The Land: Predators
Page 106
You have purchased the Talent: Common Materials I for 20 Talent Points. When creating items, materials you enspell now have their Enchantment coefficient increased by +25%. This does not supply more Enchantment slots, but materials that would normally be corrupted or explode when subjected to strong enchantments can now tolerate these powerful forces. Enchantments are now more likely to take hold as well. This also allows for less rare materials to be used successfully when creating items. Increase this Talent to be able to make enchanted items from less rare materials.
You have: 90 Talent Points remaining.
Richter had been thinking about this enchantment ever since he gained his Unconventional Materials subskill. His new potential in Crafting let him substitute materials in known Templates and even made it easier to make new ones. It didn’t change the fact that whatever he used only had so much capacity for magic and soul stuff though. Now, he could experiment with new combinations and have a much lower risk of whatever he was working on blowing off his eyebrows. That was worth more than twenty Talent Points in his opinion.
After buying his latest Talent, the fog covering his Talent tree peeled back slightly, showing more of the filament leading off from Common Materials, but no new Talent was revealed. In his experience, that meant another Talent had to be purchased first. Richter had planned on another purchase anyway, so he bought the sphere beside it.
You have purchased the Talent: Material Potential I for 20 Talent Points. Enchantment Potential is determined by an item’s quality and by the materials used. Materials you enchant with can now withstand a greater amount of Soul Stuff, increasing the Enchantment slots of items you enchant by +25%. Increase this Talent to advance this bonus to 50%.
You have: 70 Talent Points remaining.
Again, the fog rolled back slightly, but no new Talent was revealed. Something else did happen though that let Richter know he had spent his Talent Points wisely.
Know This! Material Potential I and Common Material I are Synergistic Talents. By purchasing both, your known Template: Ring of Health, has advanced. The maximum Enchantment rank for this item has increased from “1” to “2”, which increases the base health provided from +5 to +10. The Item Class of the resultant ring has also increased from common to uncommon. The potential for other Templates may be also be automatically increased. This benefit is for you alone and will not aid others that find the same Template. Advance either Talent to the next rank to possibly advance the capabilities of your Templates again.
His Talent choices had already doubled the effectiveness of the magic rings he was making. That was without him even having successfully used his Unconventional Materials subskill yet. If he found a way to make a stronger material substitute for the copper ring, he might even be able to one day make rings that would give +20 or +30 to health. With his soldiers wearing those… a smile crossed Richter’s face... the Mist Village would become a force to be feared!
The “frugal” part of him also realized that he could start selling his rings to his fighters to offset the large amount of wages they had coming at the end of the year. The Townhall had helped the money issue somewhat and the new tax of 5% on wages had gone over without a hitch, just like the building prompt had promised. The taxes only saved him about thirteen gold per fortnight. It was something, but he still needed a bigger way to help his hemorrhaging economy. Cold hard cash wasn’t a problem yet, but he wasn’t willing to ignore the treasury until it was. Randy’s warning about revolt and rebellion if people weren’t paid was something that he took very, very seriously.
Selling Rings of Health might be part of the answer. Who wouldn’t give up two to four weeks of pay if it meant increasing their health by 10%? He was really looking forward to sharing the idea with Randy. He was so excited, in fact, that he decided to bounce it off Alma. The dragonling had fallen asleep, but cracked an irritated eye open when he poked her belly.
"Alma... pretend that you're Randolphus. I have an idea I want to bounce off you.”
"Master,” she said warningly. “I’m sleeping."
“Come on,” he told her with a grin. “It will be fun, and it will let you practice your new voice.”
Grumbling to herself, and silently promising retribution, she stood up and glared at him.
Undaunted Richter said, “Hey Randy, I'm thinking of selling Rings of Health to my soldiers. I think they’d happily give up two to four weeks of pay if it increased their health by 10%."
She just kept looking at him nonplussed.
“Alma?” he prompted her.
