“And you’re thinking of going after this relic yourself?”
Devon held her silence for a moment, feeling the dappled sunlight on her arms. Part of her still imagined joining up with the rest of the population. But what if she could find this relic? What if she could track down the other four…? She’d told these people she wanted to build them a kingdom. Reawakening Ishildar seemed like an awfully good start. “You know, I think I would like to find the relic.”
“Well then, perhaps we should make it official…”
Hezbek is offering you a quest: Find the Greenscale Pendant.
It’s gotta be out here somewhere…
Reward: A Greenscale Pendant, obviously.
Accept? Y/N
Devon accepted the quest. Soon, she’d talk to Greel to see if he had input on where to start searching. As if reading her thoughts, Hezbek cocked her head. “You know, I never liked him that much, but it seems Greel could be one of our biggest assets in the search. It would probably behoove you to get on his good side.”
Hezbek is offering you a quest: Deal with Greel.
You really don’t want the level 11 Martial Artist in your tribe to hate you, do you?
Objective: Gain 100 reputation with Greel.
Reward: Congratulations, you get to spend more time with the man. Aren’t you lucky?
Accept? Y/N
Devon rolled her eyes at the quest text. But the game was right, she needed to do it, so she accepted the quest.
“There was another thing I wanted to talk about,” she said.
A knowing look came into Hezbek’s eyes. “And?”
“I want you to teach me.”
“Do you really want to be a Sorcerer?”
As Hezbek spoke, a prompt appeared.
Will you select Sorcerer as your base class?
WARNING: this choice is permanent.
Accept? Y/N
Devon took a deep breath. “I’ve thought about it, and yes, I want to be a sorceress.”
The jungle around her chimed, followed by notifications.
Congratulations, you have a new class: Sorcerer.
You may now learn your first spells.
Devon quickly pulled up her stat sheet.
Character: Devon (click to set a different character name)
Level: 6
Base Class: Sorcerer
Specialization: Unassigned
Unique Class: Deceiver
Health: 145/145
Mana: 263/263
Fatigue: 5%
Nice! Her mana had gone from 50 to 263! She checked her attributes window:
Attributes:
Constitution: 13
Strength: 10
Agility: 15
Charisma: 21
Intelligence: 21
Focus: 12
Endurance: 11
Special Attributes:
Bravery: 5
Cunning: 4
Available Points: 8
Her attention hovered over the unspent points. Where should they go?
“I suppose you’d like your first spells,” Hezbek said with a smirk.
Devon dispelled her interface. She could think about attribute points later. “Can you show me how to create that glowing ball?”
“You mean, Glowing Orb? You want to know how to create light? I figured you’d start by Flamestriking enemies or something.”
Devon smiled. “Well, that too. The orb was the reason I decided to become a sorceress though.”
Hezbek looked at her like she was crazy, but Devon just shrugged.
You have learned a new spell: Glowing Orb – Tier 1.
A ball of lightning materializes in your hand. Unfortunately, you can’t hurt anyone with it, but the spell could be useful if you forget a torch or something. Requires some concentration to maintain.
Cost: 10 mana
Requirements: Sorcerer
You have learned a new spell: Flamestrike – Tier 1.
A pillar of fire immolates your enemy for 12-17 base damage (scales with Intelligence).
Cost: 20 mana
Requirements: Sorcerer
Devon grinned as the knowledge sank into her mind.
Chapter Twenty-Four
BEFORE HEADING OUT in search of a new settlement site—and hopefully, some good experience—Devon handed out assignments. She told the lumberjacks to keep clearing trees, but to consult with Prester about which trees would be best for turning into smooth boards. She spoke with the hunter, Grey, about cautiously returning to the stream and laying traps for turtles. She couldn’t be certain that the sabertooth she’d killed had been the only one nearby, but a quick glance at their resources showed shrinking food supplies. They needed to do more to supplement the stores. On the way to and from the stream, Grey could also keep an eye out for sloths to club. Meanwhile, the fighters would continue clearing local wildlife, salvaging meat and leather where possible. She upgraded Bayle to the other machete and handed down the rusty knife to the new recruit, Falwon.
That left the stonemason, the quarryman, and the scout. The first two were older men with muscles earned by lives of hard labor, whereas the scout, Hazel, was a lithe woman in her twenties. She’d walked gracefully before specializing as a scout, but now her movements were almost liquid. Even at level 1, she’d be able to slip through the jungle without making a noise or disturbing the wildlife. Which was good, because Devon needed her help to uncover more of the map.
“Okay, here’s the deal,” she said to the trio. “We’re leaving this afternoon to investigate an area marked as a potential stone quarry. I need you to pack bedrolls because we want to take our time.”
As they hurried to gather supplies, the cook, Tom, sidled over. “I assume you’ll need rations for your little expedition,” he said with a hopeful tone.
Devon’s stomach growled at the thought. It was the first sign of hunger she’d felt since joining the tribe and having her food intake automatically deducted every day. She hoped it wasn’t a sign that she’d have to start paying attention to that again. More likely, the game was reminding her that when she was away from the encampment, she’d need to bring food.
