The Land: Predators

by Aleron Kong

  “That is true,” Randolphus conceded, “but you are not thinking about the infrastructure of the Dungeon. Over time Rooms will develop that provide useful and valuable additions to the Dungeon. Traps will be laid, and resources will be developed that can be harvested to boost village growth. All of these things are just expressions of concentrated magic, however, at least until they are taken out of the Dungeon. A truly high-level monster from the Labyrinth could kill every Dungeon monster, including the Harbinger. It could consume all loot and chests, destroy any Rooms, and then absorb ambient magic from the Dungeon and the Item of Power. There are tales of Labyrinth monsters absorbing every ounce of accumulated energy from a Dungeon. It does not kill the Dungeon, but such a monster could take so much that the Dungeon is forced to start over at level one.”

  “Okay,” Richter said, “that’s bad too. Got it, but you still haven’t answered my original question. What is the Labyrinth?” There was more than a touch of exasperation in his voice. He hated not knowing things, and he hated even more being shown the complete depth of his lack of knowledge. He’d always heard about how there was no shame in ignorance, only in willful ignorance that does not seek to correct itself. Richter had always thought that people who said things like that could eat a dick.

  The chamberlain saw his lord’s irritation and tried again to explain. “Every Dungeon ever created adds to the Labyrinth. They are entrances and exits from this world to that world. There are unfathomably large areas that comprise the Labyrinth that are not Dungeons, but they operate in much the same way. The Labyrinth contains every terrain and situation you can imagine. To even begin to understand however, you must also add in every dream and nightmare that anyone has ever had, and then add in the wildest thoughts of every child that has not yet been born and that will never be born.” Randolphus suppressed a small chuckle at seeing Richter’s irritation grow. He’d had a similar reaction nearly a hundred years ago when a mentor had said something similarly nonsensical to him. Though the chamberlain believed in propriety, he was not above having a little secret fun at his lord’s expense.

  With a straight face, Randolphus continued, “I know that may be difficult to conceptualize, my lord, but that is by design. There are areas of the Labyrinth that would assault your sanity just from one brief glimpse of them. I have seen and done things that would make some run from me in horror, yet even I am sometimes plagued by memories of what the Labyrinth holds. Add in then whatever terrors might fuel your worst nightmares and you will perhaps have the barest inkling of what you might meet in the Labyrinth. It operates independently of space and sometimes even time. Entering the Labyrinth from this location, you might find another Dungeon that lets out on the other side of the planet though you have only traveled a mile. You cannot even be sure that taking the same path in the Labyrinth will always lead you to the same place. The only sure way to return somewhere are the Nodes. Otherwise, you will be trapped in a nightmare that makes demons piss their cloven hooves.” The Spy shivered. That involuntary reaction, even more than his rare breach of decorum, sold to Richter what Randy was trying to impart. The Labyrinth was not to be trifled with.

  It was quiet between the two men for a moment, until Richter asked, “The black spike outside of the Dungeon?”

  “It is a Node, my lord.”

  “Then why did a prompt I received about the Dungeon call it a ‘transport sphere,’ dolphin-head?”

  Randolphus blinked, before responding with just a touch of heat, “If you were a dwarf it would have been called a ‘bogadh s’fein’ and if you were a gnome it would have been ‘kiniso kar’. There are tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of languages in The Land. Do you not think that terminology might change based on the language used?”

  He’s digging at me for calling him dolphin-head, Richter thought, hiding a smile. He liked someone that could push back if shoved.

  “And of course,” the chamberlain continued dismissively, “prompts are not actually based on language.” When he saw Richter’s confused look, his own eyes widened in shock. “You do not think that people are actually reading prompts, do you my lord?”

  “What else would they be doing?” Richter asked with genuine confusion.

  “Prompts are a law of nature, of the very cosmos,” Randolphus said slowly as if speaking to a moron. “They reflect our connection to the Universe itself. Do you think that only those who are literate can understand their prompts? That everyone else just has boxes that appear in their vision that they can never understand? You do know that most of the population of Yves are illiterate, correct, my lord?”

