Your choice is final and must be made now. Choose wisely, as you will now only gain a new Ability every five levels.
That wasn’t even an option. By this time, I really didn’t bother look back at any of the basic Abilities, and while Siphon and Disarm could be very useful, the chance to add more power to Bane’s already impressive capabilities was far more tempting, and I chose it without hesitation.
You have gained a level! – You have earned sufficient experience to advance to level 36.
You have gained three Attribute points. Two of your points have been automatically assigned to DEX and CHA. You may assign the remaining point to any other Attribute as you see fit.
Yep, Strength.
You have gained a level! – You have earned sufficient experience to advance to level 37.
You have gained three Attribute points. Two of your points have been automatically assigned to DEX and CHA. You may assign the remaining point to any other Attribute as you see fit.
And again, Strength.
You have gained a level! – You have earned sufficient experience to advance to level 38.
You have gained three Attribute points. Two of your points have been automatically assigned to STR and CHA. You may assign the remaining point to any other Attribute as you see fit.
At least that broke up the monotony of my decision-making process. I finally had something to consider. I’d focused on these two Attributes as they were my true strengths, but I didn’t want to become too one-dimensional either. Well, two-dimensional. Whatever.
It came down to hit points, so to speak. There were never enough to go around when you truly needed them, at least that’s what the faded memories in my mind told me, so I picked Constitution, and the notifications finally came to an end.
Obviously, after so many changes, I had to pull up my personal sheet and look myself over.
Dreya Dae
Sintári Female
Titles: Sintári, Empress
Level - 38
612611/631200
Health - 374/374 Aura - 746/946 Endurance - 374/374
Sintári – Sintári interact with their surroundings in unusual ways. The effects of these interactions can be unpredictable
Class – Warden – Wardens gain a 10% bonus to skills associated with nature or which have natural effects
Specialization – Protector
Mastery –
STR - 46 (+4)
CON - 31 (+3)
DEX - 28 (+2)
INT - 26 (+2)
WIS - 25 (+2)
CHA - 54 (+5)
Abilities
Ignore Armor – Your next arrow will ignore a portion of the target’s armor. Cost – 20 Aura. – 36%
Stun – Your next arrow has a chance to stun its target on hit. Cost – 20 Aura. – 35%
Block – You may attempt to use your bow to parry a single melee attack. Cost – 20 Endurance. – 20%
Swarm – Your next arrow duplicates itself in flight. Cost – 20 Endurance and 20 Aura.– 47%
Flurry – Perform three rapid strikes with a bladed weapon. Cost – 30 Endurance. – 42%
Parry – Chance for your blades to block next melee attack targeted at you. Cost – 20 Endurance. – 43%
Hamstring – The next arrow fired has a chance to cripple your opponent. Cost – 20 Aura. – 32%
Hilt Bash – Stun your opponent with a successful hilt strike from your bladed weapon. Cost – 30 Endurance. – 41%
Blood Price – Your arrow inflicts a damage-over-time bleed effect. Cost – 30 Aura.- 37%
Blind – Your next arrow has a chance to inflict blindness on a successful hit. Cost –30 Aura. – 37%
Achilles Strike – Cripple your target with a slash of your bladed weapon. Cost – 30 Endurance. – 41%
Penetrator – Advanced Ability – Your arrow pierces through armor easily. With increased proficiency it may penetrate through even greater barriers. Modifier – Strength. Cost – 60 Aura. – 20%
Disable – Advanced Ability – A successful strike of your blade to an extremity renders the affected limb completely useless until healed. Modifier – Strength. Cost – 60 Endurance. – 41%
Shockwave – Advanced Ability – Your arrow explodes on contact, dealing minimal damage but generating a stunning Shockwave in a radius around its detonation. Size and scope of this effect increase with proficiency. Modifier – Strength. Cost – 120 Aura. – 27%
Sintári Abilities
Natural Affinity – The Sintári’s unique connection with the natural world may manifest itself in random ways at times. While these effects are generally beneficial they are also typically outside the direct control of the Sintári. Modifier – Charisma.
