Beastborne
Page 9
Certainly more useful than Drill Branch. Yes, that’s what he’d do. Drill Branch and Blinding Spit would be swapped out for Divebomb and Feather Barrier.
The grin that began to spread on Hal’s face was stolen by the column of light that fell upon the small half-sunken island at the lake’s center.
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Each step of Elora’s was met with a slick marble block that rose from the water’s dark depths to greet her next stride. After a few tentative steps, and a glance back at Ashera, she gained confidence and picked up her pace. She made the small partially submerged island soon after.
The place must have possessed some ancient significance. Weather-worn friezes, sculpted columns, and statues with smoothed features dotted the island along with crumbling walls and empty archways.
Never letting her guard down, Elora nocked an arrow to her bow and tested the pull to make sure she was ready for a fight. The Quest had been strangely vague about why she should come here. But she had never known a Quest to lead her astray before and so she followed it.
Even with what happened to Ashera, she felt confident that she made the right decision to come out here. Ashera had knowingly broken faith with her Covenant. She would have suffered the effects sooner or later regardless of where she was.
In fact, Elora was glad Ashera came with them. If not for Hal’s timely intervention, she doubted her childhood friend would still be with them. Losing a Class was a small price to pay for one’s life.
All Ashera’s talk about staying behind would need to be addressed later. She could be remarkably stubborn when she wanted to and the best way to deal with it was to let her think she got her way.
Any opposition would only make her dig in her heels even harder. Elora could make Ashera see reason, she was sure of it. But that would have to wait until they went back to the caravan.
Until then Ashera would be expecting somebody to object. So Elora would smile and nod, let the tall lamora think she got her way until they returned to the safety of the caravan.
A day, maybe two, and she’d show Ashera the error of her thinking. As if any of them would object to her coming with them even if she couldn’t heal. Elora kicked a broken chunk of stone in frustration. It skipped off a wall with such force that the stone broke apart into powder.
The nerve of Ashera! As if the only reason they tolerated her presence was because of her ability to heal.
Elora turned into an empty archway, breathing deep to calm herself but just as she took her first breath it got stuck in her throat.
This must have been a great temple once because several of the walls sported broken stained glass window panes and tall fluted columns. At the center of this open-air room was an altar. Upon which a tiny, utterly adorable creature sat making small pathetic whimpering noises.
All about the altar were black shadowy creatures with stretched and tortured faces. They reached toward the small brown creature, and every time it wailed a heart-wrenching cry.
Elora felt her heart break at the depth of fear in that single note. At the same time, a bright flash of light pushed the creatures back. They staggered backward on twisted legs before resuming their march toward the small brown-furred creature on the altar.
Quest Updated: Master the Wilds.
You’ve found the source of the disturbance. A creature of rare purity stands before you, assaulted by twisted unnatural creations. Put down the foul beasts and restore balance to this temple.
Objectives:
Locate the source of the disturbance.
Defeat the unnatural beasts.
Rewards:
Ranger Evolution
Komachi
5,000 Experience Points
Elora didn’t need the prompting of her Quest to take aim and let fly an arrow right into the back of one of those strange creatures. It occurred to her that in the month since she met Hal, she had seen more disturbing abominations than ever before in her twenty-plus years of life.
She prided herself as being a woman that didn’t draw unnecessary conclusions but it was hard not to see some kind of connection.
None of that stayed her hand though as she fired again. A second arrow leaped into the air right behind the first before it ever reached its mark. The two struck the rear of one of those twisted creatures at almost the same time.
You use Double Shot.
The [Corrupted Spirit | Lv.30] takes 235 points of damage.
The force of the impact knocked one of the Corrupted Spirits into the fellow beside it. Both went sprawling to the moss-covered stonework with a screeching cry of rage.
Three more Corrupted Spirits turned to regard this new threat. They sent oblong darts of darkness toward her. No novice to battle, Elora was already moving before her shots ever hit their mark.
The black darts of darkness impacted on the stone behind her, crumbling a column and half-collapsing a stone wall from the impact.
Elora hopped up on a pile of stone rubble, using it as a launching point before it had time to shift and crumble beneath her footing. Up she went, looping her bow over her shoulder to free her hands as she collided bodily with one of the remaining free-standing walls.
Pulling herself up and onto the narrow ledge above, Elora unslung her bow and gathered her mana into the next three arrows she drew from her quiver at once.
Each of the steel-tipped arrows glowed an ominous deep blue. This was one ability that Elora hardly needed to aim for. She gave a cursory look to make sure she wouldn’t hit the creature on the altar and let fly at the cluster of twisted creatures.
The arrows spiraled around each other, their heavy concentration of mana causing them to create turbulent swirls through the air in a deep azure glow as they streaked toward their targets.
Recently acquired, Empowered Scatter Shot gave her Scatter Shot a significant power boost. Released from the worry of her close-range allies taking damage from her attack, she was free to use it to her heart’s content despite the heavy MP cost.