  Richter was not quite meeting his chamberlain’s gaze at this point. There was another moment of silence between the two of them. Randolphus opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it with a small pity-filled frown. He opened his mouth to speak again, but closed it a second time. Then he just blew out a breath, loud and slow. Silence reigned, until Richter couldn’t take it anymore.

  “Of course, I knew that!” he blustered.

  “Of course, you did,” the chamberlain agreed quickly, nodding like his head was about to fall off.

  More silence, with both men not quite looking at each other. Richter realized he had just admitted to the equivalent of thinking the sun moved across the sky because of solar wind. Of course, everyone couldn’t read the prompts. It was a fucking feudal society! This was not easy to recover from. Still, he had to know, “For the sake of argument, just as a mental exercise, you understand,” Randolphus nodded and pursed his lips in ‘sympathetic’ total agreement, “how else would someone understand their prompts if they didn’t actually read them?”

  “Well, my lord,” the chamberlain started slowly. Still a bit too slowly by Richter’s estimation, but the chaos seed didn’t interrupt, “most children are taught this exercise-” He coughed harshly when he saw his liege’s glare, “As I was saying, this is an exercise that someone as wise as you should grasp easily. When you are given a prompt, I am sure you know how to minimize it to the side of your interface. For lack of a better term, you can maximize the information instead. When the prompt comes, let the information wash over you. Your deep mind will register the knowledge at a fundamental level and will supply the relevant portion to your surface mind.”

  Richter assumed that the man meant conscious and unconscious when he said “deep mind” and “surface mind.” Even if Randy didn’t, the chaos seed would be damned before he asked another question until he tried to figure this out himself. The only question was, “How do I test it?” He didn’t have any prompts waiting at the moment.

  “The easiest way to summon a prompt immediately is to take a small amount of damage,” Randolphus supplied.

  “Can this technique work in combat too?” Richter said with enthusiasm, his chagrin quickly replaced with excitement. The possibility of being able to register his combat log in a way that wasn’t distracting was enough to make him forget his earlier embarrassment.

  “Yes, my lord. What have you been doing with your combat notifications up until now?”

  “I just turned them off,” Richter said reasonably. “They were distracting.”

  Once again Randolphus gave him the look and Richter felt like he actually heard it this time, “Ohhh, honey…”

  The short-lived, embarrassment-free moment passed and Richter flared his nostrils, “Alright, alright. Let’s do this.”

  *I need damage,* he thought to Alma. *Please bite me.*

  She immediately latched onto his hand hard enough to draw a good amount of blood.

  “Yeaoow!” he shouted, yanking his hand away. He knew that he had told her to do it but…

  *Not even a small protest before you maul me?* he protested.

  *It is always my goal to serve you, master,* she thought to him sweetly.

  His health had dropped by a small amount and continued to fall slowly as his Bleeding status took another health point every few seconds. Prompts appeared in his view, but he con
sciously didn’t read them.

  “Now,” Randolphus started, “if the notifications windows have reappeared, imagine them becoming even larger and closer in your view until they wash over you.”

  “That’s it?” Richter asked. The chamberlain nodded, so he focused his will on the prompt. It was surprisingly easy. The translucent window grew larger and flowed easily towards him, and then he just knew.

  Richter bitten by Alma for 5 Piercing damage.

  A faint smile came to his face as Alma healed him, leaving only a small bleeding effect. Richter turned his focus to the other prompt that had appeared; once again it flowed over him and he just had the information.

  You are Bleeding! You will lose 1 HP every 5 seconds for the next 32 seconds.

  “This is amazing!” Richter said looking at his chamberlain. A golden glow surrounded his familiar as Alma healed the bleeding. This time he didn’t hesitate. The window barely flickered into existence before flowing over him.

