The Land: Monsters

by Aleron Kong

  Crafting wasn’t like Forging. When a smith made a weapon, he took an ingot of metal and pounded on it over and over. Krom had made endless jokes about how it made him every woman’s soulmate. He had to know about how to heat it and cool it and bend it, but it all basically made sense. Crafting items wasn’t like that. To make a simple magic ring that gave +5 to health, you had to follow a Template to the letter.

  One line of magical script had to be written on the inside of the band, counterclockwise, and the second line had to be written clockwise on the outside. The band had to be pure copper, and a jewel of a certain cut, quality and type had to be affixed to the top. After that, it had to be enspelled by someone who knew the right Life enchantment. All of those steps had to be followed to the letter to make the simplest of magic rings.

  Unlike Forging, where you needed better materials and more experience to make a higher quality sword, to make a stronger ring you might have to follow a completely different set of criteria and use a different combination of metal and gems. He might need to bathe his hands in the menstrual blood of a virgin for all he knew, though that would mean he could only craft for four to seven days a month, so hopefully not.

  The point was, you had to had to have specific knowledge of Templates to craft magic items, not just metal, heat and skill. It was possible to make your own Templates, but just going by what was needed to make a low-effect health ring, the chances of that were abysmal. His Unconventional Materials subskill gave him an advantage, but he was still stumbling around in the dark.

  That last thought was what decided it for him. Having actually stumbled around in the dark, and then having been nearly eaten by a slime, made a solid argument. A light to illuminate the dark made all the difference. It was true of physical light to combat the actual darkness he was in and it might be true for the metaphorical darkness of learning how to craft. The monocle could be his light. The slime didn’t really fit into the metaphor, but he’d almost had his face melted off. Anyone that didn’t like his analogies could suck it.

  Richter did not want to dwell on his recent suffocation and face melting. Instead, he made a choice. A disc appeared in midair. Nothing could be seen inside it except a tumultuous grey nothingness. Most beings would be filled with anything from unease to horror at seeing the raw stuff of creation. To Richter, it was actually quite pleasant. He reached his hand through and closed his fingers around a smooth disc attached to a leather strap.

  He pulled it out and the disc vanished. In his hands was a clear disc about two inches across. It was set in a rim of pure silver. Straps of a silvery type of hide extended out from either side showing how it could be secured to someone’s head. Richter looked at it and a prompt appeared.

  You have found:

  Monocle of Niclewis

  Durability: 653/653

  Item Class: Epic

  Quality: Masterwork

  Weight: 0.1 kg

  Traits: This is the monocle of the Master Craftsman Niclewis. Imbued with lost technology and forgotten alchemies, it allows the wearer to see and understand the latent energy of objects. Practice will increase the depth of this magical sight.

  Using the advanced sight of the monocle will drain your mana at a minimum rate of 1 MP/sec. Deeper inspection can increase this drain with no upper limit. It is advised that the wearer exercise caution. This practice can be toggled off and on at will.

  There are also 2 passive traits of the monocle:

  There is a specific increase in the success rate of creating items of higher quality. This bonus is dependent upon the wearer’s skill level in Crafting.

  There is also a fixed +2% chance of successfully crafting items.

  Total Chaos Points: 16

  Know This! When using the Monocle of Niclewis, as an Apprentice crafter you now enjoy a +10% chance of creating an Exceptional quality item and +3% chance of creating a Superb quality item.

  Looking at the item, there was no way it should have cost him this much. It was such a small and simple thing. Physically speaking, the only impressive thing about it was that the durability was crazy high. Even in a fight, there was a fair chance the monocle would make it through unscathed. Not only did the durability number in the hundreds, but it took a crazy amount of energy to make glass lose even one point. The leather strap he couldn’t speak to, but it was the monocle itself that mattered.

