B01DCAV4W2 (S)
Page 17
Richter quickly scanned his status page. Seeing so many of his skills at ‘0% to next level’ made him grimace in distaste. He looked off in the direction of Sonirae’s body and glared for a few seconds. Wrinkling his lips, he looked back towards Alma and tried to calm down. He just REALLY hated that chick! With a last forceful exhale through his nostrils, he felt his anger begin to ease. Besides, he realized, without having slaughtered the Assassin and her friend, he wouldn’t be at level 20 now! A smug smile crawled onto his face and stayed there.
He had 100% of skill percentages to allocate. Though it didn’t lend itself to being directly useful, he was tempted to invest all one hundred into Herb Lore. He was only two levels away from reaching level 40. The experience bonus of reaching level 40 in the skill was something worth consideration. The only thing that held him back from doing so was the Magic Core in his Bag. His Enchanting skill had shot up after making the Forge of Heavens. If he got another increase after whatever he used the Core to make next, the 100% boost would come in handy! Richter told Futen to remind him when two days had elapsed though. About four days had passed since he reached level 17. He wouldn’t risk having his skill boost randomly allocated. Futen answered with a deadpan, “Yes, my Lord.”
Richter looked at his Characteristic stats. One easy choice was more health. He put six points into Constitution. His Dexterity had been markedly decreased when exploring the catacombs without his enhanced sprite armor so he placed four points there as well. One went into Luck just to satisfy his precocious nature. Richter placed three into Strength, a Characteristic he felt he had been ignoring up until that point. He also put four points into Endurance. There was a battle royale coming with bugbears. It would be just embarrassing to tucker out mid-fight and have to ask Bobby Boucher for a cup of water.
He started to access his status page, and then remembered that he had recently been labeled ‘implacable.’ Playing with his interface, he found the ability to turn on what were called ‘Qualities.’ He brought up his page.
Name: Richter
Age: 24
Level: 20, 17%
Health: 549 Mana: 414 Stamina: 250
Strength: 32
Agility: 28
Dexterity: 35
Constitution: 37
Endurance: 25
Intelligence: 37
Wisdom: 21
Charisma: 20
Luck: 16
Abilities:
Limitless
Gift of Tongues
Fast Learner
Bounty of Life
Psi Bond
Qualities:
Resolute
Honorable
Implacable
Skills:
Herb Lore Lvl 38; 0% to next level
Alchemy Lvl 1; 0% to next level
Enchantment Lvl 28; 0% to next level
Crafting Lvl 1; 0% to next level
Smithing Lvl 1; 0% to next level
Analyze Lvl 5; 9% to next level
Pierce the Veil Lvl 22; 0% to next level
Stealth Lvl 6; 82% to next level
Traps Lvl 21; 18% to next level
Trap Disarm Lvl 20; 27% to next level
Tracking Lvl 10; 7% to next level
Riding Lvl 7; 76% to next level
Archery Lvl 9; 12% to next level
Imbue Arrow Lvl 4; 0% to next level
Focus Lvl 2; 31% to next level
Double Shot Lvl 2; 11% to next level,
Drill Shot Lvl 1; 14% to next level
Swordsmanship Lvl 1; 0% to next level
Small Blades Lvl 4; 45% to next level
Unarmed Combat Lvl 1; 78% to next level
Pressure Points Lvl 1; 0% to next level
Dual Wield Lvl 1; 0% to next level
Light Armor Lvl 8; 13% to next level
Grace in Combat Lvl 5; 61% to next level
Air Magic Lvl 7; 12% to next level
Life Magic Lvl 5; 48% to next level
Earth Magic Lvl 3; 72% to next level
Water Magic Lvl 4; 16% to next level
Dark Magic Lvl 4; 7% to next level
Light Magic Lvl 3; 6% to next level
Fire Magic Lvl 4; 8% to next level
Map Making Lvl MAX
Trade Lvl 13; 0% to next level
War Leader Lvl 1, 0% to next level
Portal Construction Apprentice
Lore Lvl 1
Marks:
Master of Mist Village
Blood Oath
Forge of Heavens
Resistances:
Air 50%
Life 50%
Mental 15%
Spiritual 15%
Race: Human (Chaos Seed)
Reputation: Lvl 3 “You seem like someone worthy of my attention.”
