by Aleron Kong
This was awesome! If he was reading the prompt right, then his enhanced subskill let him pour mana into his shots faster. More than that, Enhanced Imbue Arrow doubled the damage for the mana invested! Basically, meidon sprites could hit twice as hard and twice as fast as they could before the bonding. The sprites believed that pixies possessed the other half of their destiny. If that destiny was opening a can of whoop ass, then Richter definitely agreed! To make it even better, every level he gained in the subskill increased the mana flow by ten percent rather than five now! There were even more changes waiting on successive prompts.
4) Your connection with your Psi Dragonling allows you to invest extra Psychic damage into imbued shots. Deepening your connection with your familiar will increase this damage.
5) The stability of your imbued field has greatly increased. You will be able to imbue a great deal more mana into your arrows before risking instability.
Know This! Your familiar’s advanced level has increased the potency of your Psychic attack. The following effects will now be added to your imbued shots:
Psi Damage: Net Strength of Imbued shots increased by 1% per familiar level. Total increase: +35%.
Level 1 familiar: Chance to cause Mind Fog. Requires 25 mana invested.
Level 5 familiar: Increased chance to cause Mind Fog. Requires 50 mana invested.
Level 10 familiar: Greatly increased chance to cause Mind Fog. Requires 75 mana invested. Psychic attack now has AoE of 3 feet. AoE independent of mana invested.
Level 15 familiar: Up to 100% chance to cause Mind Fog and chance to cause Stun. Requires 100 mana invested.
Level 20 familiar: Up to 100% chance to cause Mind Fog and increased chance to cause Stun. Requires 125 mana invested.
Level 25 familiar: Up to 100% chance to cause Mind Fog and greatly increased chance to cause Stun. Requires 150 mana invested. Psychic attack now has AoE of 6 feet. AoE independent of mana invested.
Level 30 familiar: Up to 100% chance to cause Mind Fog and Stun. Chance to cause Psi Crystallization. Requires 175 mana invested.
Richter read through the prompts, his heart beating faster in excitement as he devoured the words. There were more to read, but he needed to understand what these first ones meant first. The initial message was clear enough. His shots would be stronger! With a 35% bonus to damage he would be bringing the pain with every imbued arrow he fired. Some of the extra effects he didn’t understand though. His eyes lingered on “Mind Fog” and more information appeared.
Mind Fog: Your target becomes disorientated and cannot focus on the task at hand. The target will randomly act. Actions include but are not limited to attacking you, attacking others around the him, fleeing, or simply do nothing.
Well that’s clear enough, Richter though. Not too different from a standard Confusion spell that was in every RPG since the beginning of time. It was a staple of gaming and, in his opinion, had always been underrated. Turning an enemy’s strength against them was a good way to win a war. It wasn’t as good as mind control, but it looked like his psychic attacks had an AoE now. If he hit a cluster of enemies, it was a good bet at least one or two would start attacking the others. Besides, he thought with a smile, I’m a lucky sonofabitch!
Richter’s eyes moved to “Stun.”
Stun: Target is rendered senseless. In effect, he is stunned.
Well, ask a stupid question, Richter thought. The real question he had was about the last effect. His eyes widened as he read the description.
Psi Crystallization: A successful attack using this ability will concentrate the psychic energy in the target and crystalize it as a floating gem for a short time. This gem is insubstantial and cannot be affected except by psychic energy or strong magic. It will make the target more susceptible to psychic attacks. If the target dies while the gem is present, it will crystalize and can be claimed as loot. These crystals can have… interesting effects if used by psychic creatures.
Interesting effects? Gahhhh. Why couldn’t it be more clear? More importantly, why couldn’t he have one now? Whatever. He wanted one!
There was one more prompt waiting for him to examine.
