Legacy of the Fallen
Page 79
Ley Line Sealed: 1/1
Reward:
Experience Points: 40,000
Renown: 5000
I definitely didn’t imagine that part of yesterday! I thought to myself with a smile as I finished reading the completed quest update, going on to remember that I had also hit level twenty, thanks to the quest’s reward for completing it. Oh, that’s right! I also managed to finish that Class Challenge thing, though mostly out of luck than anything else!
Dismissing the quest update, I then brought up the corresponding notification in my vision, vaguely remembering what it had said when I read it last night.
Congratulations! By successfully casting the [Ritual of Ætherbinding] you have performed an Act of Magic and have completed your first Class Challenge!
Perform an Act of Magic: 1/1
Reward: +10 to Intelligence
“I might not have chosen that one if I had a chance to do it all again, but I guess I can’t complain though,” I said to myself as I once again cleared my vision and dismissed the notification, leaving only a single one remaining. A big boost to Intelligence now means I can focus on my other attributes for the next few levels. Plus, I’m sure the extra mana won’t hurt.
Giving myself the mental equivalent of a shrug, I then brought up the last notification, remembering that on top of everything else that I’d gained, I’d also managed to get another Class Skill Point with a new batch of skills to choose from.
And they aren’t any easier this time around either, I grumbled mentally to myself as I watched the somewhat familiar text appear in my vision, followed by a list of new skills available for purchase.
You currently have 1 unspent Class Skill Point.
Please select an ability from the following list to learn:
Spells:
Alacrity
Type: Spell, Class Skill
Duration: Maintained
Arcane Tree: Alteration
Spell Mastery: Alteration - Level 20
Mana Cost: 10 per second.
Description: By channeling a steady stream of magic into your body, your movement speed and reactions are greatly increased.
Effect: While active, this spell grants you a 10% boost to both movement speed and attack speed.
Concussive Blast
Type: Spell, Class Skill
Duration: Instant
Range: 20 feet
Arcane Tree: Evocation
Spell Mastery: Evocation - Level 20
Mana Cost: 160
Description: You unleash a targeted burst of magic at a nearby target, causing a wave of magical force to flare into existence.
Effect: When cast, this spell inflicts 30-60 points of Arcane Damage to your target and temporarily staggers them, possibly knocking them off their feet.
Frigid Grasp
Type: Spell, Class Skill
Duration: Instant
Arcane Tree: Evocation
Spell Mastery: Evocation - Level 20
Mana Cost: 170
Description: Summoning an intense magical frost in your hand, you send a freezing burst of cold through the first thing you touch.
Effect: You freeze the next thing you touch for 45-80 points of Cold Damage. Should this spell be used on a living creature, it will also temporarily slow its attack rate and movements for 5 seconds. This spell can also be used to freeze objects and liquids for a short period of time.
Martial Arts:
Sword Mastery I
Type: Martial Art, Passive
Skill Requirement: Swords Level 20
Description: Taking the first step along the path to mastering the blade, your attacks while wielding a sword have become all the much more deadly.
Effect: All damage inflicted with swords is increased by 5%.
Adrenaline Rush
Type: Martial Art, General Skill
Skill Requirement: Any Weapon Skill Level 20
Stamina Cost: 300
Description: With a massive burst of adrenaline surging through your system, you unleash a wild flurry of blows putting extra strength and ferocity behind them.
Effect: For the next 10 seconds all attacks by you deal weapon damage+20%. Due to the toll that this ability takes on your body, it can only be used once every hour.
Cold Blooded
Type: Martial Art, General Skill
Skill Requirement: Stealth Level 20
Stamina Cost: 250
Description: Purging yourself of all remorse or hesitation, you prepare yourself to unleash a brutal and savage blow at a nearby target.
Effect: For the next 15 seconds any attack dealt to an unaware target as part of your opening attack out of stealth is increased by 50%. Due to the toll that this ability takes on your body, it can only be used once every hour.
I think I’m going to need to take a few days to think about this one, I thought as I read over all my skill options. If I had the chance, I’d take each and every single one of them, but unfortunately, that was outside the realm of possibility. Maybe I can talk with the others and see what—
“Mmm,” a feminine voice suddenly groaned from beside me, followed by a gentle shuffling. “You awake?”
“I am,” I replied with a smile crossing my face as I dismissed the Class Skill menu and looked down towards the body pressed up beside me, seeing myself looking into Freya’s half-opened eyes. “Good morning.”
“I’ll say,” the woman said with a matching smile as she drew herself even closer towards me. “This was the first night in a long time that I’ve been able to sleep without needing to worry about a disaster waking me up.”
“I know how you feel,” I agreed. “You know, when I first woke up, I almost didn’t believe that yesterday happened. With everything that went on…and how fast it all happened…”
I let the words drift off and then shook my head.