Control – Effect varies, applies to all Sintári Abilities. – 68%
Protector Abilities
See Truth – Twice per day, the spoken words of your target become visible to you, allowing you to see the truth held within them. Strength and duration of this effect increase with proficiency. Cost – 60 Aura. Modifier-Wisdom. – 44%
Spells
Enhanced Sight – May be cast on self or ally. Improves visual acuity of the recipient in dark or obscured conditions. Cost – 20 Aura. – 52%
Create Trap – Place a magical trap upon an area. Size, type, and trigger of traps is determined by your proficiency. Cost – 40 Aura. – 53%
Elemental Arrow – Your next arrow is imbued with elemental energy and causes additional elemental damage accordingly. Cost – 30 Aura. – 28%
Spike – Launch Ice Spike(s), delivering bonus cold damage on a successful hit. Cost – 40 Aura. – 20%
Bolt – Release a Bolt of pure Lightning at your target(s). Cost – 40 Aura. – 27%
Find Weakness – Highlights vulnerable points on the target. Modifier – Intelligence. Cost – 80 Aura. – 20%
Summon Elemental – Summons an Elemental creature. If you succeed in binding it to your will, the creature will serve you faithfully until the spell’s expiration. Modifier – Charisma. Cost 100 Aura. – 40%
Shield – May be cast on self only. Manifests a forward-facing barrier against incoming projectile attacks. Duration and resistance of the barrier are based on proficiency and modifier value. Modifier – Constitution. Cost – 80 Aura. – 24%
Skills
Bow – 58%
Critical Hit – 45%
Blades – 51%
Long Sword – 50%
Short Sword – 53%
Dagger – 41%
Critical Hit – 44%
Two-Handed – 57%
Pole Arms – 14%
Spear – 23%
Armor – 43%
Medium Armor – 45%
Perception – 55%
Environmental – 56%
Identify Enemy – 51%
Identify Person – 54%
Combat Dodge – 26%
Subterfuge – 41%
Stealth – 41%
Find Trap – 20%
Disarm Trap – 20%
Set Trap – 20%
Manipulation – 55%
Persuade – 67%
Barter – 40%
Survival – 24%
Tracking – 27%
Identify Creature (Beasts) – 19%
Skinning – 16%
Field Dress – 15%
Alchemy – 19%
Herbalism – 31%
Potion Craft – 27%
Lore – 8%
Identify Magical Item – 14%
My notifications told me that I’d killed dozens and gotten full credit for several dozen more. In addition, there was the Commander’s Bonus and the quest rewards I’d received, yet I’d only gained five levels. While it was nothing to complain about, and far more than I’d been able to achieve during my long months of governing, it was obvious that advancing from here on was going to be a very slow grind.
I wondered how the players had done it—there had to have been some higher-level dungeons or raids for them to undertake.
I couldn’t imagine slugging through the ludicrous number of typical quests it would take to earn even a single level at this point. And without a war, I wondered if it was even possible for me, as Empress, to get the XP I needed to gain even a single additional level. It wasn’t a very productive thought, so I tucked it away and moved on to something more positive.
Once I added the 27 points I’d gotten from Saibra’s kills, I was very impressed with my progress. In addition to the stat and level gains, I’d been able to increase a number of my proficiencies. The fact that I had relied on the God-forged arrows for the most part had limited my gains with my bow talents, but their power more than made up for that small inconvenience. My gains with the blade talents were even more satisfying, and if I kept it up, I might even challenge Saibra to another round of sparring before too long. Not that I thought I might win, but I’d at least put up a better fight than I’d been able to before.
Speaking of Saibra, she and I needed to talk—I needed to know what had compelled her to watch me inflict pain on that woman, and if she’d experienced the same thing I had when her oath had been invoked.
As I closed the UI, the inside of my tent came back into focus, resolving into clarity from the hazy background it had been just a moment before. Tási was staring back at me as my eyes adjusted to the environment, surprising me just a little.
“Please don’t do that,” I asked her gently. “It’s weird to come out of that and see you staring at me.”
“Sorry,” she apologized, somewhat unconvincingly. “I just find it interesting to watch you when you’re in… whatever that is.”
“You can watch, Tási,” I replied softly. “I don’t mind that. Just… maybe… stay off to the side a little so you’re not staring me in the face when I come out.”
“Wow, you really are better now,” she commented.
“Better?” I asked, unsure of what she meant.
“Less of a bi… Nicer than you’ve been in the past week or so,” she replied cautiously. “You’ve been snapping at me for every little thing lately.”
“I was able to let go of a lot of my rage just now,” I reminded her. “I feel really calm. Better than usual, in fact. I think I might have released even more than I needed to. I almost feel like a different person; like I’m missing something.”
“I like this Dreya,” she snuggled up to me. “Can we keep her?”
“For a little while, at least,” I said as I curled up with her for a few moments.
I sent her a few soft tendrils while we lay together peacefully for a while, but the two additional loose ends I’d discovered in my notifications kept itching at the back of my mind. Eventually, I unwound myself from Tási’s arms and asked her to bring Saibra to me, letting Tási know only that her oath had been triggered, and that Saibra and I needed to discuss the issue privately.
I sat in one of the chairs beside the small table we had in our tent while waiting for Saibra to join me. Our talk might be a difficult one in many respects, and the soft cushions of my bed were certainly no place for such discussions.
Saibra entered alone a short time later, and I was grateful that Tási hadn’t made things more difficult for me by trying to work herself into our conversation. Things could go quite smoothly, but some of what I needed to discuss with Saibra would be delicate, so I appreciated the privacy Tási gave us.
“I need to understand what made you want to watch that,” I began when she sat across from me.
The subject of my question was obvious. The torture I’d inflicted was disturbing in itself, I knew that well enough, but watching it after having it perpetrated on yourself had to have been a difficult thing, even considering Saibra’s disconnect with Insleí.
“I can’t explain that to you,” she said without hesitation. “I don’t even know if I understand the reasons myself. But once I’d seen it, I felt like I’d completed a circle somehow. Insleí will never be completely gone from me, but she’s well and truly dead now.”