Know This! Your connection with your familiar has deepened through investing in Psi Bond. By giving your familiar the ability to better know herself, you have, in turn, increased your own power. Never forget, the only thing that makes the journey worthwhile is each other. All psychic effects from Imbue Arrow are increased in likelihood and power by the depth of your Psi Bond as well as her level. Factoring in your familiar’s Psi Bond level 5 and personal level of 35, add 17.5% to the chances of Mind Fog, Stun or Psi Crystallization occurring when you use Enhanced Imbue Arrow.
And the hits just keep coming, Richter thought with jubilation. He let Alma know about everything that had just happened and she agreed with him. She wanted a psi crystal immediately. The fact that the higher-level effects were dependent on how much mana he invested meant the skill was limited somewhat, but again, the new AoE should make up for it. He did some quick calculations.
At subskill level one, his Enhance Imbued Arrow subskill allowed him to invest twenty points of mana per second. Every level that he had gained now apparently let him imbue the arrow 10% faster. Since he was at level seventeen, he should be able to place more than fifty mana into his shots per second! The sprites had always been powerful allies, but Enhanced Imbue Arrow made the meidon sprites a force of to be reckoned with! It also meant they would burn through mana faster than penicillin during frat week. Richter sighed, there were always checks and balances
He was about to walk away when he considered one more thing. A quick casting later, he had summoned a mist worker. Richter sent it to stand by the cliff face. With a short, “Sorry, bud,” he drew a specific arrow from his quiver and began to imbue it. A gold aura surrounded both the shaft and the enchanted arrowhead.
“What are you doing?” Sion shouted in alarm. The first thing all sprites learned was not to imbue already enchanted arrows. The results could be explosive.
Richter ignored him. Faster than ever before, black swirls began to flow over the golden aura. Two seconds later, the swirls moved so fast that they stabilized into a barbershop pole appearance. Meanwhile, the fine white and blue line of energy began to crackle around the imbued arrow faster and faster, a mini-lightning storm around his weapon. He continued to pour mana into his arrow and a smile made its way onto his face. There was no instability.
Sion had backed away, but seeing Richter in complete control, he just watched with a shocked expression on his face. Fifty, one hundred, one hundred fifty… the chaos seed kept pouring mana into his arrow. He didn’t start feeling the instability until he had invested five hundred mana into the shot! The aura around his arrow had transitioned to a state he had never seen before. The two colors had split completely like oil and water, each occupying a longitudinal half of the aura. The intensities of both ebbed and flowed as if they battled one another. Holding that much power in his hands sent a giddy feeling of jubilation through him. Nearly emptying his mana pool also made him feel as if he was going to faint. Before he completely lost control, he released.
A moment later, Richter was glad the mist worker was twenty yards away.
The explosive boom when the arrow impacted was like the loudest crack of thunder he had ever heard. The mist worker’s body shot backward, slamming against the white stone of the cliffs. The white and blue lightning extended out for five feet in all directions. Mist poured out of a large hole in the worker’s body and it crumpled to the ground.
Despite it just being an automaton, Richter dismissed it. Seeing his creation so damaged touched a chord. Once it’s body disappeared though, all he felt was excitement. A cry of worry rose from the from villagers that were only two hundred yards away. Sion stood by with his mouth open. Richter grinned sheepishly as his astonished friend and checked his combat log which was the whole reason the mist worker had had to be sacrificed.
Mist Worker suffers fro
m Mind Fog.
Mist Worker is Stunned.
Mist Worker cannot be Psi Crystallized as it is a friendly summoned creature.
Mist Worker hit by Richter for varied damage. Damage Type(s): 32 Physical + 132 Magic (Force) + 5 Water Magic. Physical damage reduced by Physical Resistance (50%) to 16. Total Damage: 153.
“Oh yeah,” Richter breathed out softly. “Daddy likes.”
The damage his enhanced subskill could do was awesome. Of late, he had preferred close quarters combat which let him use his elementum blades. The stopping power of his short swords just couldn’t be denied. With this new improvement to his ranged abilities though, he might need to rethink his approach in future battles.