  Richter has been healed by Alma using Weak Slow Heal for 57 Health (30 base x 50% Life Mastery x 41% Intelligence)

  “Uhhh… yes, my lord. Amazing!” The fact that Randolphus was humoring him was not lost on the chaos seed. Richter was too taken with just how strong his familiar was to care though. Seeing as how he was already getting schooled, he figured: why not ask another question?

  “I’ve been wondering about this for a while. What is the importance of my attributes in changing the strength of spells or combat damage? Alma has a 41% boost to her spell power, for instance.”

  Randolphus blinked, “Just what is your familiar’s Intelligence?”

  Richter did a quick check, “Eighty-two.”

  The Spy looked at Alma with renewed respect. For her part, the dragonling strutted a little when she saw Randy’s obvious admiration.

  *Brat,* Richter thought to her.

  *Hater,* she thought back, still preening.

  I have got to stop teaching her these phrases, Richter thought to himself.

  “Your familiar is quite impressive, my lord. Is she also able to develop her own skills?”

  “No,” Richter replied, “at least I don’t think so. Life magic is an ability for her.”

  “Then I would say it is your affinity that affects her Intelligence bonus, though it would be her own attribute that determines the base.”

  Richter just drummed his fingers on the table and fixed his chamberlain with a glare.

  “Let me attempt to explain in a different way, my lord. As you have already found, one’s attributes can affect their ability to, in turn, affect the world. Intelligence increases spellpower, Wisdom increases spell defense, and Strength increases melee damage. Agility can also increase melee damage to a smaller extent, and in addition increases accuracy of both ranged and melee weapons. Dexterity increases ranged damage. There are countless other examples, but those are some of the most common. The bonus that a person gains from a stat varies however, based upon…” The chamberlain trailed off as something occurred to him. He looked at Richter with fresh wonder in his eyes. “I know that I have said it before, my lord, but your Limitless ability is truly powerful. I believe my earlier assessment that it might be rare or epic was too modest. It could very well be mythic or even legendary.”

  “Wait for it!” Richter said with a smile, channeling NPH.

  “My lord?” Randy asked, completely not following.

  “I was just saying that I’m legen… what do cows make?”

  “Milk?” came the slow response a few moments later.

  “Dairy!” Richter exclaimed, delighted with himself. “Legend-dairy.” He was busting a gut at this point.

  All he got back was a deadpan stare, which was actually a bit lucky because Alma was considering biting him again just to punish him for his horrible sense of humor.

  “If I may continue, my lord?” Randolphus asked.

  Richter rolled his eyes at his Companion’s distinct lack of comedic appreciation. “Go ahead.”

  “As I was saying, the bonus an attribute provides is based upon the skill being used and your affinity in that skill. A 50% affinity in Life magic, for example, would mean that each point of your Intelligence would increase spell power by 0.25%. A 100% affinity, conversely, would give a 0.5% increase for each point. Your familiar’s spell power seems to be affected by her own Intelligence, but your Limitless ability also means that all of your skills have a 100% affinity no matter how far you progress. That is why her Intelligence of eighty-two gives her a 164% bonus to spell power when using Life magic. Wisdom gives a similar boost to general magic resistance. The other attributes also give bonuses, but the boost per point is even higher and normally ranges from 1% for a 50% affinity and 2% for someone such as yourself, my lord.”

  Richter thought about this newly-revealed facet of his Limitless ability. An affinity of 100% meant not only that he could learn any skill, but that it was also much easier for him to progress in those skills. Most people lost affinity points as they progressed in their skills. That meant the next level was harder to obtain both because their natural ability had less of an effect and because higher levels were just harder to obtain. Richter didn’t have to deal with one of those handicaps as his affinity remained at 100% whether he was skill level one or one hundred. He’d been told that once an affinity had fallen to 50% it could take years to progress even one level.

