by Kyle Johnson
She shook her head. “I do not doubt that leveling so quickly would come as no surprise to you,” she replied, “but I expected it to take…longer to advance my new Class, much less to gain a level in both my Keeper and my Shadedancer Classes.”
“Hey, congratulations!” he told her with a grin. “Getting a double level-up is pretty nice!”
Her face didn’t reflect the excitement he expected to see. “But very unexpected,” she countered with a touch of complaint, giving him a slightly hard look.
Aranos’ grin faded as his confusion grew. “I don’t understand,” he said slowly. “Getting levels quickly…is a bad thing?”
The elf sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose and closing her eyes. “You must realize, Oathbinder,” she told him with exaggerated calm, “before you and I met, levels did not come so easily. I had been at level eight for months and did not expect to reach level ten for a year.”
She gazed at him silently for a moment. “Since giving you my Vow, though,” she continued quietly, “I have advanced faster than I could have imagined. I have gained seven levels in less than two weeks, something that is unheard of, and part of me wonders if there will be some great price to pay for this boon, later. I bala na tane mutan an faire.”
The gods give nothing freely, he quickly translated her words.
“Your Avowed speaks my thoughts as well, Redeemer,” Saphielle said. “I have not been with you so long, but in your presence, I have gained as many levels as I had in the past year before your arrival. I do not complain, unlike the Shadedancer, but if this continues, it will cause difficulties when we return to the Stronghold. At this rate, I will be considering a Greater Class within a month, something I am not prepared for.”
“Which is the situation in which I find myself,” Rhys sighed, staring into space. “I have reached level 10, which should be a matter for congratulations, and I will accept your acclaim later. However, I was not prepared for this, and the Advanced Classes being offered to me are…more obscure. I will need to consider them this night.”
Veronica, what’s going on? he thought silently. I thought you said NPCs grew much slower than players.
“I did say that, and for the most part, they still do,” his AI guide’s voice replied in his head. “But think about what they’re saying, and how long they would have been waiting to get levels. If we kept them leveling at a reduced rate, you would quickly outstrip your party, and they’d become more of a hindrance than a help to you. So, we bent the rules a bit: as long as an NPC is in a party with or is a Follower of a player, they level like a player does.”
Well, thank you for that, he thought after a moment. I appreciate that you guys did that for me.
“Well, it’s not just for you,” Veronica corrected. “It’s a universal rule change. Any NPC with a similar connection to a player will get the same benefit. Not hired mercenaries or temporary followers, of course, but any NPC who is brought into a party as a long-term companion with a player will level like a player does.”
As the AIs voice disappeared, Aranos gave the others a reassuring smile. “I’ll bet it’s part of being connected to a Traveler,” he told her. “Maybe the gods are letting you level like a Traveler since you’re so important to one.”
Geltheriel nodded slowly. “That would make a great deal of sense,” she admitted. “If that is the case, Oathbinder, then I am once more gratified that I chose to give you my Vow.”
“Once more?” he repeated. “Does that mean that sometimes you regret it?”
“Usually only when you speak,” she replied archly. “Or when you accidentally force a magical evolution upon what should have been a simple enough opponent, turning it into a formidable foe.”
“Well, yeah, I can see that,” he admitted. “Of course, it also probably made it worth a lot more XP, so the good with the bad, right?”
She snorted briefly. “That phrase could represent much of our time together, Oathbinder,” she pointed out. “Has it not all been ‘the good with the bad’?”
“More good than bad, though,” he shrugged. “So long as that keeps up, I’m not complaining.”
“Oh, I do not complain,” she corrected. “I merely point out the truth.”
Rhys laughed. “A point for the Shadedancer, I believe.” Aranos glanced at him. “I have been keeping score, Liberator. So far, it is…somewhat embarrassing for you, so I will not speak of it. However, you may wish to sharpen your wit before the game is completely out of your reach.”