One after the other, the arrows collided with the cluster of twisted creatures. Each let off a dull thumping explosion that grew exponentially and when one explosion touched another, it created a third explosion. Each burst of mana created a wave of azure light that burned and buffeted any nearby creatures.
The chain of explosions rippled through the five creatures, obliterating the two who were directly hit first and blasting the remaining three to the corners of the room. There they remained, dazed and confused.
You use Empowered Scatter Shot.
The [Corrupted Spirit | Lv.32] takes 285 points of damage.
The [Corrupted Spirit | Lv.31] takes 302 points of damage.
The [Corrupted Spirit | Lv.30] takes 340 points of damage.
The [Corrupted Spirit | Lv.30] takes 336 points of damage.
The [Corrupted Spirit | Lv.32] takes 287 points of damage.
You defeat the [Corrupted Spirit | Lv.30].
You gain 750 Experience Points.
You defeat the [Corrupted Spirit | Lv.30].
You gain 750 Experience Points.
At 150 MP per use, Empowered Scatter Shot was a potent ability. But one she could only use three times with her current MP.
Drawing another arrow from her quiver, Elora picked her way carefully to the now cleared altar and approached the small creature. Up close she could see it was a small otter. The terrified thing looked up at her with fear that slowly melted into hope.
It chirped at her like a bird and squeaked like a child’s toy in exuberant happiness. Elora clambered up onto the altar, straddling the otter and taking aim at the creatures that were now regarding her with renewed hatred.
The otter gripped Elora’s calf and shimmied up her leg with surprising alacrity. As the creatures began their charge, Elora put an arrow square into the leading creature’s leg. It staggered and tumbled to the stone floor.
Your ranged attack hits the [Corrupted Spirit | Lv.32] squarely for 198 points of damage.
A
dditional Effect: Stagger
Elora reached for another arrow but found one already offered to her, held up by a tiny, surprisingly dexterous otter paw. Trying not to question her good fortune, Elora nocked the arrow and let fly.
It wasn’t until she saw the arrow jump into the air in front of her that she realized something was off about this one. It was wreathed in gleaming golden light. The otter, now clinging tenaciously to her hip, squeaked and chirruped excitedly.
As the arrow struck its mark, Elora’s vision was washed out in a column of all-consuming light that seared her eyes. The creatures trapped within the wide pillar of light were vaporized on contact. They remained only as shadows within the light like a mirage.
You use Komachi’s Super Special Ultra Attack Bad Guy Seeker Arrow.
The [Corrupted Spirit | Lv.32] is destroyed.
You gain 800 Experience Points.
The [Corrupted Spirit | Lv.31] is destroyed.
You gain 775 Experience Points.
The [Corrupted Spirit | Lv.32] is destroyed.
You gain 800 Experience Points.
Quest Completed: Master the Wilds.
You’ve found the source of the disturbance. A creature of rare purity stands before you, assaulted by twisted unnatural creations. You put down the foul beasts, restored balance, and saved Komachi. Speak to the pobul to receive your reward.
Objectives:
Locate the source of the disturbance.
Defeat the unnatural beasts.
Rewards:
Ranger Evolution
Komachi
5,000 Experience Points
Elora blinked hard to clear her eyes of the bright afterimages. She could hardly believe what she saw. While she was more than capable of taking on the Corrupted Spirits, that single enchanted arrow practically trivialized her very presence.
No stranger to magical artifacts, Elora looked down at the sweet wide-eyed and adoring gaze of the otter. “Who are you?” she asked her, not expecting an answer and wondering what a pobul was.
“Komachi!” squeaked the excitable little otter.
Scanning her surroundings for any further threats, Elora was thoroughly caught off-guard when the little otter spoke. She started, staring down at her with sheer amazement.
“You… are Komachi?” she asked, keeping her blue-gray eyes intent on the otter in case she had somehow misheard.
The otter looked up with too-intelligent dark eyes and just as Elora was sure she was hearing things, the little otter nodded while making a non-committal sound in the back of her throat.
Then the otter scrambled, far faster than it should have been able to, up Elora’s hip and onto her shoulder. The otter butted her furry head into her cheek and cried out, “Pet me!”
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With one last look around to make sure they were safe, Elora slung her bow over her free shoulder and cradled the otter in her arms. Immediately the furry, loaf-shaped creature rolled onto her back and wiggled in her grasp.
“Pet me!” she cried again, almost indignantly.
“You can speak,” Elora stated plainly while she shifted the otter to the crook of her arm and began to pet her belly. “Are you the ‘pobul’ I’m supposed to speak to?”
She doubted it. Not that Elora knew what a pobul was. It wasn’t a word she was familiar with.
The fact that an otter – or any animal for that matter – could speak was unheard of.
Even in a world full of magic, that just didn’t happen. Sure, there were spells of illusion and enchantment that could make it seem like an animal was capable of talking but they were just that. Illusions.
The otter nodded. “Of course I am! You see another pobul around?”