“It ended up being really close at the end, didn’t it?” Freya asked, placing her hand on my chest.
“More like every step along the way,” I replied, reaching up to put my hand on top of Freya’s. “I can count half a dozen times where if things had gone differently…we wouldn’t be here right now.”
“But we are,” the blonde-haired woman replied. “And really, that’s all that matters right now. We don’t need to keep scrambling anymore, and we can finally take some time to breathe.”
“Yeah,” I said. “At least for a little while…”
“Until we go looking for Carver,” Freya finished, her voice hardening. “This time he won’t have someone feeding him information on the sly.”
“No, he won’t,” I stated, feeling a momentary surge of anger shoot through me as I remembered Ignis and his group. As we’d suspected, the group had indeed changed their bind point before attempting to betray us yesterday, leaving us with no obvious trail to even begin looking for them. “Anyway, we can worry about that later. Right now, our rest cycle comes first. I think we all deserve at least a day to unplug.”
“Hah, after everything we’ve been through?” Freya asked, raising an eyebrow as she looked up at me. “I think we deserve a whole rest week!”
“That would be something,” I said with a chuckle. “But we’ll have to take what we can get.”
“I suppose,” Freya replied, shifting her body into a stretch. “What’s your plan for the day now? Are you going to head back down into the Grove?”
“I don’t know yet,” I said, giving Freya the best shrug I could manage while lying on my back. “I was thinking of visiting Léandre and arranging a crafting plan for my avatar while I’m offline, then I was going to check in on everyone and get a sense of what our next steps should be. Now that everyone knows that the ground won’t explode right under our feet, maybe we can start building again.”
“That would definitely help things get back to normal,” Freya said as she gave my chest a squeeze and then pushed herself up into a sitting position. “Not to mention getting that palisade up and finished would go far for
making everyone feel safe.”
“That it would,” I agreed, already envisioning the amount of work that would need to go into upgrading Aldford’s defenses. Though fortunately for us, I knew that we had a more than ready and willing labor force to draw from. “What about you? What are your plans today?”
“Guild management stuff first,” Freya replied as she pulled herself up and out of bed, running her hands through her air. “We have a few people who went above and beyond yesterday. I want to make sure that they know we appreciate it. But past that, I was actually thinking to make a trip back down to the Grove with whoever is willing to come. I feel a little hesitant to leave the place without giving it a thorough look. Not to mention we have a pretty large group of people that are going to need to find their Soul Fragments.”
“That’s a good idea,” I said as I untangled myself from the blankets and forced myself out of bed. “Let me know when you’re going…if I can swing it, I’ll come too.”
“Great!” Freya exclaimed, turning around to smile at me before she started to get dressed. “Oh hey, any more thoughts on what you’re going to do with that crystal thing that you found yesterday? I know people are going to start asking me about it today, along with the rest of the loot from The Beast.”
“Hmm, I was thinking to keep it,” I replied as I bent down to pick up my pack lying on the floor nearby. Shifting through it quickly, I then pulled out the very crystal in question and held it before me, seeing its description fill my vision.
Legacy of the Nafarr
Item Class: Magical
Weight: 0.1 kg
Lore: Shimmering with a strange emerald glow from within, this crystal contains the fragmented memories of the Nafarr that once lived in this region from eons past.
Special: Skill Crystal – By activating this crystal and keeping it in close proximity for four consecutive weeks, you will gradually absorb the knowledge stored within. Upon completion of the process, you will be granted full understanding of the Nafarrian Language as well as wide cross-section of knowledge regarding their culture. Should the crystal leave your possession before the process is complete, you will have to begin the process anew. Upon successful absorption of the knowledge, this crystal will dissolve.
“Given that we’ve managed to seal the Ley Line…and that we’ve claimed all three of the ruins in the area, I think its best this stays with us. The knowledge that it could give us is just too valuable to let anyone else have.”
“That’s fair enough,” Freya said as she turned around to face me while pulling on a shirt. “But if that’s the case, everyone’s going to want to know how that’s going to affect our share of The Beast’s loot. We need to still be fair to the other Adventurers that aren’t in Virtus.”
“I know, and I’ll see if I can figure that out while I’m talking with Léandre today,” I replied, still hanging onto the emerald crystal. “If anyone asks you about the loot, just send them my way. I’ll figure something out.”
“That I can do,” Freya stated as she tucked her shirt into her pants. “Now hurry up and get dressed! You may not need to eat while in game, but I do, and I’m starving!”