“I could try to hunt on the way, but I’d hate to subject these poor people to more charred snake meat.”
Tom blushed as he handed over a linen-wrapped package. “I was saving these until you’d be able to dine with us. But it seems a good time for you to take them.”
You have received: 4 x Pepperleaf-spiced Sabertooth Steaks
These smell delicious!
Grants: +3 Speed, +1 Constitution
Duration: 24 hours
Wow, that was quite a buff for tier 1 food.
She sniffed the package, and her mouth started watering. They smelled absolutely divine. “You weren’t kidding about your potential. I imagine even Eltera City gourmands would be envious of these. I’ll have a hard time waiting until dinner time.”
Tom’s ears turned flaming red as he shuffled at the praise. “It’s the least I could do, Your Gloriousness.”
Back to that again. Well, she had told them to call her whatever they wished.
Her small party had returned, bedrolls tied to the bottom of simple rucksacks. The stonemason, Bern, held a mallet and chisel from the encampment supplies, while the mason—Deld, the man who’d been gored by the boar—carried a pickax.
“If you don’t mind, we thought these might be useful,” the quarryman explained.
Devon nodded. It was good her followers could take initiative. If all she did was manage her tribe, those players back in the starting hubs would get even farther ahead. At the thought, she glanced at the jungle and focused on her map interface, pulling the mini-map forward into an overlay at the corner of her vision. The site of the potential quarry lay roughly north and a little east. If they moved quickly, they might make it before dark.
She handed Hazel the map plus Greel’s quill
and ink. Her choice to requisition them probably wouldn’t go over well with the lawyer, but at least her quest would give her incentive to earn back any lost esteem.
“Can you rove ahead of us and map areas to either side of the explored region?” Devon asked.
The scout furrowed her brow while she considered. “As long as you don’t mind if it’s rough at first. My cartography skill is still developing.”
Devon opened the woman’s inspection window.
Hazel: Level 1 - Scout
Health: 34/34
Skills:
Stealth: 20
Cartography: 2
Sense Heading: 15
Detect Freshwater: 5
Forage: 5
Devon nodded in appreciation. The profession had more utility than she’d expected. Hazel could help the tribe find a town site with access to a spring and territory for foraging fruits and vegetables to supplement Grey’s hunting.
“I know you will improve quickly,” Devon said. “And don’t worry if your first attempts show lack of practice.”
Hazel nodded and stood straight. “Thanks for giving me the chance.”
“Everyone ready?” Devon asked, checking that her weapon and inventory sack were secure on her belt.
Her followers nodded, and the group started for the north edge of the encampment.
Hazel slipped into the undergrowth first, and within a few heartbeats, she was completely invisible. Good. At least that was one follower Devon wouldn’t have to worry about when it came to wildlife attacks. She motioned for the other two to stay behind her as she started hacking a path to the north. While she swung her machete and pressed through the tangled foliage, she pulled up her stat sheet. She took a deep breath and shoved 2 points into Intelligence, 4 into Charisma, and 2 into Constitution.
Next, she pulled up the base character sheet to see the effects on her mana pool.
Character: Devon (click to set a different character name)
Level: 6
Base Class: Sorcerer
Specialization: Unassigned
Unique Class: Deceiver
Health: 145/159
Mana: 263/299
Fatigue: 9%
Already, she felt much more powerful. Her health had increased from 145 to 159, and her mana from 263 to 299. Both pools began to fill to their new capacity, pulsing lightly with each point of regeneration.
A downed tree cut across the path at around elbow height, the wood slowly rotting and smelling like sawdust and insects. She tried stooping to hack her way through the tangle of moss and undergrowth beneath but changed her mind at the sight of a nest of finger-sized spiderlings. She jumped back as a few of them hissed and spat yellow droplets into the air. The spray barely missed her arm.
“Maybe I should learn to love the taste of Jungle Antidote - Minor,” she muttered. Speaking of, she hadn’t brought along any potions, which seemed stupid. But she didn’t want to go back now.
Swinging her machete, she detoured around the fallen tree. She wanted to gain some good experience, but without a spell that could affect a wide area, a nest of poison-spitting spiderlings wasn’t the way to do it. Fortunately, the insects didn’t give chase. They were content to defend their small home.
As she rounded the mass of the fallen tree and headed back for her planned trail, Devon pulled up information on her new Glowing Orb spell. Unlike the Deceiver ability, she could see each of the upgrades that lay ahead.
Spell: Glowing Orb – Tier 1
Cost: 10 mana
A ball of lightning materializes in your hand. Unfortunately, you can’t hurt anyone with it, but the spell could be useful if you forget a torch or something. Requires some concentration to maintain.
Spell: Glowing Orb – Tier 2
Cost: 22 mana
You can attach the Glowing Orb to another object in order to regain use of your hand. Requires more concentration to maintain.