In a slightly gentle voice, the dragonling said, “I am not Alma. I am your chamberlain, Randolphus.”
He chuckled to himself, “Then why didn’t you answer?”
“I was trying to think of the best way to tell you that it was a horrible idea without running the risk of you chopping my head off.”
Richter frowned, “I would never-”
“We all know that you like to poke beautiful dragonlings while they are sleeping. If you are enough of a monster to do that, why would you stop at cold-blooded murder?”
The chaos seed sighed. “Very funny.”
The dragonling continued undaunted, primly walking around the bed now, “Back to your question though, my lord. I look forward to your many talks with the widows and orphans of your slain guards.” Now her voice changed slightly and he realized that she was imitating him!
“‘No. Daddy will not be coming home any more, young child. He would still be alive, but all I care about is gold. Since he wouldn’t pay me I sent him into a dragon’s den without the enchanted items that would have saved his life’.”
“Alma,” he said with a note of warning, but the dragonling was into it now. She stood up on her back legs and started moving her front paws up and down. “What are you doing?” he asked in confusion.
She looked at him as if he were the dumbest man in the world. Her voice also made it clear that it should be obvious, “I am shuffling my papers.”
Richter laughed at that, “Okay, that is pretty funny. Seriously though, wha-”
Alma interrupted him again using her Randy voice, “I have thought more about it, my lord, and have changed my mind. Selling rings is an excellent idea. In fact, why stop at magic rings? You could sell them their armor and weapons as well.” Richter opened his mouth, but she didn’t give him a chance to speak, “Better yet, Lord Gyoti, you can save even more money by charging for provisions. Simply starve anyone that cannot afford to pay for a meal.”
She put one paw to her draconian face as if she was stroking her beard, “Then there are tents... blankets... just imagine the opportunities for profit! If you sent your soldiers into battle naked, just once, I promise they would pay whatever you ask in the future. Excellent, excellent idea, Lord Poopy Pants!”
Richter glared at her, “You’re kind of being a dick, Alma.”
“Who is Alma?” she asked in confusion. “I am your fish-faced chamberlain. I am only trying to help. If I was your familiar Alma, I wouldn’t have given you this wonderful counsel. I would have said something like ‘If you poke my belly again, master, I will bite you in your sleep.’ Now can your chamberlain be of any more service?”
“No,” he replied sourly. “That will be all.”
She smiled to herself and lay back down in her previous spot, promptly closing her eyes. A moment later, she sleepily projected to him, *Though you didn’t ask me, I personally think it’s a great idea, master.*
Richter glared at her a few seconds longer, but then he couldn’t help himself. Chuckling, he scratched her neck ridge and she let out a happy rumbling grumble. He went back to his Talent tree. As happy as he was at having evolved his Template, buying Material Potential I hadn’t revealed a new blue sphere. Sighing because he really hadn’t planned on buying this next sphere, he spent the TPs anyway.
You have purchased the Talent: Alter Enchantment I for 30 Talent Points. You may now alter existing enchantments. This carries the risk of
destroying the existing enchantment, item or both. Purchase further ranks to increase the success of alteration and to allow for greater changes.
You have: 40 Talent Points remaining.
Even though he hadn’t planned to buy it yet, Richter couldn’t wait to try this one out. He definitely planned to be wearing full armor before he did though. People could call him sissy if they wanted, but an exploding item filled with soul stuff was not his idea of a good time. Especially seeing as how right at that current moment, all he was wearing was a slightly scratchy blanket. That just wasn’t enough protection for his boys!
There was also something fascinating happening on his Profession screen. The fog rolled back and a new Talent was finally revealed. It not only had the three tier-three Talents he’d just bought leading to it, but also the filament that led off from the tier-two Talent, Increase Armor Enchantment I. That meant this one Talent had required that he purchase four other spheres first! Put another way, he’d had to spend nearly a hundred TPs to unlock it. Most people gained only ten Talent Points per level. When he read the details of the newly exposed Talent though, he immediately knew why it had required so much.