Alignment: Neutral
Language: All
Richter smiled with true joy this time. He’d take it! The next task was to level up his soul familiar. He continued to stroke Alma’s scales. She had definitely earned it! The question was, where should he place the seven points she had earned.
Brain Drain was definitely an option. Richter had absolutely no doubt at all that investing heavily in that skill had been the right thing to do. Alma would most likely still be at level three or four right now without having had the boost from draining her enemies. The fact that she was now level 14 also meant she had access to much more health, mana and stamina than she had at her lower levels. Richter also couldn’t discount the strong bonus of her being able to stun higher level enemies. Yup! He just couldn’t stress enough how SURE he was that investing in Brain Drain, had been the right choice!
It didn’t mean that it was necessarily the right thing to do now, though. It would be a bit myopic to just make her a one trick pony. With seven points to distribute, he had a bit of wiggle room. Richter placed one point into Psi Bond.
You have chosen to increase your familiar’s ability: Psi Bond. Your familiar’s base innate intellect is increased by 25%. She can now communicate in two word sentences. Her Intelligence and Wisdom are also increased by 15%. You will also benefit from this stronger tie to your familiar. Your mental resistance has increased by 10%. Maximum distance of communication increased from 250 yards to 500 yards.
Alma lifted her head to look at him, *Hello master!* Her tone was happy and there was a gleam and attentiveness in her eyes that he hadn’t seen before. Richter had intended to place a point into Psi Blast, but seeing the improvement in his soul familiar and hearing her voice in his mind, he was overcome with feelings of love and affection. He was also pleasantly surprised by the boost to his mental resistance. He immediately invested the two points required to level Psi Bond again.
You have chosen to increase your familiar’s ability: Psi Bond. Your familiar’s base innate intellect is increased by 50%. She can now communicate in four word sentences. Her base Intelligence and Wisdom are also increased by 30%. You will also benefit from this stronger tie to your familiar. Your mental resistance has increased by 20%. Maximum distance of communication increased from 500 yards to 750 yards. You can now each sense if the other is in danger.
The ‘light’ in her eyes brightened again.
*Master! Master! I understand more now! Thank you so much! I love you!*
Richter’s eyes widened in shock! He had never thought of Alma as just a dumb animal. Her ability to communicate and follow directions had always shown her intelligence. Having her express herself in a long string of words and hearing her express strong emotions, though… was something that he hadn’t expected. He sat there for a second as he searched his feelings and he realized that he loved his little creature as well.
He smiled down at her and thought fondly, *You’re welcome Alma. I love you too.*
She closed her eyes and went back to purring contentedly as he stroked her scales.
*You are such a spoiled little thing!*
Her only response was to purr slightly louder. With a chuckle, Richter decided how he would inves
t the rest of her points. Though he loved the change in his familiar, and though he was interested in seeing how Psi Blast would level, Richter remained a pragmatist at heart. The best chance of her continual survival was for her to level quickly. He invested the remaining four points into Brain Drain.
You have chosen to increase your familiar’s ability: Brain Drain to level 5. Successful kills will now give 5% of total experience to both you and your familiar. Drain occurs faster. Stun can occur on enemies level 21 and below.
Now that’s what I’m talking about, he thought. Being able to incapacitate anyone level 21 and below made her a force to be reckoned with! He examined her status page.
