by Taj McCoy El
DING!!!!
Enchanted Grenadier level 5
So, you went and skipped a whole four levels. KaBoom!!! That’s what we love to see, explosive growth. We really wanted to see you make more little booms before you made big KABOOMs, but since you’re that powerful anyway, we might as well give you the levels. Be careful not to blow yourself up. You’ve got nice eyebrows.
Grenade will deal physical damage based on the type of material used and magical damage based on the type of spell you use. You will be able to better determine the level and the fuse of the grenade in higher levels. Damage will rise in higher levels.
Fuse length: Adjustable (2-10 seconds from activation)
Mana 90
Damage: 50DP + Magical + Physical
Chance of stun 30%
Chance of temporary blindness 30%
She swiped away the notification and looked at the training field. With the light from the building and her Shadow Eye there was enough light to see the ring the grenade had burned. It was only a foot around, but it did 50DP. Maybe because none of the spell energy was dispersed into another object? Whatevs… She rubbed her palms together, this is gonna be fun. These ideas…. Ideas go BOOM!!!!!!!
She finished up 25 parcel grenades. twenty contained 1 crystal, three contained 2 crystals, and two contained 5 crystals. She also made about 30 runeagram envelopes. Her thinking was that Margaret would be able to load up the envelopes with tokens and summon her dolls without an arrow as well. The only things that were left were Grax’s throwing knives and something to wear that would “stop the sharp things.” But she already had a plan laid out for those. And with that, she was as ready for the tournament as she could be. At least as far as weaponry was concerned. Now it was time to get some rest.
She got comfortable on the bed, and called up her character sheet. It’s time to do something about these points. She played around with the numbers for half an hour, finally settling on a build that maxed out her speed, mana, and stamina. She placed the attribute points to increase her mana and stamina regeneration as far as she could. She paused for a moment and removed the 7 points she had added to her agility and hit accept. Better to hold off on that until tomorrow. It’ll be easier to get the new ability if my agility is lower.
One thing was clear just from the progression of the numbers. Majesta was made for making warriors. Her regen times had jumped astronomically. She also knew that the max drain was calculated using your max lift. She had lifted more than that and saw her drain grow exponentially. She hoped she wouldn’t be in a place where she could bottom out. That would mean either they were fighting a seriously heavy opponent or being swarmed by a mass of opponents. She felt a certainty that there was going to be some heavy action. Maxing out her mana and stamina regen had been paramount. Her character sheet now looked like this:
Name:
Pretty Princess Cuddle Fluff
Title(s)
High Empress of the Pie Mountains
Enchanted Seamstress
Enchanted Grenadier
Race: Princess
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Level: 10XP: 341/745
HP: 633 Regen: 1.22HP per minute
Stats
Strength: 18 +10% Max lift:134 lbs. +13
Mana: 30Mana pool 900MP
Regen:5.82MP per sec.
Stamina: 32
Depletion rate at max effort:
0.18SP per sec.
Regen: 3.00SP per min.
7 unassigned attribute points
Attributes
Constitution:12 +15%
Endurance:12 +21%
Intelligence:16 +28%
Agility:1 +17%
Perception:7 +23%
Presence:3 +17%
Abilities
Awareness Level: 5 (+13% to Perception)
Iron will Level: 4 (+11% to Endurance +8% to Intelligence)
Whack-A-Vole Level: 4
Crushing Blow Level: 4
Shadow Eye Level: 3
Enchanted seamstress Level: 2
Achilles Heel Level: 2 (+7% to Agility)
Skinflint Level: 2 (+7% to Presence)
Survivalist Level: 1 (+5% to Constitution)
Adamant Level: 1 (+10% to all Attributes)
Enchanted Grenadier Level 1
Iron Will Level: 1
Adamant Level: 1
Wellspring Level: 1
Flesh of The Magii Level: 1
Marathoner Level: 1 (Stat bonuses)
Dynamo Level: 1 (Stat bonuses)
Skills
EnchantmentLevel: 6
RunesLevel: 3
Trades
SewingLevel: 4
EngravingLevel: 3
Blacksmithing Level: 2
ArmorerLevel: 2
CobblerLevel: 2
TacticianLevel: 2
HerbalistLevel: 1
MinerLevel: 1
BakerLevel: 1
TailorLevel: 1
Glazier Level: 1
WeavingLevel: 1
FieldcraftLevel: 1
FishingLevel: 1
LoggingLevel: 1
ArchitectLevel: 1
JewelcrafterLevel: 1
KnittingLevel: 1
LeatherworkingLevel: 1
AlchemyLevel: 1
CalligrapherLevel: 1
CartographerLevel: 1
HunterLevel: 1
CarpentryLevel: 1
StonemasonLevel: 1
MechanicLevel: 1
Painter Level: 1
TraderLevel: 1
LocksmithLevel: 1
SculptorLevel: 1
SaddleryLevel: 1
AcupuncturistLevel: 1
Field MedicLevel: 1
HealerLevel: 1
Over triple the hit points and 150% of the mana she had just moments ago. With the massive bump to her regeneration rates, she could cast for hours. Now she needed to level up her runes to lower their cooldowns and learn more of them to become more effective.