Congratulations! You have revealed the Talent: Scalable Enchantments. Purchasing this Talent allows you to make enchantments that can grow stronger over time. To add this capability to an enchantment, an additional brilliant level soul must be expended during enchanting. The nature of the scalable benefit and the requirements to level the enchanted item will be based upon the unique nature of the brilliant soul. This can greatly affect the overall nature of the enchantment as well. Purchasing further ranks allows greater refinement of both the bonus and leveling requirements. It also allows for higher level souls to be used. Cost: 100 Talent Points.
Shit! He’d finally found it! Having his new sword was awesome, even if it hadn’t leveled during the last battle. The sword was called Black Ice, it did that cool dimming thing when it was first unsheathed… it was seriously boss. The best thing about it though was that it was scalable. It would grow stronger over time. It only had that ability though because Krom had fused the darkstone blade with the rare hilt. Richter had no idea how to make another hilt like that, and if he did, it had been made out of demon bones. Those weren’t exactly lying around for the taking.
This new Talent though would let him make all of his enchantments levelable! The potential was mind-blowing. If he could equip his troops with scalable maces and swords, then not only would they get stronger from battling and leveling, but their gear would grow with them.
Of course, that was a bit of a pipedream if each scalable enchantment required an extra brilliant level soul. Those only came from truly terrifying monsters like the dark aberration. Suffice it to say, brilliant souls weren’t growing on trees. He had only obtained three the whole time he’d been in The Land, but even a few enchantments like that could turn the tide of battle. This was exactly why he had spent his Talent Points, in the hope of finding a game-changing Talent. Still, he had never thought he’d find something as awesome as Scalable Enchantments!
Richter was itching to buy it immediately, but it cost a full hundred Talent Points. He completely understood why it was so expensive, and also why he’d needed to buy four other Talents just to reveal it, but the high price was still a bit of a scrot flick when he’d been hoping to go all the way. For a moment he was tempted to use his Specialist Point Conversion Talent, but that would mean another pretty serious penalty to the experience he earned. Richter had a feeling that the upcoming battle would either mean the end of him, or it would gain him enough XP to catapult him to new heights.
Richter had forty Talent Points left, and he decided to just hold onto them. He had more notifications to review.
Congratulations! You have reached skill level 18 in Enhanced Imbue Arrow. Baseline mana flow of 20 mana:1 second increased by +180%. Baseline damage of 5 mana:1 damage has increased by 90%.
Congratulations! You have reached subskill level 9 in Focus. Max zoom increased to 190%.
Congratulations! You have reached skill levels 2, 3 and 4 in Swordsmanship. +8% Damage and +8% Attack Speed when using a sword.
Congratulations! You have reached skill levels 11 and 12 in Cloud Running. +3.0 seconds of aerial glide time. +24% strength from jumps.
Those skill increases were useful, especially the boost to his Cloud Running, but it was his Blood magic that had leaped forward.
Congratulations, Sanguimancer! You have pushed past the limits of your magic. You have swum through oceans of blood. Even more astonishing is the fact that you have emerged with your mind intact; surely your familiar is to be thanked for that rare occurrence! Despite your good fortune, never forget that the pathways of power cannot be walked without leaving a trail. Be warned, continuing to push past your limits will draw attention you may not be prepared to receive. In the now, your exertions will be rewarded, however.
Congratulations! You have reached skill levels 14, 15, …, 19 in Blood Magic. New spells are now available.
One battle had gotten him the lion’s share of the way to becoming an apprentice in a Deeper Magic! The Bloodstone had gifted him with three spells after the raid on the goblin village, but so far, he’d only been able to meet the requirements of Blood Mana. Hopefully, he’d soon progress enough in the magic that he’d unlock Sanguine Protection and Dread Harvest as well. For now, he was more than pleased with how his increase in skill level would make Blood Mana more efficient. Seeing the increase in his power, Richter already knew that despite the battered state of his body, despite the danger of losing his mind, and even despite the threat to his friends, he wanted more power. He would use his Blood magic again. For him, the only way was forward.
