by C. M. Carney
During our nice walk to the bridge I dumped 25 Attribute Points into Intelligence. It was a bold move putting all those points in one basket, but if I would ever get out of this damned time loop, it would be due to brains not brawn, and Analyze thrived on Intelligence. Plus, if the plan brewing in my brain worked, I’d soon refill that well.
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6
I was back where it all started. I folded, gave Seraphine a much larger tip than normal and swigged my mug of mead down in one gulp. A satisfied burp erupted from my innards, then I stood and raised my war hammer over my head. I had a plan.
“Time to grind.”
I poured Spirit into the war hammer and brought it down with terrific force onto Gaarm’s head. The idiotic look on his face as he realized what was about to happen was a gift I would have paid to see with several lives. In fact, I had done exactly that. The hammer crushed his skull amidst a flash of golden light. Brains and bits of skull exploded in a wide circle and an odd silence settled for the briefest of moments.
Then the screaming started, I swung my hammer down onto the dealer’s head. Now, technically that wasn’t the nicest thing to do, but he was an intensely irritating human.
You have earned 1,984 XP for slaying Gaarm.
You have earned 462 XP for slaying the Dealer
I got in a few more blows before Grimslee’s crossbow bolt took me in the neck.
☠☠☠☠☠
I did a bunch more grinding, both of my Order Magic and my Blunt Weapons skill. Using my Ordonian Bloodlust gift helped me get a bit further down my list of “People to Kill.” Each time I ended up dead, either from Grimslee’s crossbow or Gaarm’s buddies overwhelming numbers, or if I was a bit tired and didn’t feel like grinding, the good old-fashioned drown in the river method.
Once, after Rubik gave a particularly irritating non-answer, I even tried to send the quadrata into the next life, assuming it had one. That didn’t go so well. My hammer bounced off it and then it fired some kinda Order Magic death beam from its eye and burned me to a crisp. I even got a prompt about that.
Attention: Attacking servants of the Lords of Order in the Realm of Order is unwise. On their home plane their powers are multiplied by a factor of 10 while yours are reduced by a factor of 10.
“Good to know.” The cool thing was, the next time I had a chat with Rubik it didn’t seem to remember my previous faux pa. It even gave a satisfactory NO when I asked it if it was angry with me. Rubik was a nice cube.
I decided that it was time for a well-deserved vacation. Wanton murder was hard work, and I needed to relax and do some shopping. I opened my prompts.
You have earned 79,360 XP for slaying Gaarm (x40)
You have earned 9,240 XP for slaying the Dealer (x20)
You have earned 18,975 XP for slaying Mustachio (x15)
You have earned 17,265 XP for slaying Aegyptian Goon (x15)
You have earned 91,610 XP for slaying Gaarm’s Goon(s) (x80)
You have earned 29,352 XP for slaying a Fire Mage (x20).
You have earned 18,460 XP for slaying a Priest of Ferrancia (x20)
You have earned 60,920 XP for slaying the Agent’s Thrall (x40)
You have earned 43,060 XP for slaying Seraphine. (X20)
You have earned 24,550 XP for slaying Master Grimslee (x10)
“Holy Shit!” I said and looked across the table at Gaarm. “Gaarm ol’ buddy, I think I may be a bit unstable.”
“I don’t care dwarf, just call or fold,” Gaarm muttered.
“I’m Ordonian,” I said with a smile. “Beware my bloodlust.” Gaarm just stared at me and I tossed my card onto the table. “Fine, I fold,” I said and returned to my prompts.
You have reached Level 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14.
You have 25 unused Attribute Points.
You have 10 unused Perk Point. (5 New and 5 Previously Earned)
You have reached Level 19 in Order Magic.
You have reached Level 15 in Archery.
You have reached Level 15 in Blunt Weapons.
You have reached Level 7 in Stealth.
You have reached Level 6 in Dodge.
You have reached Level 12 in Light Armor.
You have reached Level 22 in Analyze.
Lex - Level 14
Ordonian
Deity: Cerrunos
Experience: 474,489
Next Level: 25,753
Stats
Health: 174
Stamina: 182
Mana: 199
Spirit: 174
Attributes
Strength: 23
Constitution: 19
Dexterity: 17
Intelligence: 41
Wisdom: 16
Gifts:
Player Tracking (Gryph)
Ordonian Bloodlust
Attribute Points: 25
Perk Points: 10
You have reached Apprentice Tier in Analyze. With that Tier boost, the skill has gained a new ability. You can now see the Strength(s) of anyone successfully Analyzed.
I was both amazed, and irritated, at my skill progression. Thrilled, cuz duh, look at me I was becoming a total badass, and I’d advanced to the Apprentice Tier in Analyze. Irritated because I was one level away from the Apprentice Tier in Order Magic. What kinda goodies would the next Tier open?