Chuckling, I put the crystal away back into my pack and threw on a set of clothes before leaving the room of the longhouse that Freya and I had spent the night in, the two of us having finally acknowledged the feelings for one another that had slowly grown over the last two months. It was still far too early to tell where our relationship was headed, or if there was going to be one at all, since the previous night had only happened in virtual reality and not back in the Real World.
But we do have a rest day coming up tomorrow, I thought as I gave Freya a kiss before the two of us parted ways, with her heading towards the Town Hall and me to the Crafting Hall. Maybe we can make some sort of arrangement to meet in person, and see if the spark carries there.
Making a mental note to bring it up with Freya later in the day, I set out across the town, unable to help but notice the stark change in demeanor for both the townsfolk and Adventurers. Where they had been nervous and highly-strung yesterday, they were relaxed and cheerful today, with the threat of the Ley Line exploding no longer hanging over their heads.
I can’t imagine how it would have looked from everyone else’s perspective in Aldford yesterday, I thought as I walked. Adventurers would have respawned here in dribs and drabs, each of them during a different battle and giving everyone here something new to worry about. And then of course when the tree started to change…
At that thought, I looked up towards the sky, seeing the now gargantuan Ætherwarped Oak towering above us, the tree having easily tripled, if not quadrupled, in size after it had made contact with the Ley Line. Now it dominated the horizon, stretching well over two-hundred feet into the air, its azure glow making it a beacon for everything in the region. But in addition to its size increase, there had been a particularly interesting development due to the tree’s connection to the Ley Line, one universally loved by all of the spellcasters in the town.
Somehow after coming in contact with the Ley Line, the Ætherwarped Oak had begun to emanate a low-level aura of magic until it completely permeated the air around Aldford. The end result of that was an increased level of mana regeneration for all of the spellcasters within the town’s limits, not unlike what we’d experienced during the battle at the Ley Line, if only on a lesser scale. I had no idea what would come of that particular benefit in the coming weeks, or if it would end up having side effects in the long run, but I was happy to take whatever benefit that I could.
Especially since there wasn’t really a lot I could do about it anyway.
Continuing my walk through the town, I made my way to the Crafting Hall and entered through its main doors, the sound of industry greeting my ears. With how fierce the battle was yesterday, many of the Adventurers were taking the time to repair their gear today or craft entirely new replacements if the item was too damaged to be saved. Poking my head into a few of the rooms in search of Léandre, I made sure to wave at whatever Adventurers I interrupted, eventually finding myself walking into the Foundry, hearing the rhythmic thunder of hammers on metal as I entered.
“There you are!” I exclaimed as I finally found the craftsman standing in front of the smelter as he waited for the ore within to melt.
“Lyrian, good morning,” Léandre replied with a smile, one of his eyebrows raised. “Or perhaps I should say good afternoon with how late it is!”
“Hrm,” I snorted as I crossed the room towards the Tul’Shar. “I think that after saving the town and sealing the Ley Line I’m entitled to sleep in for at least one morning.”
“I suppose,” Léandre said, drawing the word out as he shook his head. “So long as it doesn’t become a habit. I am going to need your hands more than ever now, especially with the bounty of iron we’ve finally found ourselves with!”
“No disagreement here,” I told the man as I watched him check the ore in the smelter, seeing that it wasn’t quite ready yet. “That’s why I’m here actually. I was hoping to coordinate my rest cycle and get all that set up before I log off later tonight.”
“Ah! That’s right!” Léandre exclaimed as he turned away from his work with a toothy smile. “That means I will have the full well of your talent to draw from for the next day! Perfect!”
Laughing at the man’s undisguised glee to put me to work, the two of us then outlined our plans for the next few days, which largely focused on us exploiting the metals that we’d found in the Grove and getting them into workable shape. By the time I finished talking with Léandre, I’d resigned myself to the fact that the Foundry was likely going to be my second home for the foreseeable future as I either churned out ingots by the truckload, or worked them into the tools and construction materials we’d need to start building the palisade around the town.
“Speaking of crafting stuff by the way,” I said after Léandre and I had finished organizing my crafting plan, and I’d given him the
rights to assign me tasks once I logged off. “We need to talk about the loot that we managed to recover from The Beast, specifically how we’re going to sort them out between the other Adventurers. Everything aside from the skull and a handful of bones at least, which Aldwin has claimed for Aldford.”
“Mmm, I was about to ask you about that,” the Tul’Shar replied, a sudden excitement appearing in his voice. “I’ve managed to take a look at what was recovered…and I am truly itching to get my hands on the scales in particular.”
“Me too,” I said, appreciating Léandre’s sentiment all too well. “But we need to make sure that everyone gets an equal share for their efforts, at least all the Adventurers that aren’t in Virtus. None of our members will complain if we hang onto our portion of the loot, since they know we’ll just turn around and hand them new gear once we finish crafting it into something useful.”