So, tomorrow’s gonna be experiment day. Hmm…
She fell asleep to the lullaby of items and runes combining in her mind.
Day Six
With friends like these…
“Stab the body and it heals, but injure the heart and the wound lasts a lifetime.”
- Mineko Iwasaki
6.1 Of Knives and Newtons
Mayah woke to sunlight hitting the bottoms of the clouds above the still dark field. Her alarm was chirping obnoxiously, but she silenced it and enjoyed the view of the sky for a moment longer.
“As comfortable as this is, it’s time to go. I can’t keep John waiting.”
While pouring a glass of water, she opened her messages and sent a quick love note to her mom and dad. Not waiting for a reply, she packed her engraver’s tools and sewing kit, then flew out the door. It wasn’t until she opened the front door to the dorms that she realized how fast all of that had just happened. Something in her brain was moving faster. For lack of a better term, there was less lag to Majesta. Information flew through her mind at a clipped rate. It was like watching a Holo-movie in slow-mo and also seeing everything from every angle.
DING!!!
Awareness level 6
Your eyes are finally opening. We’re glad you finally added those attribute points. Majesta’s been waiting for you.
Okay, these prompts are definitely tailored for me. God, this system is so clean. She mused on it a bit more, then suddenly got back to business as she remembered John. It was mostly silent as she walked along the cobblestone street. The sun barely touched the tops of the buildings. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a pair of birds pecking at crumbs. The shops were still shuttered with the exception of a few bakers and food vendors.
Even paladins needed a good breakfast. Leveling up, the breakfast of champions, she sang in her mind. She bought a few pastries from a bakery and made her way to the smithy. She approached the smithy and knocked on one of the large barn doors.
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“Coming,” John’s deep voice boomed. The door popped open shortly after.
“Morning, Fluff.” His scowl hadn’t had its coffee yet.
“Brought you a bite to eat.” She grabbed a pastry and handed the bag to him.
“Oooh…” He picked one out, a smile almost crossing his face, and took a large bite, “Fanks. Where are your friends?”
“Not sure that Margaret’s gonna make it. She was training her mana and stamina with Jensen last night.”
“Ah, that Jensen he sure does train’em right. And what about Cax?”
“Grax.”
“Yeah… right. When will Grax be here?”
“I assume that he’ll be here any minute, but you know what they say when you assume…”
“Yes, I do.”
“So, what does this agility training look like?”
“Oh, you’ll see.” He actually did smile this time. In context, it was one of the most frightening things she’d ever come across.
“It’s gonna hurt, isn’t it?”
“Don’t go ruining the surprise. Speaking of surprises,” he slapped his thigh with his free hand and said, “I’ve got those knives you requested.” He put two large crates on the empty worktable. “One hundred and fifty throwing stilettos.“
“One hundred and fifty???”
“After we got the molds made, we just kept going. I know you’ll either find a way to pay me back with either gold or sweat. And both are welcome.” He put a hand on her back. It was heavy and made her take a small step forward to keep her balance.
“Thank you,” she smiled. She put her hand into the crate and pulled out a stiletto. There was no guard or wrap and it had a small circle for a finger on the butt end. It looked more like a slimmed down kunai than a stiletto. Mayah put her pointer finger into the ring, positioned the grip in her palm resulting in a reverse grip. She spun the blade on her finger and caught it again in the reverse grip.
“These look like fun! I think I might need some of these for myself.”
“Help yourself,” he said, and she did. After she grabbed a third of the throwing knives, she absentmindedly pulled out her engravers kit and clamped the vise to the table. She took another knife from Grax’s stash and began cutting runes into the knife.
“So, what are you doing?” John’s voice boomed in her ear.
Mayah almost jumped out of her skin. She had completely forgotten about John.
His booming laugh shook the still morning air. “Looks like you get really into your work.”
“Sorry, just had an idea and the worktable was so inviting,” she said sheepishly.
“I know the feeling. I wish I had more time to create, but running the smithy is my daily grind.” He looked around at the smithy in appreciation of all of his hard work, “Too much grinding can dull an edge, though.”
“I’m aware of that conundrum as well. Do you mind if I finish while we wait?”
“No not at all. I’m interested to see what you come up with. Just wanted to scare you in the meantime.”
“So not funny.” She smirked at him when he made an innocent face. How do you make an innocent face through a scowl? These and other questions will be answered next time on Mayah’s Life… She turned back to the stiletto in the vise and made her last few passes with the burin then blew away the loose bits of metal.
Finished.
“Excuse me John, do you have something acid resistant I could use? Like a bowl or a crucible?”
“Sure thing.” He walked her back into the smithy where crucibles were lying against the wall. He picked a medium sized one and moved it into the middle of the floor. “Is that good enough?”
“It sure is.”
“So, what did you make?”
“Acid stiletto, at least I’m hoping that’s what it is. Let me enchant it and we’ll see.”
John nodded his approval. She held the stiletto over the crucible just in case anything went wrong and began the enchantment. She charged the runes and let go as the familiar feeling of rightness came into being. She ID’d the weapon.