Name: Alma
Level: 14, 28%
Health: 240 Mana: 336 Stamina: 240
(Unused level points: 0)
Abilities:
Psi Bond – Lvl 3, points to next level: 3
Psi Blast – Lvl 1, points to next level: 1
Brain Drain – Lvl 5, points to next level: 5
Can use:
Air Magic
Life Magic
Resistances:
Mental: 100%
Air: 50%
Life: 50%
Race: Psi Dragonling
His little girl was growing up! Richter laid his head back as Alma continued to purr in his lap. The rain had started to fall while he had been allocating points. Just as he had hoped, only a few drops of rain made it through the tree limbs. The sound of the rain around him was relaxing and comforting after the harrowing events of the past two days. Wrapping Alma and himself in his cloak, Richter closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
CHAPTER 14
When Richter opened his eyes, it was still dark. The rain had stopped and the air was cool and wet. The trees were clustered closely enough that almost no moonlight filtered down to the forest floor. He looked around seeing if he could detect anything, but all he saw was blackness. Richter cast Night Vision.
He heard a faint thud. That noise was almost beneath his ability to hear, and that was when he realized it. Except for that faint sound, the night was completely still. There was no chittering of insects, no screeching of owls and no croaking of frogs. All of the animals of the forest had gone quiet. The only reason Richter knew that animals did that was… when a predator was in the area.
Richter looked around, but didn’t see Futen. Sending out a mental call, he dislodged Alma from his lap. She didn’t protest for once, feeling his apprehension. Richter duck walked a few feet to the edge of the tree’s cover and continued scanning. He heard another thud.
Richter’s heart began to beat faster. He thought the sound was coming from his front left somewhere, but he couldn’t be sure. He wanted to start buffing himself, but didn’t want the tell-tale flare of magic to give away his position. He was fairly certain this latest thud had been closer than the previous one, and he couldn’t risk being seen. The only reason he had been able to safely cast Night Vision was that it was a spell of Dark magic and the blackness that had momentarily outlined his hands would have been impossible to see at night.
*Do you sense anything?*, he thought to Alma.
*No, master. I fly into tree.* Alma launched into the air and up into the tree limbs.
Richter continued to look around. His gaze fell upon a pool of water left over from the rainstorm. He heard another thud. A series of ripples disturbed the surface of the water. The small waves propagated and diminished in one second. Their disappearance didn’t soothe him though. Quite the opposite.
“Okay,” Richter breathed softly to no one in particular. His nervousness was causing him to babble to himself in a vain effort to stay calm. “So as we all know from Jurassic Park, that was an impact tremor. Which means that something large like a T-Rex is coming this way. I totally agree with Jeff Goldblum now. Being fairly alarmed is an appropriate response to this situation.”
Richter calmed himself, realizing that speaking out loud, no matter how softly, was most likely not a good idea at this particular point in time. He heard another thud and the water rippled again. He hoped that the concealment properties of his cape would hide him. That brought his other options to mind and cursing himself for a fool, he activated Stealth. It was only fear and panic that had kept him from thinking of doing it immediately. He had to do better!
Richter kept looking around, still not seeing anything. He heard another thud and this time, it sounded a bit farther away. Richter exhaled softly. He just might make it through this!
“How can I help you, my Lord?” Futen asked phasing into view. His light was as soft as always, but in the darkness it seemed as bright as a lighthouse atop a cliff. It pained Richter’s enhanced vision, and he shut his eyes quickly. Richter saw the eye icon that had indicated his Stealth status go from closed to wide open!
“Stay in invisible and stay quiet!” he hissed. Futen immediately disappeared from view. Richter opened his eyes again, but his vision was still impaired. He blinked repeatedly to clear the spots that now floated across his field of view. Not trusting his vision, he listened, straining his ears. He didn’t hear anything though. Richter thanked god for small favors.
As he waited for his vision to recover, he received a frantic message from Alma.
*Master! It’s coming!*
*What is? What’s coming?*
*Something! Something big! Something very big!*
Alma sent him a vision of trees parting in a foretelling of the passage of something large and powerful. Whatever it was, it was moving quickly! Richter started hearing thuds coming in quick succession and they were getting louder by the second! Richter’s vision had finally improved enough to allow him to see. He looked back into the puddle now that he could see again and saw that impact tremors were shaking the water continuously now. This was bad!