“I don’t know what a pobul is,” Elora admitted, hopping down from the altar.
“I’m a pobul,” the otter explained. She waved a paw at Elora and her Quest prompt reappeared.
Quest Completed: Master the Wilds.
You’ve found the source of the disturbance. A creature of rare purity stands before you, assaulted by twisted unnatural creations. You put down the foul beasts and restored balance and saved Komachi. You have spoken with Komachi and are now blessed by her presence. This pleases you.
Completed Objectives:
Locate the source of the disturbance.
Defeat the unnatural beasts.
Rewards:
Ranger Evolution
Komachi
5,000 Experience Points
Elora stared at the prompt. ‘This pleases you.’? I don’t think I’ve ever had a prompt tell me how I feel.
The otter, which was apparently a pobul – whatever that was – and went by the name Komachi looked suspicious. She cast her sweet and adoring gaze anywhere but at Elora, like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
She was about to press the issue when another prompt flashed across her vision.
Fabled Class Evolution: Wildsmaster
Masters of all things natural, Wildsmasters make it their mission to restore the world to its proper order. They abhor the unnatural and twisted corrupted abominations that plague the land and are capable of designating specific entities as targets for eradication.
Wildsmasters employ Familiars, magical pacts with animals that further increase their power by providing unique strengths and buffs. A Wildsmaster’s Familiar cannot die and is capable of mental communication over a distance of three hundred feet.
If you accept this Evolution all of your previous Skills, Spells, Traits, and Abilities will be preserved but your Ranger Class path will forever change to that of a Wildsmaster.
Do you accept?
Elora studied the description for a good long while. Long enough that it seemed Komachi was getting impatient with her. The little pobul nibbled and chewed playfully on her leather armor, doing no real damage despite her increasing ferocity.
While she loved Ranger, it did always feel a little… off. But with two other Classes already taken, she couldn’t afford to take a fourth Class.
Novice, of course, didn’t count as a Class thankfully. If it did, a lot more people would be screwed. And Elora would likely find herself in the unenviable position of having two diametrically opposed Classes: Thief and Paladin.
Something about Wildsmaster just felt right to her. Particularly its use of Familiars. An animal-lover at heart, Elora always wanted a pet but could never convince her “allergic” mother to let her have one.
It was one of the things – the others being the love of nature and her skill with a bow – that made her feel closer to her father. He had plenty of woodland “friends” as he called them. Never “pets.”
Animals would come to him with a little trilling whistle or a snap of his fingers as if they were waiting around just for that signal to be able to be close to him again.
Elora understood that.
Her father had a way about him that was comforting and soothing. She wished he was still around. How she missed him.
Focusing, Elora tamped down on her emotions and reread the prompt once more. Class Evolutions were rare and becoming a Fabled Class was even rarer.
As she mulled over her decision, a permanent one that would forever change the future of her Class, she noticed that Komachi had stopped gnawing on her armor. Instead, as if she could sense the tumult of her emotions, the pobul was hugging her forearm with all four paws and chirping quietly.
Elora’s heart nearly burst in her breast. She reached a free hand over to her and pet her head, scratching at her softy, downy fur affectionately and drawing more adoring chirps and squeaks from Komachi.
She had no idea if Komachi was just some sort of Questgiver and would disappear after she accepted the rewards – something she most definitely did not want – but the small interactions with the pobul made the decision for her.
In so short a time, Elora became completely enamored with the small otter-like creature. From her adorable black nose to her creamy white belly and the way the fur on her
face split between warm cocoa brown on top to cream halfway down.
As she made her decision the prompt once more flashed in front of her.
Fabled Class Evolution: Wildsmaster
You gain 5,000 Experience Points.
You gain a Familiar Pact: Komachi.
Familiar Pacts
As you Level Up along the Wildsmaster path you will gain access to Familiar Pacts. These magical pacts allow you to tie your lifeforce with another creature, elevating it to something beyond any mortal animal. Creatures that were previously unable to understand thought and emotion will be able to speak and converse with you both mentally and otherwise. Each creature gains a Feyworld, a private pocket dimension that they may retreat to at their leisure.
Each Familiar is bound to their Feyworld and to you, their Wildsmaster. Magics that banish extraplanar beings will dispel any summoned Familiars, sending them back to their tiny pockets of paradise. If a Familiar is reduced to 0 HP, they will return to their Feyworld to recover and can only be called forth once more when they are fully healed.
Familiars come with their own magic, powers, and attributes. There are four currently known types of Familiars: Offense, Defense, Support, and Utility.
Offense Familiars specialize in dealing as much damage as possible with little regard to their own safety. They see their role as being your sword. And they take to the role with an almost religious fervor.
Defense Familiars are the opposite, they prioritize the safety and defense of yourself and any targets you designate them to defend. Their attack power is weak but their ability to keep others from harm is second to none. They act as a veritable wall from which any Wildsmaster can rain down havoc upon their enemies with impunity.