  As he read the item description, he realized that the monocle was worth every proverbial penny. He didn’t understand the active effect, but he’d figure it out through experimentation. The 1 MP/sec meant his mana would drain at 60 per minute. It wasn’t a small amount, but it was completely manageable for someone like himself. His high Intelligence and items gave him a mana pool higher than eight hundred. Coupled with his substantial Wisdom, he could use the monocle without rest for more than thirty minutes.

  It wasn’t the active effect that impressed him. The passive effects made the monocle worth thousands of gold in the right hands. Like Forging, each rank that someone reached in the Crafting skill conveyed a certain percentage for items to be produced at various qualities. The class of an item was determined by the materials used to create it, among other factors. Using the right Template, for instance, might determine whether a ring was common or epic.

  The quality of an item, however, was only based on a crafter’s skill rank, expertise and luck. And an increase in quality was nothing to scoff at. When Richter made higher quality rings, the health bonus they offered was increased. There were also other perks to increasing quality. Enalise, one of his villagers and a Professional Crafter, had told him that higher qualities could sometimes add extra properties to crafted items.

  She had also told him that quality really became important when trying to use powerful Templates. Some items had a minimum quality level before they could be successfully created. When that meant exquisite or even masterwork, it was easy to see why highly ranked craftsmen were worth their weight in gold. Even adept-ranked crafters had a less than 1% chance to create a masterwork.

  That was why the monocle was potentially so valuable. In the hands of a lower-ranked Crafter, the effect it could have wouldn’t be that much. In the hands of someone more skilled, however, the chances to create a masterwork might increase by several hundred percent. In the hands of that same adept crafter, their chances of making a masterwork might double, triple or improve even further.

  The second passive boost was also impressive. It increased the chances of successfully making an item in the first place. After all, the quality of an item only came into play if you succeeded. Again, the bonus didn’t matter too much to someone like Richter. He was only an apprentice and he didn’t have any advanced Templates. For a master Crafter tackling Templates of high difficulty though, a +2% fixed chance of success was something wars might be fought over.

  He would still trade the monocle in a heartbeat for a weapon or a piece of armor, but there was no denying it was impressive. He dismissed the prompts about the monocle and decided to empty his bank of Chaos Points. He affixed the item to his head, and then spent two more CPs to access the second stratum of the Sea of Chaos.

  Total Chaos Points: 14

  These are the current offerings of the second Stratum of the Sea of Chaos:

  2nd STRATUM OFFERINGS

  Offering

  Chaotic Cost

  Traits

  Vial of Chaotic Noxious Scent

  11 points

  Provides a vial containing a liquid of such disgusting stench that it will drive away most creatures. Those exposed may be dazed, driven to temporary madness, afflicted with intractable vomiting or swoon. The exact nature of the scent will not be known until manifested

  Chaotic Lute

  15 points

  Provides a musical instrument that has a chance of triggering a random buff.

  Chaotic Psi Scroll

  14 points

  Provides a scroll of the Deeper Magic of Thought. Properties of the scroll will only be know
n upon acquisition.

  Know This! No purchase is required. This window may be dismissed at any time, but it will last no longer than 7 minutes, sometimes less. The purchase price of accessing this level cannot be retrieved. Each time a stratum of the Sea of Chaos is accessed, the offerings are randomized and may never come again.

  Richter blew out a breath. He’d been hoping that his high Luck would have kicked in this time, but it didn’t look like it. It was the nature of Luck. It might turn things in your favor in a random situation, or it might have no effect at all.

  This time, the choice was easy. He couldn’t even afford the lute, not that he’d buy it anyway. The Thought scroll could be powerful, but it might also be completely useless. That was the problem with the Sea of Chaos. Random powerful objects might fall in his lap or it could just be garbage. With these options, he chose to buy the potion. A stank that could drive someone temporarily mad had to be truly horrible. He’d have to be careful not to spill it, but it could save his life if it drove a monster away. Who knew what else was hiding in these tunnels?

