by Aleron Kong
Richter was proud of the fact that not one of his people suggested going back to the village. All of the guards were committed to protecting their new home. He spent about half an hour walking through the warband, clapping his men and women on the back and telling them how proud he was to fight beside them. The chaos seed wasn’t sure how much good it did, but he thought he saw a bit of tension ease on many of their faces.
After they had been walking for a few miles, Richter reached into his bag and mentally summoned the item he wanted. A smooth blue-white gem appeared in his hand. He withdrew his hand and opened it. From inside the jewel, a soft, blue-and-white light shone forth. It was weak, barely brighter than a night light, but easily seen in the dark. The light refracted off of the edges of the gem. While he looked at it, the glow shifted somewhat as if the light source was rotating slowly inside of the jewel. Richter held it cupped slightly towards his chest so the light wouldn’t give away their position. Fascinated by the light show, he reached his mind towards it, and a prompt appeared.
You have found: Psi Crystal. Durability: 10/10. Item Cl…
Before he could even finish reading, he was attacked from above.
*What is that, master? What is it? It’s so pretty! Can I have it? I love it! What is it? Why aren’t you answering?*
“Because you’re not even giving me a chance to think,” Richter said in irritation. Why was it all women liked shiny things? Alma sounded positively manic! The dragonling was firing questions at him so fast he didn’t even have time to think, and then getting mad at him for not answering. Yet another feminine trait he was not happy to find applied universally, independent of species.
Alma had swooped down from where she was flying above him as soon as she saw the white-blue light. That would not have bothered Richter so much, except for the fact that she had landed on his head! Alma was so eager to see what he had, that she hadn’t even been completely careful with her claws. Quick as a flash, she had climbed down his front and down onto his arm.
In fear of dropping the psi-crystal, he had closed his fist, which was the only reason that she hadn’t already taken it. Even now, though, she was prying at his fingers with her arms to get to the gem. He shook his arm trying to dislodge her, but she wrapped her tail around his forearm and held on, tight as a tick. When Richter started shaking more vigorously, she quickly turned and shot a blast of air into his eye. With a startled ‘Ehh!’ he reeled back and, in his surprise, opened his hand. The dragonling wasted no time grabbing the crystal and launching off of his arm with a squeal of delight. She hung in midair, her wings flapping to keep her aloft.
*I LOVE it, master. Is it for me? Is it? IS IT?*
Richter was half bemused, half annoyed. He had never seen her act like this before, barring a spat they had had when she had first been summoned. Alma was much more evolved than she had been then, though, and he had never seen her so enamored with something before. It was definitely a curiosity, but he decided it was still a good practice to nip bad behaviors in the bud.
With a steely tone, he thought to her, *Alma. As your master, I command you to give me that crystal. Now!*
She looked up from the blue-white gem and started to object, *But-*
*I said now, my familiar. Do not snatch things from me. Am I understood?*
Somehow putting a petulant look on her draconian face, she flew closer and dropped the gem into his hand.
*I was only curious,* she thought to him. Her tone was a particular blend of apology and rebuke.
Sighing to himself, he held out his arms. *I know, love. Why don’t you rest with me while we look at it together?* Immediately mollified, she flew to him and found a comfortable perch on his right forearm, while he held the jewel in his left hand. Richter turned his attention back to the crystal.
You have found:
Psi Crystal
Durability: 10/10
Item Class: Scarce
Level: 34
Weight: 0.9 kg.
Traits: This crystal is the captured psychic energy of a level 34 Winged Koolari. This energy can be utilized by Mental creatures to boost their growth and stats. The energy may also be used by anyone with access to Mental magic to greatly augment their spells. It can also be used by Mental creatures to augment their capabilities for a short time. Any usage will consume the energy all at once. Further uses of this energy may be possible and will have to be discovered.
Mental magic, Richter thought to himself. So far, he hadn’t come across any spells like that. Then again, he realized, that meant absolutely nothing. He’d been in The Land for less than a year. There were probably countless things that he hadn’t heard about yet. As he thought more on it, he realized that he wasn’t exactly naïve to Mental magic. He had a Mental resistance that increased every time Alma leveled her Psi Bond ability. Richter had always assumed that the resistance was just to overall psychic-type attacks, but maybe it was specifically geared towards this Mental magic.
Curious, he asked her. Then he asked her again. Finally, he had to close his fist to get the enraptured dragonling to pay attention to him. She was initially annoyed that he had taken her new favorite bauble away, but then she focused and decided to engage in her favorite past time, teasing him.
*Oh, master. How do you not already know this? You should never be ashamed to ask me for help when you cannot understand basic concepts.* Her mental tone was one of complete self-satisfaction.
Unamused, he sent her a mental image of him telling the village hunters not to feed her anymore.
Her eyes widened slightly, and she continued on in a less mocking tone, *My Mental resistance works in two ways: direct and indirect attacks. For direct attacks, I can almost never be harmed by a Mental assault. Any damage I receive will be reduced by 100%. If the mental energy directed at me is massive, I still might succumb, but I have not detected any beings with that level of psychic ability since we have been together, master.