  All of that had brought him great power in only six months, but now he was hearing the ability had an even greater impact than he’d known. If Randy was right, every point he invested in an attribute would make the associated skill stronger to the max amount. It didn’t change anything per se; he’d always known he wanted more attribute points. It was nice to know that he was even more of a thug than he’d thought!

  After he finished patting himself on the back, Richter started thinking about what that meant for others though, “So if everyone else’s affinities will gradually decrease as they advance in level... this means that the bonus they get from their attributes will decrease as well, right?”

  “My lord is quite astute,” Randolphus told him in approval. “It would be paradoxical that the further one advanced a skill, the less of a bonus Attribute Points would provide. Scholars believe that is why there is a second system which also affects the relationship between APs and skill. The bonus is also affected by the rank someone holds in a skill. As you know, the six skill ranks are novice, initiate, apprentice, journeyman, adept and master. While increasing your skill level provides increasing bonuses each time, reaching certain levels increases your rank, which can provide further unique capabilities. Becoming an initiate in Light Armor, for instance, unlocks the Synergy bonus which increases the defense of each piece of light armor you wear as long as you are only wearing light armor.”

  Richter nodded. He’d known all of this beforehand and actually had the Synergy bonus.

  “Skill ranks do more than just provide more capabilities. Each rank you reach after novice will guarantee a certain modifier from your Attribute Points independent of affinity. It will perhaps be easier if I write this down. I will use Life magic as an example again.”

  The chamberlain drew two simple tables. The first illustrated the attribute modifier based on affinity.

  AFFINITY

  50%

  60%

  70%

  80%

  90%

  100%

  BONUS

  0.25%

  0.3%

  0.35%

  0.4%

  0.45%

  0.5%

  It was easy enough to follow. Just like Randy had said before, every point of Intelligence Richter, or Alma, possessed had the potential to increase the power of their spells by 0.25-0.5%. Thanks to his Limitless ability, the boost was always maxed at 0.5% per point. The next table the chamberlain drew showed the effect of ranks on the bonus.

  RANK

  Novice

  Initiate

  Apprentice

 
Journeyman

  Adept

  Master

  BONUS

  0.25%

  0.28%

  0.31%

  0.34%

  0.37%

  0.4%

  The difference was obvious and clear. Anyone that reached a rank would be guaranteed a point modifier to the relevant skills, but after novice the boost would never be as much as someone with a high affinity. Put another way, even someone who spent decades becoming a master would not have the boost to their spell power that he did just because of his 100% affinity in every skill. Every point he invested was just worth more than other people’s. Limitless didn’t just make it possible for him to learn every skill, it made him stronger in every skill as well. His Strength let him hit harder point for point than even a sword master and his Intelligence made his spells stronger than anyone that might have the same stats. Limitless was stronger and more versatile than he had ever imagined!

  Randolphus watched the comprehension dawn on his liege’s face, “Yes, my lord. Study and dedication can take someone far, but those that are born blessed with a high affinity will always reach heights denied to the rest of us. Is this not also true of your world?”

  The first thought that came into Richter’s head was Mozart and Salieri. Some things were indeed true no matter where you were. Seeing his liege’s nod, Randolphus continued, “I believe you begin to see just how truly blessed you are, my lord. You do not seem to face the same limitations as every other skilled being in The Land. Your power could one day rival that of the banished gods.” He gave a faintly wry smile, again somewhat ruined by his sharp teeth, “I am glad we are on the same side.”

  Richter gave a short laugh, “Me too, bud.”

  Randolphus continued talking about the ‘new’ way of absorbing prompt information, “As you can see, letting the notifications flow into you is much faster than simply reading them. You could do this with every prompt you are provided, but I do not advise this. The prompts can become nothing more than random noise, and if you are distracted when one appears, you may forget the information. What I recommend is that you make your combat notifications automated. With training, your deep mind can filter what is important and what is not. Knowing what is happening in a battle may save your life one day. I further recommend that you continue to address individual prompts in your daily life. They can be minimized until you are ready, without any real danger.”