  The disc of chaotic energy appeared. Reaching his hand through, he very gingerly grabbed a smooth vial.

  You have found:

  Vial of Chaotic Noxious Scent

  Durability: 7/7

  Item Class: Unusual

  Weight: 0.3 kg

  Traits: Contains the fermented smegma of a sunbaked undead giant. Any creature coming in contact with this solution will exude the scent for no less than one week.

  Any who smell this foul concoction have a high chance of suffering the following debuffs: Unlovable, Intractable Vomiting, Compensatory Explosive Diarrhea, Temporary Madness and Swoon.

  Richter had to fight the involuntary urge to gag. It even looked disgusting. The solution had the consistency of cottage cheese in some places, but bubbled in others. The color ranged from moldy green to a slightly glowing urine yellow. Richter’s nostrils spasmed involuntarily. Just thinking about fermented smegma, gwalaaah! He looked very carefully at the tattered remains of his pants. There was barely any fabric left. The garment had already sacrificed so much of itself. After reading the prompt, Richter decided it was going to have to sacrifice some more. Even if he had to rock daisy dukes down here, he could not risk this vial breaking.

  Richter placed his skull-crushing fingers on the fabric. With a quick tug, he tore a strip away. After he’d wrapped the vial, providing it as much cushion as possible, he looked down. Seeing what remained of his pants, he couldn’t help but shake his head. He was now the proud owner of mid-thigh-high shorts so tight on his massive quads that they might as well be painted on. If his dick and balls were his secret place, then the secret was out!

  The chaos lord carefully removed the remnants of his shirt. It had fallen into tatters already. Folding what was left in half, he grabbed four ragged corners to make an impromptu pouch.

  He’d been spoiled by his Bag of Holding. Having to actually carry everything was a serious pain. That brought him to the next item on his agenda though. His Talent Points were waiting to be spent. He’d need to move soon, but not until he did everything he could to prepare. Richter’s eyes shifted to another icon and he accessed his Profession page. He didn’t think spending his Talent Points would be of much help, but he had to try.

  Man! He’d never enjoyed being wrong so much!

  CHAPTER 25 – Day 151 – Juren 2, 0 AoC

  A sound like three cymbals clashing together resonated inside his mind.

  Kush-Kush-Kush!

  Congratulations, Enchanter!

  Know this! You have accessed your Profession page for the first time since ascending to a higher Tier. Tier 2 Talents are now available!

  Know This! Most higher-Tier Talents require the purchase of a Talent of the lower Tier in order to be unlocked.

  In addition to new Talents being accessible, you now understand the flow of soul stuff and the binding of magic to items at a much deeper level. Whereas before an enchantment’s outcome was determined by absolute success or failure, now your enchantments may increase in power due to your Enchantment Efficiency.

  It hadn’t occurred to Richter that evolving to a higher tier would also increase his Profession. Would the same thing be true for his skills? His spells? And what was “Enchantment Efficiency?”

  The background of the notification window showed the same starscape as before. On the left were the blue spheres of his Enchanter Profession and on the right were the red spheres of his Essence Specialty. There was now, however, a very noticeable difference. Hovering above both were another two sets of spheres.

  Above and on the left, there was a larger blue sphere, darker than the ones beneath it. Words carved on its surface read, “Tier 2 Enchanter.” Five spheres extended out from this central hub, connected by gold filaments. More filaments extended out from these spheres but the metallic threads were shrouded in fog. From experience, he knew that this fog wouldn’t clear unless the preceding Talent was purchased.

  On the right, there was only one red sphere. To his surprise, this new central sphere was, itself, shrouded in fog. A red prompt greeted him.

  The ascendant Talents of the Essence Enchanter are locked until an Enchanter reaches Tier 3! Be comforted in the knowledge that if you stay the path, Monster Enchantments may one day be yours!