Richter walked over to the spot where the mist worker had been, hoping to retrieve his arrow, but it had been destroyed. He shrugged, knowing it had been a long shot. There was only a 20% chance of retrieving special arrows at his current rank of initiate in Archery, and that was in the best of cases. The explosive power of his imbued shots would most likely always destroy any missile. Besides, that wasn’t the point. His new subskill let him combine imbued shots with enchanted arrows!
Sion was still watching him with wide eyes. “How did you know that would work? All that mana could have backfired into your face.”
“That’s true,” Richter admitted, “but we need every edge we can get for this fight that’s coming. Besides, that was just step one.”
“Step one,” Sion asked confused. “What is step two?”
“Wellll,” Richter said pulling another enchanted arrow out of his quiver and offering it to Sion. “Depending on how you look at it, step two is actually the easy part.”
The sprite took the arrow with a curse and seriously considered using it on his friend.
CHAPTER 17 – Day 141 – Kuborn 31, 15,386 EBG
Ultimately, Sion agreed to try. Richter initially tried to convince him by appealing to his honor and duty. “Do you really want the meidon sprites to have to fight hundreds of goblins without the best weapons they could have? We have to be sure that it’s not a fluke.” When that didn’t work, he went with the tried and true. “Don’t be such a pussy!”
Though scientists have never been able to properly explain why it worked, the ‘Don’t be a pussy’ had always been logic’s trump card. It had never let Richter down before and it didn’t this time either.
Snarling, Sion took the ice arrow and imbued it with his entire mana pool. It streaked like a blue comet towards the cliff face and detonated with an ear-ringing BOOM. A smear of ice was left on the cliff face, but more importantly, it didn’t blow up in the sprite’s face. The meidon had been sure Richter was finally going to be the death of him. After it turned out well though, he threw a fist into the air and gave a loud, “Wooohooo!”
Richter laughed and clapped his friend on the back. He told Sion to let the other meidon sprites know about this potential game changer, then the chaos seed looked around. Evening was approaching and dusk was soon to follow. It would be time to leave soon. Terrod and Caulder should be getting his fighters together even now. The rest of the villagers were now making their way up to the meadow to shelter for the night.
He was about to head back down to the Forge to enchant more arrowheads for the sprites when Hisako stopped.
“Are you ready for what is about to come?” she asked. The question wasn’t a challenge. It also wasn’t meant to pump him up, like teammates did before a big game. The Hearth Mother asked it quietly, as an invitation to listen. She understood the pressure of leadership. Hisako knew what it meant to send warriors to die. The Hearth Mother knew what thoughts were roiling beneath his surface.
Richter looked back at her, his jubilation from his new subskill fading. He understood what she was talking about without further clarification and he appreciated what she was doing. She was right. He realized that one of the reasons he had been going nonstop since waking up was so that he wouldn’t think about exactly what she was now bringing to his mind. The truth was, not all of his people would be coming back. Risking his own life was easy, but there would be widows and orphans after today, and all because he decided to involve them in affairs beyond the borders of his domain. Did he really have the right to send his people to war? Should he just keep his people safe within the enchanted mists?
Hisako didn’t interrupt him as he thought it through. She could tell by looking at his face that her question had had the desired effect. Richter was finally facing the reality of the upcoming battle. It was no small skirmish. It was the entrance of his village into a war. Far better that he face the choice now, and go into battle fully committed… or not at all.
Richter’s mind was racing, so he did what he always did when faced with stressful times. He breathed. Closing his eyes, he regulated his breath, and by extension, his heartbeat. He breathed in, letting his lungs fill with air, stretching his chest to smooth out knotted muscles. He breathed out, envisioning the breath carrying away toxic thoughts. Inhale, exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Seven times he controlled his air and committed to this singular moment in time. With the seventh exhale, the emotions that had been flooding up from where he had pushed them down settled. The answer became clear.