“Speaking of that evolution,” he spoke, quickly trying to change the subject, “how did that happen? I would have thought that flooding the kerruk with extra mana would damage its channels, or at least give it Mana Burn. Why did it evolve, instead?”
“That, I have no answer for,” the Druid shrugged. “For all we know of the ways of magic, how such evolutions occur is beyond us.”
Rhys sat down near the window, looking out onto the road. “What I do know is that when a creature is subjected to an overload of mana, it is generally harmful or even fatal. It is as you said: they will damage their mana channels at the least, if not die from Mana Sickness.
“Very rarely, though – rarely enough that I have never seen it, despite knowing that there are some within the House of Stars who attempt to replicate this – a creature that is either constantly subjected to large doses of mana or is suddenly flooded with dense mana in their system will experience an evolution. It is as if the mana overruns their body and changes it, making it stronger, more durable, or perhaps more capable of storing and channeling such large amounts of power.”
The green-haired man looked at him gravely for a moment. “As you have certainly guessed, this is likely what happened to the kerruk,” he finished. “It seemed to be casting Spells of far greater power than it should have been able to. The mana you forced into it caused it to change, making it much more dangerous than it might have been otherwise.”
Aranos grunted and hung his head in embarrassment for a moment. “I’m sorry about that,” he apologized again, glancing at each of them. “It was a dumb mistake, and I made it because I got cocky and didn’t double-check the changes I’d made.” He looked directly at Geltheriel, meeting her gaze. “I’ll do better.”
Saphielle moved over and cuffed him lightly on the back of his head. “There is no point to such recriminations, Redeemer, as it was but a mistake. None of us will pretend we do not make, them, not even the Druid, foolish as he otherwise is.”
“Would that not be a point for the Avenger?” Geltheriel laughed lightly. She put her hand on Aranos’ shoulder. “What happened is past, Oathbinder, and as you said, it profited us all. None died in the battle, and it seems you have learned from the error. That is all that one can ask. Let us move past it.”
She sat down and looked at him seriously for a moment. “Oathbinder, despite my teasing, know that I neither ask nor expect that you refrain from ever making mistakes. You are mortal, and like all mortals, you will fail at times. All I can ask is that your errors are not careless or frequent, and that you learn from them when you make them.”
“Yeah, that’s fair,” he acknowledged.
She smiled at him. “Then there is but one more thing that must be addressed,” she declared. “You must learn the Skill Inspection…which all children learn as one of their very first Skills, Oathbinder.”
“And about time, too,” he muttered, although he realized that he could have pressed her to teach him at any time.
As it turned out, Inspection wasn’t that hard to pick up, which made sense if it was a Skill commonly taught to children. As it turned out, every creature radiated an aura that was unique to its race, class, and level; Inspection was simply learning how to perceive that aura. Of course, there was more to it than that – at the moment Aranos could only read the auras of an elf or a fenrin, for example, and he couldn’t tell any specific information about classes or levels – but that was the basic concept.
It’s like every creature is radiati
ng metadata, he realized as the Skill finally coalesced for him, allowing him to Inspect each of them. I just have to figure out how to separate different data streams and then decode what they mean. Both of those are just a matter of practice and exposure to other creatures, really.
When he finally did manage to scan Geltheriel, rather than the traditional notification box, he simply saw a dot blinking above her head. When he focused on it, it unfurled to read:
Geltheriel
Female Elf
It wasn’t much information, but it was enough for a notification to appear:
Skill Gained: Inspection (T)
Rank: Novice 1
Allows you to determine the gender and race of a creature, if it is of Common or Abundant rarity or is a race you’re familiar with. Additional information can be gained as the Skill advances.
Lore Synergy: If you have the rank of a Lore Skill that allows you to identify creatures of a certain type, your Inspection Skill allows you to see information about that creature type as if you possessed Inspection at the same rank as the Lore Skill, if it is higher than your Inspection Skill. For example, as you have Beast Lore in the Student ranks, you can gain information about a beast’s gender, race, and level.