The second method is to resist indirect attacks. If I were to fly through a field charged with dangerous psychic energy, for instance, my tolerance would be determined by my base ability to resist such energy. That base resistance is determined by multiple factors. Two examples are race and Willpower. My 100% mental resistance would increase my base tolerance by a factor of ten. At 65%, your base resistance to indirect mental attacks would be increased by more than a factor of six.*
*I thought that you were completely immune to mental attacks,* Richter thought to her.
*No master. Mental elementals are immune to psychic attacks, and, in fact, such attacks only make them stronger. I am nearly immune.*
Richter thought about what he had just learned. If he had a 50% resistance to Fire magic, he still wouldn’t think it would be a good idea to stick his hand into a furnace. From how Alma was explaining it, that would be an example of indirect damage. Someone hitting him with a Fire spell or enchantment would be an example of direct damage. What she said made sense, but that didn’t mean he liked hearing it. It meant that his resistances were not as powerful as he had thought. As with all things in The Land, it seemed like resistance came with its own checks and balances. Still, better to know that to not, he reasoned.
Richter opened his hand again and turned his attention back to the gem. When he brought it closer to his face, the light got brighter. Alma cooed. The rotation occurring inside the jewel also seemed to speed up a bit. Excited, he brought it all the way up to his face, but the glow went back to its previous level of shine and movement. Frowning slightly, he lowered his hand again. The light grew brighter.
Thinking he understood, he moved the gem closer to Alma and the light continued to grow more intense and the rotation more agitated until it looked like a mini disco ball. The dragonling, for her part, kept her eyes glued to the gem. Richter stopped just short of touching her with the psi-crystal.
*Pick it up, my love,* he thought to her.
Not needing to be told twice, she grabbed it with her small arms and held it to
her chest. She half closed her eyes and crooned softly, clearly enjoying the presence of the psi crystal.
*Can you access the power inside of it?* he asked.
Alma opened her eyes. After a moment, she thought, *I think so, master. I think I could use it increase the strength of my Psi Blast or Brain Drain. Would you like me to try?* She sounded more than eager.
Remembering the prompt saying that augmenting her psychic abilities would use up the energy in one go, he quickly told her no and took the crystal back. He looked at it for a moment longer, then pressed it against her skin. A prompt appeared.
You have brought your Psi Crystal in contact with a Mental creature. Would you like to expend the energy to enhance your soul familiar? Yes or No?
He selected “Yes” and the light in the crystal stopped rotating. It focused into a beam that shone right on Alma’s face. Her jaws opened wide, and the beam narrowed into three distinct rays that led into her eyes and mouth. She drew a breath in, and the blue-white luminescence flowed out of the crystal and into her body in one large pulse. The crystal remained inert in his hand and Alma started to purr in pleasure. Another prompt appeared, and a feeling of satisfaction grew inside him.
Know This! Pure psychic energy can enhance the characteristics of your Psi Dragonling. Each level of your Psi Crystal equates to 1 Psi Points. Current Psi Points available: 34. Any unused Psi Points will be lost after 24 hours. At her current evolution, Alma has the following advancements available.
Name of Enhancement
Traits
Cost
Natural Armor I
Current Armor: 3
Increase the natural armor of your dragonling by +1
10
Natural Attack I
Current Attack: 5
Increase the melee attack of your dragonling by +1
10
Flight Speed I
Increase Flight Speed by 10%
10
Convert to Ability Points
Allows the Purchase of 1 Ability Point
10
Chameleon I
Your dragonling’s body will change color by 10% to match the surrounding environment
20
Convert to Characteristic Points
(Size, Race, etc adjustments still apply)
Str 5, Agi 33, Dex 34, Con 13, End 18, Int 73, Wis 73, Chr 18, Luc 18
Allows Purchase of one Characteristic Point that will be added to base value
10
Darkvision I
Gives Darkvision with a radius of 50 yards
10
Weak Psi Poison
Your dragonling’s teeth and claw now exude a psi poison. This does minimal damage, but makes concentrating more difficult. While the poison is active, the target is also more susceptible to psychic attacks.
10
Despite the stress of the recent attack, Richter couldn’t keep a smile from creeping onto his face. He could upgrade his familiar now!
*Do you see this, love,* he asked her.
She kept crooning in pleasure with her eyes half-lidded, but still answered, *Yes, master.*
*This might change everything,* he thought to her excitedly. *I don’t want to just make these decisions for you, though. Do you want to invest your own points?*
She didn’t respond, but instead just continued to lay on his arms, purring slightly. Shaking his head at her, he tapped one finger on top of her scaled head. Alma cracked one eye and looked at him, *You are my master. I trust you. In the future, if I want to allocate my points, I will. Thank you for allowing that. You are a wonderful master. Right now, what I truly want is for you to stop bothering me, though.* With that, she closed her eye and started purring again.