“I’m pretty sure somebody is messing with me.”
“No sir, you are just inebriated. There is no messing,” the dealer said, the last part with such disdain that I have no idea how Jeeves didn’t pull a muscle.
Now you know why I only felt mild qualms about killing the pompous fool. He was a dick. I gave him a small grumble as I considered my next move. It was time to spend some more points. I quickly put 15 points into Intelligence. I wanted more Mana. The other 10, I put into Constitution. If I was to survive, I needed to up my Health. Part of me realized how lucky I was, from a certain point of view. Other beings in the Realms would never have had the grinding opportunities I’ve had. Course they also had a little something called freedom. I kept my Perk Points in reserve until my plan was better formulated.
I’d lost track of how many times I’d lived and died. Had I been in this loop for weeks, months, decades? I had no clue. Apparently going all nut job and killing random people without consequence can skew one’s sense of reality. Once, as I stood in a room full of corpses covered in blood, I even had a crisis of conscious.
“I may be going a bit psycho.”
But, I had a solid estimate for the time from my rebirth until the Agent’s appearance at the door. It averaged 10 to 15 minutes. Various factors, including how active I was, whether I left the inn or stayed and the level of chaos inside the inn, seemed to alter this. But, until my evidence was more solid I’d assume I had 10 minutes of me time in each life.
It was time to change my strategy from mass murder to the kinder and gentler idea of learning about my fellow inn-mates. Maybe, in learning about them, I could gain allies, skills or weapons. I smacked my head in a duh moment. Why hadn’t I tried to loot any of my innumerable victims? I guessed that I wouldn’t be able to take the swag back in time, but you don’t know until you try.
It was time to use my new ability, so I Analyzed Gaarm.
Gaarm - Level 8
H: 183/S: 197/M: 112/ SP: 123. Gaarm is an Eldarian.
Strengths: Mark of Vex. - Immunities: Unknown. - Weaknesses: Unknown
I focused on the phrase Mark of Vex.
Mark of Vex
Vex is an Eldarian criminal syndicate with tendrils all across the planet of Korynn. It is a power player in the criminal underworld. The Mark of Vex is a magical tattoo that not only identifies the owner as a member of the organization but also grants a +1 bonus to Strength, Constitution and Dexterity as long as the bearer remains loyal to the organization.
“Well, well, well, Gaarm, you’re a made man.” The large Eldarian just stared at me in confusion, bordering on anger. Seraphine brought me another mug of mead,
but I told her to give it to Gaarm instead. The gesture seemed to allay his suspicions, and he returned his attention to his pals.
I opened my Analyze Perk Tree and dumped points into Know Desires, False Report 1 and Skill Resistance 2. Maybe now I’d be able to see what that Agent bitch wanted. And if not, I could lie to her and show her I was, say, a badass in ninjutsu, when I wasn’t. Okay, dumb example, but I always wanted to be Sho Kusogi. While potentially less fun, Skill Resistance 2 could be the key to my maybe surviving the Agent next time.
It was time to test out my new perks. I activated Know Desires. “Hey Gaarm, old buddy, old pal, why exactly are you a wanted man?”
“Cuz’ I kill pip-squeak dwarves like you who ask stupid questions,” Gaarm said, leaning forward in his chair with a murderous scowl.
“I’m Ordonian…” I said when a prompt window interrupted my words.
You have successfully used Know Desires on Gaarm.
Your Analyze level combined with your Intelligence was too much for his small mind to resist.
You not only know that Gaarm is lying, you know what he truly desires.
Gaarm has an unhealthy appetite for sexual relations with livestock.
You have been offered the Quest: Bounty for the Beast Humper.
Gaarm, Eldarian of the Vex, is not only a terrible man, he is also a creepy perv wanted for engaging in sexual relations with farm animals. Turn him into the proper authorities.
Difficulty: Moderate. Reward: 100 gold pieces. XP: 5,000
Wow, my first quest. I looked up at Gaarm. “Bestiality? Really Gaarm? Lay off the livestock buddy.”
The Eldarian coughed up some of his mead as anger and shock surged into his eyes. He pulled his dagger and jumped across the table at me, aiming to skewer my throat. I activated Dodge and his blade missed its mark, but still made a glancing blow against my robes. My Health bar dipped by about 10%, which annoyed me more than hurt me. I stood, powered up my hammer and crushed the idiot’s head.
You have earned 1,984 XP for slaying Gaarm.
Screams filled the room, and I shrugged. Guess my evolution to a kindler, gender Lex would have to wait. I swung my hammer in lazy arcs, not really caring who I killed or how many. I took some shots of my own and my Health bar ticked downwards.
You have earned 462 XP for slaying the Dealer.
You have earned 1,265 XP for slaying Mustachio.