I had no need to follow up on what she’d said—Saibra had declared herself to me before, and now she’d slain her own version of the dead man inside her as well. I understood, without any further explanation, what was going on in her mind. More than perhaps anyone else in this world ever could, and perhaps even more so than she did herself. There would come a time when I could try and heal her, and when that time came, I had a feeling that I wouldn’t have any trouble at all stitching together the fractured pieces of Saibra’s core.
“That’s good enough for me,” I replied, surprising her. She clearly expected a deeper inquiry, but that simply wasn’t necessary for me to understand what she was experiencing.
“Your kills belong to me now,” I broached the more delicate topic. “I received your boon once before, but there were so many today that I actually felt the effects this time. Did you experience anything similar?”
I’d never seen Saibra look the least bit uncomfortable, but that changed in an instant. She hesitated, then fidgeted in her seat for a moment, avoiding my gaze the entire time. I wasn’t about to make the mistake of sending her a tendril of comfort—I’d learned that lesson all too well. But I did take her hands in mine, with my gloves still on, of course, and the simple gesture managed to coax the words out of her.
“I felt you take my kills as well,” she whispered without lifting her eyes. “It… stirred feelings inside me that I never thought I’d experience.”
Fuck. Not what I wanted to hear.
“Insleí had a very hard life, Dreya,” she finally looked up at me as she spoke, using my name for one of the few times I could remember. “She suffered greatly, and never knew love or affection. Her life was one of pain and misery, and once she had the power to inflict those on others, it was all she ever wanted to do. She committed a great many vile acts to that end. I’m glad that she’s dead, and I’m grateful to you for helping me kill her. Her death gave me a chance to have a better life than Insleí would have ever allowed me to have, but even though I’m free of her now, I still bear all of her scars and the burdens of the life that she led.”
“I have no idea what to do with the feelings I’ve received,” her fingers trembled in mine as a single tear trailed down her cheek. “Truthfully, I don’t even know what they are. I want to call them ‘devotion,’ but I can’t even tell you what that means.”
Saibra was a newborn in many ways, especially when it came to the concept of experiencing emotion. From the little she’d said, it was apparent that Insleí’s life had denied her exposure to any even remotely warm feelings. So, it was no wonder that she’d been unsettled and probably even overwhelmed when she first experienced the consequences of her oath.
“If you experienced anything similar to what I did, then devotion is an accurate description for what we both felt,” I held her gaze as I spoke. “I have the feeling that your oath will only strengthen the bonds between us, and what that means will change over time as our relationship does.”
“We’ve talked vaguely about our future, Saibra,” I decided to reveal some of what Nentai had told me to her. “You should know that the time will come when we will be closer than most people can even imagine. There’s nothing you need to hide from me or feel uncomfortable talking about.”
“How do you know this?” She asked me with a sense of urgency.
I told her almost everything Nentai had let me know, save for the bits about the Táriel. I was determined to keep that secret between Líann and myself. I told her of the Tári and Nentai’s theory that Saibra was one of them, just waiting for the time when she could manifest her own special powers.
“You can speak to me about anything, without shame or fear,” I finished my explanation. “We are bound together already, Saibra, even if we don’t take the last few steps to finalize that union for many years.”
“I… don’t know how to be that way with someone,” she whispered.
“Then why were you so forward with me?” I asked, somewhat startled, as I recall
ed the occasion when she’d bluntly offered herself to me.
“You do understand the concept of a bluff, right?” She actually flushed slightly with the admission.
“I will get you back for that,” I replied, gripping her fingers tightly. “When the time is right.”
That got her attention.
Saibra pulled away, but I held her hands firmly in mine. She was no weakling, but at least where strength was concerned, I was more than a match for her, and she gave up rather quickly.
“We will figure things out,” I said, letting her off a little easier than I’d planned. “I promise to not make you too uncomfortable; you probably have plenty of time before that happens anyway.”
“It will not be easy for me,” she confessed.
“Nothing truly worthwhile is ever easy, Saibra,” I gave her hands a quick squeeze before letting go.
The delicate conversation had pushed her nascent emotional boundaries to their limits, but I’d covered everything we need to discuss, so I let Saibra depart with those final words. After being made so uncomfortable, she was more than willing to make a hasty retreat and practically scurried away in a rather un-Saibralike fashion.
Her quick withdrawal actually brought a smile to my face—the woman was like a walking contradiction at times. She was an accomplished blade master and a ruthless killer but lacked even the slightest ability to deal with any of her real emotions, and while there was some humor in that, I realized that there was danger as well. The link between us had already been made, even if it had yet to be completed. Should she ever truly stumble, or need me, I would have to come to her aid, regardless of the consequences. Consequences that I didn’t even want to imagine if a moment like that occurred while I still had all four of my Tári. It was yet another problem that I chose to ignore, since there really was no other option for me at the time. That left only Bane for me to deal with, and I called him to me as I stepped outside into the cool night air.
He answered my summons almost immediately, as I knew he would. I’d felt him flying in lazy circles above me the entire time I’d been inside my tent, just waiting for the moment when I’d be ready for him.
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