During that time, she’d come to hate the traitorous Gods who’d banished her to a state of near non-existence. Their selfish greed had nearly destroyed her when they’d stolen so much before discarding what little was left to languish in oblivion. She’d been reduced to m
ere shadows, and the only light left to her was the burning fires of her rage.
But eventually something changed, and the Mistress of Shadows found that she was aware of things beyond herself once more. Although she was still quite weak, she finally had form again, and she immediately began plotting her revenge. But revenge would never be hers without help. The faithless, Essence-stealing God and his wretched spawn had robbed the Mistress of too much of her power for her to be able to accomplish that alone. So, she’d gathered what allies she could and began setting her plans in motion.
Her minions were pitiful creatures at first; the bare remains of all those who’d been driven from the surface of the world by the Gods. Orcs, goblins, ogres, and others as well. These were the ones who’d been cast off by the Gods, just as she’d been—but she’d made do with what she’d had.
The Mistress began slowly at first, building her strength and growing the power of her servants. She raised hordes of followers from those ragged few that first came to her, all the while hiding them deep underground; shielding not only them but also herself from discovery.
But the Mistress was not content to simply wait. While the Gods above her tried to bring peace to their world, she’d used her slowly reemerging powers to sabotage their efforts. She guided her shadows to stoke their petty jealousies and even sent out her minions to destroy their great works, all while making it appear that another of the traitorous Gods had been responsible for the act. Her efforts eventually bore fruit when the Gods finally retreated from the surface of the world, believing that their desire to foster peace was in vain. Then, with the Gods gone, the Mistress began planning the destruction of their world.
It took her a great deal of time, but once she was ready, the Mistress of Shadows sent forth her minions to openly assault the lands above her. Their swarms quickly overwhelmed the peaceful people of the world, and she took great pleasure in seeing the Gods’ creations slaughtered by the thousands—and even greater pleasure in tormenting and defiling them.
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