The time for caution had passed. Richter held his bow in one hand, and with the other started casting buffs. Haste, Barkskin, and Minor Life Armor. In less than six seconds, he was down almost one hundred mana, but was faster, tougher and better armored. Alma did the same.
He then dismissed his Night Vision. Whatever was coming was big enough that his only hope would be to imbue his arrows. The explosion of light from when his strikes connected would blind him if his eyes were still overly sensitive to light. He cast Far Light a few times into some nearby trees. Then he nocked an arrow to his string and began imbuing it as he awaited whatever was about to attack him!
Richter heard a crack and a small nearby tree broke in half as a gigantic figure loomed into view! It was twenty feet tall if it was an inch. The balls of light illuminated skin that was dark grey and appeared rough to the touch like a cliff face. It wore absolutely no clothing and in addition to its massive stature it sported powerful muscles. Knobs of black rock protruded from its body at random positions, and three spikes of rock jutted up from its head like a crown. Its body was human in shape and overlarge genitalia swung freely between its legs. In one hand it held a small uprooted tree. Counting the tree hanging between its legs, that made… two trees!
Trying not to be distracted or emasculated, Richter quickly analyzed it.
Rock Giant Level 13. Health 1370. Mana 80. Stamina 1840. Disposition: Enmity. There are many different types of giants. Rock giants are solitary monsters unlike other giants which can have just as complex a social structure as average sized humanoids. What rock giants lack in social graces, they more than make up for in ferocity, malevolence and durability. Their skin acts like a formidable exoskeleton, blocking most damage.
Richter didn’t have time to read all of it. He basically got the gist, though. He was absotively, posolutely FUCKED! Richter released his imbued arrow into the monster’s face at no more than ten yards away. The arrow exploded against its head, and it elicited a roar of anger and pain. The giant faded back a step.
Richter smiled for a second, but that quickly fled as the monster turned its face back to face Richter. The arrow had only made a few cracks in its hard rocky exterio
r! In the illumination of his Far Light spell, it smiled at him. Richter could see its pewter colored teeth were flat like a human’s, but it also had large fangs in both its upper and lower jaw. For a second they just looked at each other, but then the giant flew into action!
It swung its tree sized club at him and it was only his increased speed that let him drop to the ground. He felt the passage of the huge weapon, as air ruffled his cloak, and a whistle split the air to mark its passage. Richter immediately rolled to the right and stood which was a good thing. Any who thought that the ‘rock’ appellation in the monster’s name would make it slow would have been wrong. Dead wrong.
Not overbalanced in the slightest by missing with its first swing, the giant swung its club high overhead. There was practically no loss of momentum at all as it cocked both of its arms back behind its head. Both of its tire sized hands grasped the tree and it swung straight downwards with a mighty bash!
Richter had rolled three times to the left. When he stopped, he was in a half pushup. He immediately started pushing himself up to stand. Before his arms were fully extended, there was a scream in his mind.
*Move to the left!*
Richter did as he was told, not wasting time on petty things like rational thought. After all, what was rational about a Mandingo rock monster trying to crush him with a tree?! He braced his arms for the briefest of split seconds and sprung left! The giant’s attack slammed into the ground scant inches from where he had been when he heard Alma’s warning. The tree sank five feet into the wet ground, leaving no mystery as to what would have happened if Richter had been beneath the fearsome blow.
As it was, the giant’s attack shook the ground. Richter had landed on all fours and even in that position he was knocked prone by the vibrations. He quickly tried to get his hands under him again, but he had left the dry area under the tree and was now lying in mud. In his haste he failed to find a proper hand hold. He slipped and face planted into the earth. The only thing that had saved him from becoming a Richter-pancake was that the giant had driven its weapon deep into the ground and the sucking mud was resisting its efforts to retrieve it.