Lord Sorcerer: Singularity Online: Book 3

by Kyle Johnson

  He shook off the stray thought and returned to the main room, settling into a seated position against one wall. He closed his eyes and sank into his mindscape, where he walked over to his shelf of Skill books and grabbed the one for Leatherworking. This wasn’t his favorite Skill – working with leather was pretty disgusting and more than a little smelly – but it was one he needed to improve, for the sake of his party members. He probably wouldn’t ever get it high enough to fashion actual armor for Martina or McBane, but improving his Skill would make it easier for him to Enchant their armor and maybe repair it if needed.

  As he trained, he focused on trying to figure out when he was doing real training, and when the AIs were giving him the memories of it. It was hard to tell at first – they’d gotten pretty good at inserting memories, it seemed – but at one point, his trainer gave him a piece of poorly cured, nearly ruined hide and told him to make the best leather he could out of it. Aranos could tell that much of that was real: it was something beyond the normal training and a chance for him to possibly go beyond what he’d learned by rote.

  He took his time with the hide, soaking it, scraping it gently, and soaking it again. He carefully repaired small holes and tears with thin, white thread that would take the same tan as the leather later on. He had to stretch it very gently to make sure it didn’t tear again, then resoaked it in a urine and alum solution that removed the last of the hair and flesh from it. Once it was stretched again, he smoked it, softened it, and dyed it a bright blue that, he realized, sort of matched Saphielle’s hair.

  Throughout the days-long process, Aranos could tell when his experiences were real. When he sewed the first couple of tears; when he carefully began scraping the hide; when he mixed the pigments for the dye. All of those were real moments, chances for him to succeed or fail on his own. Once he’d shown that he could perform the task, it had been replaced with memories of completing it. It was a complex process, as far as he could tell, but it gave him the chance to show his actual Skill and learning, which was probably how the AIs decided what sort of bonuses he got from the training.

  The Leatherworking Master had been mildly impressed with his efforts. The thread he’d chosen had taken a bit more of the dye than he’d intended, and his trainer had to teach him how to carefully bleach those threads until they matched the hue of the rest of the leather. He’d chosen to finish the leather with a wax that left it looking a bit hazy, meaning that Aranos had to strip that wax and apply a more suitable one. In all, though, he was proud of his efforts; it was by far the hardest he’d worked at this Skill so far, and he hoped that would show in his Skill gains later.

  He took the same approach to his Carving training, taking his time and putting extra care into the moments that felt more pivotal, from mixing the bath he soaked the wood in to carefully sharpening his tools. He worked slowly, remembering Saphielle’s instruction to Hector: use the sharpness of the blade, not raw power to do the work. It was a more laborious and painstaking effort, but at the end, the breadboard he’d sculpted looked much smoother and cleaner than any he’d made before.

  He finished his training by working on his Arcane Lore and Battlesense, both of which were only a point away from leveling up. When he was done, he checked his notifications to see what sort of gains he’d gotten from his more carefully targeted efforts. He smiled as he saw that he’d gained 3 ranks in his Leatherworking and 2 in his Harvesting, bringing both to Student 6 – the largest gain he’d gotten so far in the Skill. He’d gained similar boosts to his Carving, Battlesense, Leadership, and Arcane Lore Skills, which pushed all of them into the Adept ranks:

  Skill Boosts!

  Skill Boost: Carving (T) has gained a level!

  New Rank: Adept 2

  Expert Level Ability: Craft items of Fine quality, using wood up to Rare rarity. You can craft items of greater quality by using wood of lesser rarity: for every rank lower of rarity you are using, the item’s base quality goes up one rank. You can also use woods of greater rarity by sacrificing quality in a similar manner.

  Arcane Lore (T) has gained a level!

  New Rank: Adept 3

  Adept Level Ability: Identify items up to Rare rarity. You have a chance to identify items of greater rarity equal to your [(Int / 2) + this Skill’s level], -10% for each level of rarity above Exotic.

  Skill Boost: Battlesense (T) has gained a level!