Name: Acid Stiletto
Type: Throwing Stiletto
Enchantment: Acid (D)
Grade: C (uncommon)
Material: Iron
Weight: 10.5 ounces
Damage: 10 stabbing / 5 Acid (D) damage per second (DPS) over 20 seconds
Durability: 25/25
Would you like to activate Acid Stiletto
Y/N?
“Nice…. You ready to see what happens?” He nodded and she activated the weapon, dropping it point first into the crucible. The green blob of Acid (D) winked into existence just as the point hit the target and began smoking, bubbling... and dissolving the knife.
“Aww gnarlz!!! It’s eating the knife.”
“As I knew it would. I figured you were thinking something like this, so that’s why I made you extra.”
“Thanks John, you’re a godsend.”
“That’s what Maam tells me.”
Mayah groaned at this. Dad / Husband humor… ugggghhh…
“Since you’re my apprentice I can share a few secrets with you, the first being, add more than one rune for more effect. The second is, add multiple runes for varied effects. What runes do you have now anyway?”
She listed them and he continued, “Adding a Hold (E) rune will slow someone down. Mix it with Spike (W) and Acid (D) and they’ll be standing in place burning and freezing while you get to hack away at them.”
“Since we’re on the topic,” Mayah scratched her chin, “and also because I think we’ll have a few more minutes, maybe we can talk about ‘Finding the Runist.’”
“That we can. So, what do you know about the legend of Kalima Vorto?”
“Only what was written in the Hall of Runes.”
“Well,” John leaned back against a table and crossed his arms as he began, “Kalima created a book of all the runes in existence. It was called The Codex of True Words, and it was said to hold great power. He would never let anyone see the book, let alone read it. But the proof was in the mastery of his runes. He kept the Codex very well hidden. Many sought after it to gain knowledge. But since no one had even seen it except for Kalima Vorto, no one could even attempt to steal it. There were rumors of where it was hidden, but, still no one could find it. But then his brightest student attempted to steal it.
“Kalima, by some divine luck, happened to find his student just as he began reading the Codex. He began to chastise the student. The student claimed he had a right to the knowledge in the book. It all devolved rather quickly from there and a battle ensued.” The intensity in John’s stare was a bit off-putting, “That battle is known as the Battle that Tore the World.”
He looked towards the far wall again. “His student actually managed to rip five pages from the book as he and Kalima battled over it. And Kalima’s worst fears came to life as the student used that knowledge to gain personal power. I’ll give you one guess as to who that was.”
“Ba'alquion,” Mayah hypothesized.
“They say that when the pages were torn from the book they were also torn from Kalima’s soul. He had no knowledge of what was stolen from him, except for the pain the loss caused him. After that, Kalima disappeared and no one has heard from him since, except for the writing he left in the Hall of Runes.”
“What most people don’t know was that Kalima created a secret school. It’s still around, but no one knows just where. Only those wise enough to find it were accepted. There were three trials that one is rumored to have to pass, the only clue being this phrase, ‘Climb over the teeth into the serpent’s open mouth and bring the word to his belly.’”
“Sounds ominous,” she said with just a bit too much sarcasm. She realized her mistake as she heard the words fly out of her mouth. She inwardly winced.
“Fluff,” John stood up to his full height, “I’ve known men who have gone mad searching for the serpent’s mouth. Most just come home depressed and tire
d. Some come back broken. Some never come back at all.” A look ran across his face, making it obvious that he had gone looking, and failed.
She looked into his dark, heat-tanned face, “How long did you look for it?”
“Few years.” The tired look on his face hinted that a few years was quite a lot longer than he let on. The look passed as his scowl returned to his features. “That was where I met Maam. A village by Lake Nastir, right by the mouth of the Draconos River in Lamdark. Most seekers go there to start the quest, as did I. Instead I got to know the most beautiful seamstress in the world. And she got to marry an adventurer turned blacksmith. And we’ve lived happily ever after since then.”
There was a knock on the door. As it swung open they heard, “Hello?”
“You're almost an hour late?” Mayah barked.
“Sorry, Mom made me take the trash out.”
“In that case I’m mad at you for not thinking ahead.”
Grax ignored her with a callous turn of the head and looked to John, “I apologize Master Smith. I had familial duties to which I had to attend. Can you please forgive my tardiness?”
“It’s okay, I guess. A man should take care of his mother. But you might be sorry for it later.”
“I accept any punishment you deem fit, Master Smith.” Grax had come with his game face on.
“I’m not sorry to tell you, you already missed the first round of weapons testing. John, do we have 10 minutes to try one more?”
“Anything for you, Fluff. I love watching you figure all of this out. Reminds me of me as a youth.”
She returned to the vise, pointed out the boxes of stilettos to Grax, grabbed one for herself and began engraving. Grax studied a knife and complimented John on his design choice with the finger-ring. They began to talk about the balance and sharpness of the knives. Mayah returned to her work. This time she drew the ring around the point of the knife and three runes for Acid (D) underneath that. She enchanted the knife and used 550 mana points to charge the blade.
“Okay, finished. You want to do the honors, O Tardy One?”
Grax looked at the knife. “What is it?”