He had not founded the village to hide away from the world. The Mist Village would be a force for good in The Land. Richter could not in good conscience leave innocent people to be sacrificed if he could do something about it. He could also admit that his motivations were not purely altruistic. The goblins had already shown that they could penetrate his defenses. So far only in low numbers and slowly, but what if they had more power? What if this Bloodstone could be used for exactly that purpose? What if a thousand green-skinned warriors showed up outside of his village gates? He shook his head. It could not be allowed. History had shown again and again that ignoring evil because it did not affect you was a short-sighted and often deadly mistake.
One of the most powerful memories Richter had was his father taking him to the Holocaust Museum as a child. The stories and images had been terrible for him at the young age of eight. Still, his father hadn’t hidden any of the truth. They had walked through the museum, seen the pictures and listened to the tales of horror.
His father hadn’t stressed the suffering of those who had passed, though the man had held him as he cried. His dad hadn’t stressed the evil men were capable of, though he had stood by him as his son was horrified. What Richter remembered more than anything else was his father reading a quote. It was written outside of the museum on a memorial, words immortalized on a block of grey stone.
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out –
because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out –
because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out --
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.
Richter remembered standing there with his father as people walked by. His fingers had been so small inside of his father’s large, warm hand. Though more than a decade had passed, he still remembered the simple message that had been conveyed when his father finally spoke. Gentle, yet stern, apologetic, but someone how still commanding, his father had said, “Be better than the men that came before you.”
That charge had become a cornerstone of Richter’s personality. That was why he had fought bullies even if he was outnumbered. That was why he did charity work without ever telling anyone about it. It was why he believed the world could become a better place, not because of luck, but because of his own actions. It was important to do the right thing, and not for a reward, but because it was the right thing.
It was also important to realize that, sometimes, there was a cost. His jaw firmed. If the price to save his village and the majority of his people was blood, then it was a price he would pay. His lips fixed themselves into a snarl though
, and he promised himself that the lion’s share of that particular bill would be paid by his enemies.
Hisako saw the fierceness of Richter’s visage and the steel in his gaze. She nodded firmly and said, “Very well. There are things you need to learn.”
CHAPTER 18 – Day 141 – Kuborn 31, 15,386 EBG
“Kneel down,” she told him. When he looked at her in question, she sighed loudly and said, “I cannot very well reach all the way to the top of your abnormally high head can I? Do you want to learn these spells or not? Why the gods felt the need to stretch people so tall when four feet is the perfect height, I will never know.”
Richter chuckled. He was thankful that she had dispelled the serious air. The chaos seed felt his neck loosen somewhat and the righteous anger that had been flaring inside of him eased itself to a low simmer. It was not gone, merely banked, ready to roar to life again when he needed it in battle. As he knelt down, some excitement found its way onto his face. He was going to learn new spells!
“Let us see how you have progressed,” Hisako said. She muttered a word of Power and a nimbus of gold light surrounded her right hand. She extended her hand until the light fell upon Richter. “Hmmm, you have advanced well, Lord Richter. You have reached the initiate rank in both Life and Earth magic. Still only level seven in Light magic, but impressive nonetheless.” She paused a moment, then added distastefully, “And I see that you have become a practitioner of Death magic.”
Richter coughed, “Ah, well yes. Uhhh…” Not having a good save, and doubting that his argument about how Death magic wasn’t all bad would work on a Life Master, he changed tacks. “I am glad you noticed how well I am progressing in Life and Earth. That is what happens when you have a high affinity and battle daily for months, I guess.” He plastered a fake smile on his face.
She fixed him with that same considering gaze that she had had the night before when they spoke about the Bloodstone. Richter thought she might start the conversation back up, especially in light of her clear distaste for Death magic, but she just shook her head and raised her glowing hand again. She began muttering to herself as she read off his spells, “Weak Slow Heal, Weak Life Aura, Weak Barkskin… You certainly have been able to able to gather a good range of spells, but they are all of the weak rank.” She smiled at Richter, “I could easily change that.”