As he thought about that, a cough racked his body and he hacked up a wad of old congealed blood. Looking at the disgusting gob, he amended his previous statement. The only way was forward… in a few days. Richter moved on to the next prompt and saw it wasn’t only his skill in Blood Magic that had leaped forward.
Congratulations! You have Tamed a creature that is more than 10x your current skill level in Beast Bonding! This awe-inspiring feat has greatly advanced your skill level in Beast Bonding.
Congratulations! You have reached skill levels 9,10, …, 25 in Beast Bonding. +25% effectiveness to Tame. +25% attack and defense of bonded creatures.
You have received 2,500 (base 2,000 x 1.25) bonus experience for reaching level 10 in the skill: Beast Bonding.
You have received 5,000 (base 4,000 x 1.25) bonus experience for reaching level 20 in the skill: Beast Bonding.
Congratulations! You have advanced from Novice to Initiate in: Beast Bonding. You may now tame 2 pets without danger of them turning upon you and you may tame 2 pets at once. You may tame up to common-souled creatures. There is now a 1% chance of your tamed creatures adopting a characteristic of their kills. The cooldown of Tame has been reduced from 12 to 10 hours. The required time to permanently Tame a creature has been reduced from 6 days for every level to 5 days.
Congratulations! You have advanced from Initiate to Apprentice in: Beast Bonding. You may now tame 4 pets without danger of them turning upon you and you may tame 3 pets at once. You may tame up to luminous-souled creatures. There is now a 2% chance of your tamed creatures adopting a characteristic of their kills. The cooldown of Tame has been reduced from 10 to 8 hours. The required time to permanently Tame a creature has been reduced from 5 days for every level to 4 days.
Know This! As an Apprentice in Beast Bonding, you will now be given a specialization of the type of monster with which you are most familiar. Your specialization is: Reptiles.
Know This! Tame is now much more effective in regard to Reptiles. The total bonus to taming Reptiles is:
Dragonkin, Level 2 = +20 skill levels when taming reptiles
Psi Bond level 7 = +14 skill levels when taming reptiles
Reptile Specialization = +5 skill levels when taming reptiles (cumulative with successive ranks)
Effective skill level of Beast Bonding when taming Reptiles is level 64, rank Journeyman. Can Tame up to special level reptile souls.
Something finally made sense to Richter. He availed himself of one of the benefits of having tamed the tovuut mauler. Namely, that he now had full access to its status screen.
Name: Tovuut MaulerDisposition: Tamed (Blind Rage)
Tovuut Maulers are reptilian creatures capable of basic reasoning, though higher-level thinking is beyond them. Despite this intellectual handicap, they are cunning predators that will stalk prey for days. Maulers are said to take great joy in eating smaller creatures while they can still scream.
Level: 92
Health: 5772Mana: 75Stamina: 3608
Strength: 211
Agility: 42
Dexterity: 53
Constitution: 577
Endurance: 360
Intelligence: 7
Wisdom: 3
Charisma: 6
Luck: 15
Special Abilities:
Rage – Increases Strength, Endurance, and Defense by +184%
Regeneration – Restores 23 HP/Min
Pack Leader – Gathers weaker creatures to follow the monster into battle
He hadn’t really thought he’d be able to tame the mauler. He’d had no idea exactly how much “juice” the blood crystal would give him, but he had been pretty sure it would still leave him short. He would never admit to anyone, even to Alma, that his only real goal had been to buy his friends time to escape. The knowledge that he had finite lives had changed things, but even if he only had one, trading his life for that of the men and women that had fought beside him would have been a good deal. He had known when he had placed his glowing red hand on the giant creature that the most likely scenario would be for him to respawn naked above the Great Seal.