Per +1
Aranos grinned as he examined the notification. He was pretty certain that all he had to do to level Inspection was use it on different types of creatures, but he was also certain that he could speed that process if he actively worked to separate out the types of metadata. Maybe the next time we run into a group of uruks, I can spend some time Inspecting them in Stealth, first, he mused. I’m pretty sure that I’ll be able to tease out the important data streams with a bunch of different classes for comparison.
This time, Saphielle chose to take the first watch, while Rhys offered to take the second, giving Aranos four hours this time to practice his meditation. Before he entered his tent, though, Aranos took a moment to cast his Elemental Ward spell for the first time. They had to assume that the kerruk in charge of the tower was communicating with Cendarta, which meant that they might have company during the night. With his bonuses, the Ward would hold out anything less than about 25 uruks – assuming the creatures had Str stats around 20 – and would inflict around 200 LP damage to the creatures each second they were within if they did manage to overwhelm the air barrier. There was also enough SP invested in the construct that he doubted anything less than a dozen kerruks working together could have a chance of disjoining it.
He warned the Lieutenant about the Ward before retiring to his tent. He took out the mana crystal and looked at it critically; it looked like it had regenerated some mana during the course of the day, but not enough for him tap to it to power Spell creation. I can still use it for training, though, he reasoned. There’s enough mana in it to cycle, at least.
First, though, he took out the pack from Loremaster Ilmadia and opened the note that lay on top:
Lord Evenshade,
My congratulations on your elevation, and my thanks for your efforts in unmasking and unraveling the Fallen House Exxidor’s plot. This bit of assistance is the least I can do to repay your actions on behalf of this city. Had you not acted, we might all have been lost. What is done is done, though, and all truly ended as best it could. I do believe that my beloved husband would have been glad to give his life to rid our Tree-heart of the Corruption creeping into it; he had made quite a study of that phenomenon, in fact. And while it is certain that only the Elder understood the extent of the Tree-heart’s Corruption and what it was doing to our people, my husband had made the Tree-hearts the focus of his study this past decade or so, as he believed that they were the key to reclaiming what was lost in the Feast. As we have now seen, he was correct, and now the thoughts of all the Elven Realms must turn to restoring the hearts of the lands that have Fallen.
I have gifted you with a number of samples of rare and exotic materials from my personal collection. While I do not know what use you will have for them, I imagine it will have great benefit to not only Eredain but the Elven Realms in general. To assist in whatever you intend, I have also included a tome that may be considered the seminal work on such materials. In fact, it is of immense value, as it was penned before the Feast and contains references to substances no longer known in our world. Although I have no hope of ever seeing starsteel, I also never dared dream that a fenrin would walk once more among us, so perhaps this gift from me will result in your bringing a greater gift to this blighted world.
With all best wishes,
Loremaster Ilmadia
Aranos read the note twice and tucked it away carefully. It sounded like he owed Ilmadia more than just a thank-you note, and he’d make a point of visiting her once he returned to the Stronghold. For the moment, he reached deeper and took out the book she’d mentioned. It was obviously old, and he handled it carefully; so far, he hadn’t seen anything about items having durability, but Singularity was a particularly realistic game, so he was sure that it would be easy to accidentally destroy such an old tome. He flipped through the pages, marveling at each one. Every listing had a colored illustration of the material in question, along with not only its name, but its relative hardness, density, and any notable properties. It also listed some common uses and dangers in working with the material.
Curious, he flipped to the back and saw that there was an index, allowing him to quickly locate auril.