  New Rank: Adept 3

  Adept Level Ability: Blindsense - When you suffer a debuff that affects your senses, such as Blindness or Deafness, your Battlesense replaces those senses, offsetting any penalties you might earn from the debuff. This functions only in combat, and once combat ends, the debuff penalties become active once more. This Ability has a chance equal to double your Skill level to penetrate illusions or magical veils.

  Skill Boost: Leadership (T) has gained a level!

  New Rank: Adept 2

  Adept Level Ability: +1 max party member. All party members gain a bonus to any Opposed Checks equal to half your Leadership Skill.

  Aranos was happy with the new boosts; he supposed that his new Carving rank meant that, if he wanted, he could try carving a Rough bow or staff from one of his Exceptionally rare wood branches – actually, thanks to his Artificer Title, it would be a Standard bow or staff – but he figured he’d rather wait and practice leveling the Skill up to Expert, first. That would probably let him make a Fine or even Excellent quality item, instead, which would be plenty for his purposes.

  He spent a bit more time below his mindscape, floating in the river of power that fueled it, watching the interactions between the tightly spinning stream of Primary mana at the center of the torrent and the relentless flood of his Enhanced mana. Tendrils of golden life and black void magic licked out to touch all of the Enhanced types, reinforcing his guess that each of those Enhanced aspects would combine with life and void in some way. Other strands of primary mana darted out randomly to touch the others, primarily spatial and the melding of spirit and vital mana. He resolved to look into those some other time; he didn’t want to sink too deeply into his aspects right now, since it would be easy to let the entire night slip past him.

  He rose from his mindscape and, seeing that everyone was just finishing their training, but Hector didn’t seem to be looking for him, reached into his inventory. He drew out the amulet he’d taken from the waystation outside Cendarta, which he’d failed to identify earlier. He held the amulet up, carefully Inspecting it, trying to parse out the streams of data that radiated from it as best he could. At the same time, he probed it with his Sense Mana Skill, feeling out the weave of the magic stored within.

  The first time he’d tried identifying the amulet, he’d only sensed a tiny bit of mana radiating from it; now, he understood why. The amulet was wrapped in Enhanced mana of every type, power woven tightly through it, with only a touch of life mana binding it all together. Back then, he’d been unable to sense Enhanced mana directly, but now, the necklace practically blazed with power. As he recognized the mana within it, a notification appeared before his eyes:

  Arcane Lore Success!

  You have identified:

  Periapt of the Grand Martyr

  Type: Necklace

  Rarity: Unique

  Quality: Artifact

  History: This amulet was created during the Feast of Virnal, when the citadel of Cendarta was overrun by the Nightmare Horde. It was used by Ilris Zylkian, the champion of that city to hold back the hordes when the walls were breached, allowing thousands of innocents to escape along the High Road. It was thought lost during that battle, yet apparently it was borne away from the city and eventually made its way into the meager hoard of a nameless kerruk in a lost waystation.

  Benefits: The wearer of this amulet can use its power to grant themselves a massive boost to their Stats. When a charge is used, the wearer’s Stats – including LP, SP, and Stamina – are doubled for five minutes. When the charge wears off, however, all of these Stats are reduced to 1% of thei
r normal maximum and only recover through normal rest and healing.

  Charged Item: This item has charges that cannot be replaced. Once its charges are used up, it loses its Enchantment forever.

  Charges Remaining: 1

  Unique Item: This is a unique item and cannot be replicated or Deconstructed.

  Limitations: This item will only function for someone expecting to give their life for the defense of others. Willingness to die is not sufficient to unlock this item’s powers; the wearer must believe they will die and be eager to do so if it means saving those others.

  He stared at the golden amulet for a full minute, reading and re-reading its description. He was holding in his hands an Artifact from the Feast of Virnal, a unique item that could never be replaced. The power it held was astounding, but the danger was equally formidable. He could see why it was called the Periapt of the Martyr; whoever used it had to believe they would die by doing so, and in fact they’d probably be killed once its effects wore off. If Aranos were to use it, for a time he’d be a magical powerhouse, but when the magic wore off, he’d have effective Stats of 1 or 2, which meant he’d probably be totally helpless. This was the weapon of last resort, no question about it.