You have earned 1,151 XP for slaying Aegyptian Goon.
After a minute of this another well-aimed crossbow bolt split my Adam’s apple. Nice shot, I thought and fell to the ground, blood flowing from my ruined throat.
I died.
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7
I was back, again. It was time to enact Plan 2.0, Make Friends. I scanned the room and my eyes fell to the twitchy fire mage. I know what you’re thinking, that guy is a nut job. Yes, he is, but he also knew magic and maybe, just maybe, he would teach me. I needed to understand the weird pyro, so I Analyzed him with Know Falsehoods.
Arno Malik: Level 9 - H: 178/S: 163/M: 175/SP: 124
Race: Aegyptian
Arno Malik is the seventh son of a minor noble family from Gypt.
Strengths: +20% Fire Damage. - Immunities: Unknown. - Weaknesses: Unknown
You have successfully used Know Desires on Arno Malik.
Your Analyze level combined with your Intelligence was too much for his unstable mind to resist.
You now know that Arno just wants love and forgiveness. He wants to belong after his obsessive love of fire caused the accidental death of his entire family.
You have been offered the Quest: Bounty for the Pyromaniac.
Arno Malik of Gypt, is wanted for questioning in the matter of the death of his entire family in a mysterious fire. Turn him into the proper authorities.
Difficulty: Moderate. Reward: 100 gold pieces. XP: 5,000
No wonder the dude is so twitchy. I felt bad for him, and unlike Gaarm, had no desire to turn him in. But, at the moment I couldn’t let sentiment get the better of me. Arno had skills that I needed.
I chatted the guy up over several lifetimes and eventually learned what he wanted. He didn’t want money. He didn’t care that I threatened to tell the constable about him. He didn’t even want a date with Seraphine. Like I said the guy was weird. I finally realized that what he wanted was a friend, a comrade-in-arms, someone to make him feel less psycho and alone.
“So the deal is, I teach you Fire Magic,” he said, eyes glowing with an internal fire. “And then we burn this place to the ground with everyone in it?”
“Yup,” I said and that little voice deep inside chirped up again. Nice job staying away from going psycho dude. “Shut up,” I said.
“Excuse me?” Arno asked, his eyes squinting in suspicion.
“Nothing let’s burn this joint,” I said with a cheery thumbs up.
Arno jumped to his feet with such excitement that he almost knocked Seraphine over. She gave him an irritated look, but then went on her way. Arno stared after her.
“Sure you don’t want to let her live?” I asked. He shook his head no and gave me a creepy leer. “Well, okay then,” I said, and Arno placed his hands on my head. A raging inferno leapt up my arms and into my mind.
You have learned the spell Flames.
Sphere: Fire Magic - Tier: Base.
Allows the caster to fire a continuous stream of fire from their hand. Base Damage: 10 (+1 per level of Fire Magic). Does an additional 5 pts. (+1 per level of Fire Magic) of damage every second that Flames is active.
Mana Cost: 20 + 20 Pts./Sec. Duration: Until cancelled or Mana runs out.
Cooldown: None
You have learned the skill FIRE MAGIC.
Level: 1 - Tier: Base - Skill Type: Active
You can now wield the power of Fire Magic. Fire Magic allows the user to manipulate fire and heat. Fire magic is primarily an offensive magic, but it also has some defensive spells and can be used to summon creatures made of fire. Fire mages are notoriously hot tempered, often unstable and considered very dangerous.
Well that description has got you pegged Arno my pal. Flames was a pretty cool spell, but also very basic. I asked Arno if he had any other spells he could teach me.
“No,” he said, a perplexed look crossing his face. “Why would anyone need one?”
“Okay then,” I said. “Let’s get burning.” Arno grinned, and I got a prompt.
You have been invited to join Arno's Adventuring Party.
Already knowing that I would regret it I hit ACCEPT.
Buff Added. You have been granted Pyromaniac’s Furor.
Fire Magic Damage and Fire Magic Resistance increased by 25%. Bonuses last as long as the flames have possession of your soul.
The bonuses were sweet though the fact that they were tied to my dedication to pyromania was a bit unnerving. I should have known the crazy was about to get much worse.
Arno looked back at me with a grin and then thrust both hands out. Jets of flame erupted from his palms. The heat and power were incredible, and a sheen of sweat covered my skin. Arno pulsed his flames over all the people in the inn and the screams of agony and the smell of charred flesh made me gag.
What have I done?
Sure, I’d murdered nearly everyone in this building more times than I could count, but there was something truly terrifying about fire. I couldn’t take it and I pointed my palms at Arno and unleashed fiery hell. His eyes darted back to me with that same look of agony and ecstasy I’d seen on him where I'd killed him with the Molotov cocktail. The lunatic had never been happier.
Arno died.