  The chaos lord blinked in shock. Monster enchantments? Monster enchantments! His Essence Enchanter Specialty let him make an enchantment out of any spell that he knew. Did the evolution of the Specialty mean that he could make an enchantment from any power a monster had? Just thinking back over the myriad and powerful capabilities of the monsters he’d slain made his mind go numb. Could he really one day steal the powers of any monster?

  He felt like a fourteen-year-old kid who’d just been shown the Lexus he could one day drive. Gah! He had to advance his Profession to the next tier! It then occurred to him that would only happen if he increased his levels. Levels that required a minimum of a million XP now. His excitement died down, but just a bit. One day he would unlock the new powers of his Specialty. Lord Richter, Monster Enchanter!

  With a grin on his face and a flutter in his heart, he turned his attention back to the blue spheres of his Profession. Reading the Talent descriptions rekindled all of his lost enthusiasm.

  Congratulations! You have revealed 6 new Tier 2, Orbit 1 Talents!

  The line explained that the central sphere had six Talents branching off it. The next showed how much coin he had to play with.

  Total Talent Points: 190

  CRYSTAL TOUCH

  Use mana to convert rock into powdered crystal. The amount of rock required depends on the type of stone used. Costs 250 MP to create 1 unit of powdered crystal and takes a minimum of 10 minutes. Chance of success is dependent on the amount of magic contained within the rock.

  Cost: 70 Talent Points

  “Yeah!” Richter shouted as soon as he read the prompt. The shout just slipped out. He quickly looked both ways down the tunnel to make sure he hadn’t attracted any unwanted attention, but after a minute of nothing, he turned his excited gaze back to the glowing blue window.

  He just couldn’t believe it. Let’s hear it for being a Tier 2 badass! “Oh my god,” he exclaimed again, softer this time. He’d been pumping himself up this whole time, promising himself that he’d make it back, but he’d still known there was a pretty good possibility some monster down here was going to eat him, then crap him out. Now though, ha ha ha, he might survive! Woooo! Let’s hear it for faking it ‘til you make it!

  He wasn’t even dissuaded by the fact that the process wouldn’t work every time. You couldn’t have it all. Thankfully, with his high Wisdom, the mana required wouldn’t ever slow him down. His MP regen was up to 36/min. During the ten-minute process to make the crystal, he’d replenish his mana pool with over a hundred points to spare. It took all of his willpower to look at the other four Talents first and not just snatch up Crystal Touch immediately.

  The n
ext prompt also showed something incredible.

  SOUL FLAVOR

  No longer will a soul only be judged by its rank. The specifics of a captured soul may now be used to augment enchantments and add extra abilities and powers to enchanted items.

  Cost: 58 Talent Points

  It looked like the souls he captured could augment his enchantments now. If he had soul-trapped the stone slime for instance, it might make his Earth enchantments stronger. This Talent was a definite must-buy as well.

  The only downside so far was that these Tier 2 Talents cost ten times as much as Tier 1 Talents of the first orbit. His bank of 190 Talent Points didn’t look like a whole lot anymore. That was especially true after looking at the next Talent.

  ACTIVATED ENCHANTMENT

  Enchantments which have a chance of discharging under certain conditions can now be forcibly activated. This uses 2.5x more charges than otherwise and has a 5-minute cooldown. During this cooldown period, the previous chances of triggering enchantments still apply.

  Requires +2 extra measures of Powdered Crystal per item

  Cost: 63 Talent Points

  Banished Gods! This was awesome! The weapons he enchanted had magnificent effects. They could freeze an enemy solid, immolate a body, or shatter their armor so that it shot through their back like a shotgun. The only problem was, there was a fixed, and usually small, chance of that happening with each successful strike. His enchantments were strong, but relied too much on chance. It looked like Activated Enchantment took that uncertainty out of the equation! Even though there was a big cooldown, with this Talent a squad of his soldiers could freeze a group of enemies all at once. It would let his forces do massive damage at the very beginning of a battle. Maybe enough to win the fight before it had really even begun.