  He returned the Periapt to his inventory with a sigh. He’d love to have been able to Deconstruct it and replicate the effect, but since it was a Unique item, that wasn’t possible. He understood why that was the case: if he’d been able to replicate that Enchantment, he’d have been able to make as many of these amulets as he wanted. While the effects of it were dangerous, they were a lot less so for a Traveler, who healed all Stat damage upon respawn. He imagined giving one of these to every Traveler in Eredain and leading them against creatures far too powerful for them – so long as they could kill the monster in five minutes or less, they’d be essentially unaffected by the backlash of it and would power-level the crap out of themselves. Even if they didn’t, they would be back, fully healed, in a few hours, ready to try again. This Enchantment was a game-breaker, no question about it.

  After replacing the Periapt, he took out Lythienne’s flawed memory stone, gazing at it curiously. The last time he’d examined it, it had rebuffed him fairly easily. Now, he hoped his understanding of Enhanced mana would let him gain a greater insight of how the stone worked, if for no other reason than to allow him to create a counter to it. The stone was deadly to use, stealing the target’s memories but also their life. Only Lythienne had been strong enough to withstand it, but it had driven even her insane.

  He closed his eyes and reached gently out to the jewel with his senses. The stone attempted to resist, but he could feel the shield of mind mana protecting it this time. The lattice was expertly done, so tightly woven that Aranos knew he couldn’t replicate it – at least, not yet – but he slipped his mind along it patiently. No construct was utterly perfect, not even one made by a Sorcerer of incredible power…

  There. His thoughts slipped into the tiniest crevice in the mana shield, a flaw so small that he’d never have noticed it a week ago, no matter how hard he looked. He trickled a touch of spirit mana into the crack, pushing it wider and holding it open. His mental probe slid into the depths of the gem, searching…

  “Are you awake, Liberator?” Rhys’ voice yelled from right beside Aranos, startling the Sorcerer and jarring his concentration. The tiny crack snapped shut, instantly severing his probing tendril and sending a brief spike of pain stabbing into his forehead.

  Aranos hissed in dismay and opened his eyes, his face angry. When he saw the Druid standing over him, though, his expression clearly embarrassed and nervous, the Sorcerer sighed. “Yes, I’m awake,” he groaned, replacing the stone in his pack and rising to his feet. “What’s up?”

  “Forgive me, Liberator,” the Druid stammered. “I did not mean…”

  “It’s okay, it’s not important. Just a project I was working on, but I can try again later. What’s going on?”

  “The Warrior says that the rest of our party are ready to return, but the passage will not open for them. Again, I apologize, but…”

  “No, you were right to get me,” Aranos waved off the apology. “What I was working on isn’t as important as letting them out of there.” He stretched and walked over to the glass bubble, touching it with his hand. Instantly, the face of a Parmassae appeared in it – whether the same one as before or a different one, Aranos honestly couldn’t say. The spirits all sort of looked alike to him, really.

  “Do you wish entry to the Library, Lord Evenshade?” the face asked calmly.

  “Actually, I’d like you to let my companions return here, if you don’t mind,” he replied, not bothering to complain or ask for the Parmassae to let the party come and go as they pleased. The ghostly librarians were polite, helpful, friendly – and as stubborn about who they allowed to access the Library as any creature Aranos had ever met.

  “Of course.” The dome began to swirl and soften, and in a few moments, the crystalline tunnel appeared, with Martina and Geltheriel standing at the end, their mouths indicating they were chatting about something even though no sound reached through the tunnel to reach the others.

  When the party was complete, Aranos stood up and cleared his throat. “First of all, I just want to say that you guys were all awesome today. Seriously, we did something today that armies failed to do repeatedly, and that’s pretty freaking impressive, if you ask me.”