Did she just-? Did that just happen? Part of him wanted to treat her like a shake weight, but ultimately, he chuckled at her sassiness. She truly was his soul familiar. He turned his attention back to the options.
Weak Psi Poison seemed awesome. It basically would start her down the path of being a mage killer. If the effects got stronger as he leveled the enhancement, it should be hard for any caster to be effective once the poison got into their system. Even a moment of lost concentration could cause a spell to miscast. It might even backfire. As much as he loved his own magic, he hated it when enemies pointed magic at him.
Yeah, the poison was tempting, but it also meant she had to get within striking distance of dangerous enemies. Her little body somehow had one hundred and thirty health points jammed within it, but that could be gone in an instant if she was hit with a nasty spell. Darkvision, on the other hand, might give her a decided advantage in battle. He could always cast that spell on her himself, though, and she could summon mist lights at will.
Chameleon definitely seemed cool. Her smoky grey body was already great for hiding at night and in shadow but was easily seen during the day. Also, her ability to hide was based on conventional eyesight. As Darkvision proved, there were varied methods that creatures used to detect others in The Land. Her dark scales would be next to useless as camouflage against a kobold. If she could truly blend into her surroundings, it would greatly increase her ability to do recon and strike from concealment. That was probably why it cost twice as much to buy that enhancement. He realized that, awesome or not, Chameleon would have to wait.
He didn’t even consider Natural Attack. Alma’s offensive abilities were rooted in her psychic and magical abilities, anyway. The conversions, on the other hand, were definitely interesting. Convert to Characteristic Points drew his eye. The fact that he could finally see Alma’s stats was awesome. She was the definition of “skewed.” Her Strength was a low “5,” but her Intelligence and Wisdom were higher than his. It wasn’t too surprising as her Psi Bond ability gave both of the later characteristics a 60% bump. It was still startling to look at how her size and species caused such a discrepancy. Alma could pack a serious punch, but with her low health, she was still extremely vulnerable.
Convert to Ability Points was helpful in an obvious way. The dragonling only received one ability point per level she obtained. As higher levels were harder to achieve and as her abilities required more points as they advanced, Alma’s advancement was stalling. These crystals were going to breathe life back into her development, he thought with a smile. He took a look at her status page.
Name: Alma
Level: 37, 27%
Health: 130Mana: 730Stamina: 180
(Unused level points: 3)
Abilities:
Psi Bond – Lvl 5, points to next level: 4
Psi Blast – Lvl 3, points to next level: 3
Brain Drain – Lvl 7, points to next level: 7
Psi Channeling – Lvl 2, points to next level: 2
Can use:
Air Magic
Life Magic
Resistances:
Mental: 100%
Air: 50%
Life: 50%
Race: Psi Dragonling
Buying another ability point would cost ten of the thirty-four Psi Points he had to spend. He didn’t know how much buying a second one would cost, but if the cost only doubled, he could swing it. It meant he could upgrade any of her abilities except Brain Drain. As great as the experience was, though, he couldn’t have Alma just be a one trick pony. Also, when Brain Drain had reached level seven, it had gained the powerful new feature of capturing memories. If her other abilities “evolved” when they reached level seven, he was eager to see what else his familiar was capable of doing.
Looking at her status page helped him to confirm a decision he had been leaning towards anyway. His familiar needed to be protected. Richter switched back to Alma’s enhancement page and purchased Natural Armor I.
Total Psi Points Remaining: 24
Alma stopped relaxing on his arm and sat up. Blue-white light started to seep through her scales. Before Richter’s eyes, new scales grew out from the base of each of the old ones. They had a slight bit more sheen and appeared a bit thicker. The old scales fe
ll away, and Alma’s weight increased slightly, causing Richter’s arm to dip.
The entire process only took seven seconds. She looked more or less the same, but as Richter examined her, he noted slight differences. The ridges over her eyes were slightly more pronounced, and her snout seemed slightly longer. Alma stood up on her hind legs and flapped her wings, crying out slightly to announce her more dangerous presence to the world. He could see that the leathery skin of her wings appeared slightly thicker and let less light shine through.
*Fly for me, my love,* he thought to her.
Alma jumped off his arm and soared into the air. She flew in a circle above his head and, at his prompting, flew as quickly as she could from one end of the warband to the other. When she was done, she landed on his arm again.
*Do you feel any slower?*
*I did at first, master. My body feels a bit heavier, but then I found I could flap a bit harder than before. When I got up to speed, I was going as fast as I normally do.*
Richter was slightly relieved. His one hesitation with upgrading her armor was a fear that it would slow her down. As a small aerial creature, speed and evasion would be more important to her survival than the thickness of her scales. It was only because he could offset any velocity loss by purchasing Flight Speed I that he had been comfortable risking it. He was happy to see that her enhancement wasn’t a double-edged sword.
Richter accessed her enhancement table, and saw that it had changed slightly to reflect his purchase.
Natural Armor II
Current Armor: 4