Spell: Glowing Orb – Tier 3
Cost: 30 mana
You may create up to three separate orbs, and you can attach each to a different object or surface. You must really like this spell.
Spell: Glowing Orb – Tier 4:
Cost: 42 mana
You can create up to six orbs at once! (why?)
Devon smirked as she whacked at another vine. The foliage fell limp to the ground. She wondered where Veia got her sense of humor. Emerson didn’t seem like the sarcastic type.
Holding her hand in front of her, she focused on the steps Hezbek had taught her and blinked as a ball of light flashed to life. It fizzed against her palm, but otherwise had no weight. A notification told her she’d gained 1% mastery in tier 1 of the spell.
Behind her, Deld and Bern gasped. Devon smirked. The spell description didn’t add how impressed your level 1 followers would be by your sudden ability to materialize light.
She noticed that her mana bar had indeed dropped some, but the cost was low compared to the size of her pool now. She held her arm out to the side and looked down. Very little direct sun reached the ground beneath the canopy, which kind of made her Shadow Puppet ability useless in the deep jungle. Not a problem now… She wondered what kind of properties her shadow would have when created by lightning.
Distracted by watching her shadow, she swung absently at a large group of vines dangling in front of her face.
The vines hissed.
Devon stumbled back, slamming into her followers and falling onto her butt. Her machete went flying. She quickly scrambled to her feet and shoved the men back as a diamond-shaped head the size of a microwave rose from the ground. A muscular body dangled from a branch at least twenty feet in the air. Heavy coils wrapped the massive limb. The python’s glowing red eyes burned into her, and its forked tongue licked the air as it tensed for a strike.
What is this, karma for my tree viper murdering spree?
“Stay back!” she yelled. Devon bent her knees and looked at her hand. She groaned when she saw the orb had been extinguished. The description had mentioned maintaining a bit of concentration…
Fumbling, she struggled to orient while searching for her fallen weapon. The snake wove back and forth, looking for an opening. Devon jumped from foot to foot, ducking to make herself a difficult target.
She spotted her machete glinting dully in a mat of dead leaves just ahead. With a sharp intake of breath, she dove for it, managed to catch the hilt, and came up from her roll with her weapon in the guard position.
She launched a Flamestrike, squinting as a column of fire erupted from the forest floor and enveloped the snake.
The flames vanished.
The snake continued to weave as if nothing had happened.
Devon peered at the monster until a health bar came up. She might have shaved off 1%. If that. A quick glance at the combat messages at the edge of her vision showed that the snake had resisted. Easily.
Damn.
The snake struck, reptilian scent washing over her as she dodged to the side and sprinted across the small cleared area where the beast hung. Fumbling, Devon started the summoning motions for Glowing Orb. She wished she’d practiced more before leaving the encampment. Her fingers were awkward, the motions clumsy as the snake twisted in the air to orient on her again.
Finally, light bloomed in her hand, sparks from her orb reflected from the reptile’s burning eyes.
She shook her head. “Not so sure this is going to turn out well,” she muttered.
Dashing to the side to keep the snake off guard, she focused on her shadow and dumped mana into conjuring a puppet. The dark figure rose from the ground, fuzzy at the edges like the ball of lightning she held. She felt along her connection to her creation. The figure seemed to fizz against her awareness much like the lightning crackling in her hand. The snake arched its head and body, tensing for another strike.
Flexing her awareness of the shadow, she commanded it to attack. Her creation flowed across the sm
all space, and when the dark form contacted the python, it passed straight through.
The air crackled and snapped, and sparks traveled the length of the reptile’s body. The beast was paralyzed.
Devon grinned.
And then the feedback smacked her.
Electricity surged through her body, the initial shock followed by burning along her nerves like an army of fire ants. She squealed through gritted teeth. Damn this pain sensitivity! She squinted at the python. The snake had lost maybe 15% of its health. Her eyeballs ached as she swiveled them toward her own health bar and saw a 5% reduction.
The pain was short-lived, at least. But as she took a shaky breath and forced her legs to keep moving, she felt her connection with the shadow die out.
Her off hand was empty. Kind of hard to concentrate on channeling a spell when you felt like you’d put your finger in a light socket. She backpedaled as the snake started to move again.
“Can one of you climb?” Devon yelled to her followers. “Tear down branches if you can. I need sunlight.”
Her followers were shadows in the foliage, having backed off. Sticks began to crack as one or both of the men started wading through the undergrowth.
Devon glanced toward the reptile just in time to dodge a heavy swing of the monster’s body. As the scaly flesh slid past her, she lashed out with her machete.
The blade glanced off without displacing so much as the scale.
“Shit,” she muttered. She kicked at the muscular beast, but it was like trying to damage a tree. The rebound sent her stumbling. Groaning in dismay at the idea, she cast another Glowing Orb, and wincing, raised her Shadow Puppet.
As the snake turned, once again lining up for an attack, Devon gritted her teeth and send her shadow onto the beast.
Temple of Sorrow: A LitRPG and GameLit Adventure (Stonehaven League Book 1) Page 16