“Auril is a metal whose ore is mined mainly in the Shadowed Lands and that is accordingly rare in the Kingdoms of Light. It is roughly twice as durable High Steel while being significantly lighter. However, it is notoriously difficult to work, as it is highly conductive to all forms of energy and radiates this energy almost as quickly as it absorbs it. That quality is what makes it prized, for it will channel all forms of mana as easily as it does heat. Because of this, it is often used as a component in advanced Runecrafting, creating items that can penetrate magical barriers, and as a method to imprison spell-casters. A shackle of auril will draw mana into it whenever a Spell is cast and radiate that energy into the atmosphere. A Wizard with a band on each arm and a collar around their neck, connected by chains of auril, will be hard-pressed to even gather mana, much less cast a Spell. This is a traditional method for capturing and holding a hostile Wizard among creatures of the Darkness…”
Curious, Aranos rummaged through the pack until he found a familiar-looking bar of golden metal. The ingot was as wide as two of his fingers, perhaps a half-inch thick, and around four inches long. Cautiously, the Sorcerer extended his pointer fingers, placing them at the ends of the ingot. Concentrating, he sent a thin stream of mana down his right arm, trying to draw it back through his left. The energy swept through the metal in an instant, vanishing back into his spirals so quickly he had no time to process what had happened. Excited, he channeled more power through it and maintained the flow; the energy coming back into him was almost pristine, as if it had never left his body at all. “It’s like a superconductor,” he breathed admiringly. “This would make for amazing Runecrafting!”
Excited, he picked out a second metal ingot and looked it over. It was lighter than aluminum and silvery-white in color, but it felt incredibly solid. He thought he recognized it, and once he found the listing in the book, he smiled.
“Truesilver is one of the most prized metals in the Elven Realms. It is three times stronger than High Steel yet has half the weight. It is found only within the Dwarven Nations, and those worthies use it as a standard item of trade with other races. It is prized for crafting weapons and armor but is seldom used in Enchanting, as it does not hold or conduct mana well.”
An idea crossed Aranos’ mind, and he reached into his pack, pulling out the old saber Geltheriel had given him when she first trained him in swordplay. As it turned out, he wasn’t very talented in it, which was fine since his true power lay in his Spells, not his weapons. Still, while he kept the blade, it had basically lay useless in his pack all this time.
He l
aid the sword on the ground and reached out to the ingot of truesilver with his Sense Mana Skill. Everything metal, he’d come to realize, was just a manifestation of metal mana, which meant that technically he could alter it with his High Mastery Ability. As his sense swept over the ingot, he could feel the crystalline pattern within the metal, and after studying it for a minute, he understood why it was so strong but light. The crystal grains were spread much farther apart than those of steel, meaning there was simply less mass of metal in any given volume, but those patterns were more intricate and locked together more tightly. He touched the sword blade with his High Mastery Ability, slowly moving and shifting its mana to match the pattern of the ingot. It was tedious work, took several minutes, and left Aranos with a blade that was slightly longer and wider than the previous one had been. Of course, there was no helping that; the extra metal from the steel had to go somewhere.
When he was done, he set down the blade with a sigh; that had taken more SP than he’d expected, almost 10% of his total. He wondered if that was because the metal was rarer, or because the two types of metal were so vastly different. It didn’t matter; when he examined the sword, a notification popped up:
Appraisal Success!
You have discovered: Truesilver Saber
Quality: Fine
Rarity: Exotic
Damage: 17-25
Description: Forged of truesilver, this blade is exceptionally strong and light. It cannot be rusted or corroded and will not break under normal circumstances. It is resistant to Enchantment and Runecrafting, however.
Special: +25% to armor penetration. -50% to max number of Enchantments or Runes.
“Nice,” he muttered under his breath, laying down the sword. He’d have to see if he could turn Saphielle’s spear and shield into truesilver; her armor was too well Enchanted for him to risk turning it into a magically inert metal.
He reached into the pack and picked up a second ingot. It was bluish-gray in color and was both heavier and softer than he’d expected, feeling almost like gold or lead. He frowned, flipping through the book, looking for something similar. There were just too many entries for that, and the index wouldn’t be useful if he didn’t know the name of the metal. He didn’t want to spend the next hour just looking for one ingot, after all. Frustrated, he began flipping the pages rapidly. There has to be a better way to figure out what something is, he groaned silently, then stopped at the very front of the book.