  “Gee, thanks Dad!” Meridian’s voice spoke up cheerfully. “Does this mean you’ll let me borrow the car?”

  Aranos grinned as a chuckle of laughter rippled through the group. “Not you, sorry. I just cleaned the backseat.” The Travelers groaned and snorted at the comment, while the elves looked puzzled – all except for Saphielle, who frowned for a moment before nodding her head and smiling, clearly recalling his descriptions of cars and putting the innuendo together.

  “In any case,” Aranos went on, “I think we’ve got a really great opportunity, here, and we’re going to take it. Tomorrow morning, we’re going to hit Zoridos at its palace and, hopefully, take it out for good.”

  His proclamation was met with an astonished silence. Geltheriel frowned at the Sorcerer. “I am curious what opportunity you see that I do not, Oathbinder. As well, I am wondering how we can expect to survive a confrontation with the qualintar when it defeated us so easily last time.”

  “Two good questions,” Aranos nodded. “Unfortunately, I can’t answer them for you.” There was some muttered grumbling, but Aranos held up his hand.

  “Let me rephrase that. I want to answer them for you, because I have answers to both of those questions. The thing is, I can’t, because if I tell you – you might tell Lily.

  “Not deliberately,” he went on quickly. “Lily’s got an Ability that I didn’t tell you guys about because, well, I didn’t think it would be an issue. It’s called Dream Haunting.” As he spoke, the faces of the elves went pale, but the players other than Phil looked confused.

  Aranos sighed. “Let me ask you a question, and you might understand. How often do you have nightmares here in Ka? Nightly? Every few nights? Was that normal for you back in our world? Probably not.

  “See, Lily has the Ability to enter dreams and change them, turning them into nightmares. In those, she kind of controls the dream, and she’s been using it to get information from you all about what we’re doing, where we are, and what we’ve got planned.”

  “Wait a tick,” Longfellow protested. “I’ve had a few dreams like that over the past week. Are you saying – that Lily girl was inside my head?” Similar protests sounded around the room, and Aranos let them go for a minute or so.

  “Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m saying,” he finally spoke heavily. “I get that you’re probably pissed, and I don’t blame you, but I’ve got some good news. There are ways to keep her out, and I’m Skilled enough at them that I can train you. So, we’ll work on that.”

  “Why didn’t you do it before, then?” McBane asked quietly, a cold edge
to his voice. “If you could keep her out of our dreams…”

  “Because I didn’t suspect that until we faced her at the temple, mostly.” Aranos sighed. “When I was fighting with her, she all but told me she’d been haunting your dreams, but I thought it was a threat, meant to piss me off and make me act stupidly. Still, she knew about Geltheriel’s Cleansing Quest, which made me wonder. She’d also prepared the lanohtar at the tower with information about my spellcasting abilities, and somehow she’d been communicating with Zoridos without either Hector or Martina knowing.

  “I put it all together this morning. She’s been entering your dreams, getting information about what we’re doing, and using it against us. She can’t get into my dreams, and Geltheriel and Silma are protected because of their bonds to me, but the rest of you are vulnerable.

  “Even so, once I figured it out, I had to create a Spell that lets me train you, and I didn’t have that ability until after I Evolved. I’ve worked out the Spell, now, but I’ll warn you; it won’t be super pleasant.”

  The uproar rose once more, but Phil stood slowly. “I have a question. You told me before that when you’re traveling in dreams, you have to know something about the person you’re looking for. Since Lily really only knew you and Geltheriel and she can’t do this to either of you, how did she find us?”

  “She knew about you, brother,” Hector said softly. The others looked at him, and he sighed and glanced at Martina.

  “We talked about you,” the Ranger offered simply. “A lot, really. Liam asked for stories about our previous adventures, and we were happy to oblige. Obviously, you featured prominently in many of them, and when he asked about you, we didn’t see any reason not to talk about you.” She looked wryly at Hector. “Some of us a bit more positively than others, to be honest.”