by Aleron Kong
Congratulations! You have advanced from Novice to Initiate in Self-Awareness. Control within will be mirrored by control without. 20% less likely to betray nonverbal cues to others. This is cumulative with further ranks.
You have received 1,250 (base 2,000) bonus experience for reaching level 10 in the skill: Self-Awareness.
They also worked on his mental barriers, which was, unfortunately, a slower process, but still beneficial. After meditating with her, Richter would go to the forge and start creating daggers. Again and again, he forged iron daggers, melted them down, created ingots and then forged the daggers anew. His skill level increased to level six over the next few days. The time spent in the forge was more meaningful in that he was able to gain a new enchantment!
Congratulations! You have reached skill level 6 in Smithing. +1% Damage or Defense. +1% Durability.
Congratulations! You have learned the enchantment: Life Damage. Life magic damage will be done to the enemy struck. A secondary enchantment makes healing spells and potions more effective on the wielder of the weapon.
After that, Richter immediately began forging Life daggers for all of his guards. All of his efforts only increased his movement to the next level of Enchanting by 2%, but this was not a surprise. While his 100% affinity let him ghost through skill levels one through ten, he had found that his skill progression slowed substantially as he progressed to level twenty in some of his skills. He assumed that advancement would continue to be exponentially more difficult as he got into the higher levels. With his Enchantment skill at level forty-eight, it was basically at a crawl. He complained about it to Krom and the smith said he didn’t know about enchanting, but for his own Smithing skill, he had to try new and harder projects to see a real boost to his progression.
Richter nodded. The dwarf’s reasoning made sense. It wasn’t helpful seeing as how he only knew a few enchantments, but it was always better to know. It also did not bother him overly much and he just focused on practicing his Profession. Just like with Freeze, the cost of the Life enchantment was 1.5n. Luckily, there were no shortage of soul stones. The hunters continued to bring the stones in, but the main source was his own little predator. The village weavers had made a sack that was specially created for Alma to carry. It had a metal hook that allowed her to hang it securely from the branches of a high tree.
Every night, Richter would fill the sack with empty soul stones. After the two of them were done with their mental training and he went to the forge, Alma would take the bag and go hunting. Though she only captured common souls or below, it made a difference. Also, not only did she often come back with five to ten soul stones by lunch, but she was also making good use of her special attack, Brain Drain. Because of her efforts, the experience he had spent on talent points was slowly, but steadily, being replenished.
After leaving the forge, he would head up to the meadow and do a quick lap. He would first stop at the Cauldron and get some facetime with Tabia and the other alchemists. Richter considered starting to train his Alchemy skill, but he figured it wasn’t the best use of his time. Next, he would make his way over to the skath clutch. After ensuring the eggs were healthy, he would finish his time in the meadow checking on the pixies.
After he had left the meadow, he would go the feast area. The tables had been brought back down from the Quickening following the pixies birth. Richter hadn’t even needed to ask, Randolphus had simply organized a group of mist workers to carry the tables back down to the village. Some of the villagers had protested that they could no longer go into the meadow regularly, but Randolphus had squashed their complaints. He stated that entrance to the meadow was a special privilege and only those who had sworn fealty would even be considered. This was further emphasized by the thick walls of marbled quartz that Roswan had started building at the top and bottom of the hill leading up to the meadow. Rather than angering the villagers though, several bent the knee over the next few days.
Each day after lunch, Richter would go hunting with his war party. One noncombatant was taken out with the hunting party each day and 20% of the earned experience went their way. Richter always made sure to have a completely separate strike squad of five guards there to trail the main war party and keep the noncombatant safe. The daily fighting not only let him train his War Leader skill, but it also let him get to know his guards better. The war party was truly large now that Terrod could command his own troops.
It wasn’t only the increased size of the party that made it more formidable than before. The scout, tank and healer ability were just as amazing as he had thought they would be. A hunter normally took the position of scout, one of the guards served as tank and Richter was sure to include at least two Life magi in each party, one of them serving in the official position of healer. The hunter and Richter led the war party and made use of their ability to highlight enemies in red. The job was amazingly easy as Alma helped to guide them. She normally had found a potential threat from her earlier hunts and pointed them in the right direction. With Richter’s tracking skill, finding dangerous beast or packs of monsters was almost too easy.
Once Richter and the scout found their quarry, they would both let loose one arrow and then draw their prey back to the tank. After that whatever they were hunting came to a swift end, and Alma normally delivered the coup de grace.
The flow of dead animals and monsters ensured that his people had more than enough food and the stack of tradeable skins grew larger every day. Tabia also benefited from the continual flow of potion components. As often as not, curses could be heard coming from the Dragon’s Cauldron, usually accompanied by smoke of various colors. Not all of her attempts at new potions worked out well, but since the building was still standing, Richter didn’t interfere.
The forays of the war party served one more purpose. Richter was also able to explore notable locations on his map and explore his realm. The next two interesting locations were thankfully not nearly as dangerous as the decaemur knight’s dungeon, but they still let him finish his third village-spawned quest.
The second location was a cave. It reached deep into a hill and on the far back wall was a pictographic history. Many of the images were faded, but Richter was able to make out that it told the story of an old god or a devil. He wasn’t able to be sure, but what was clear, was that this had been a place of sacrifice. The walls showed humans, elves, goblins and what he assumed were orc having their hearts removed and then thrown down a hole. At the back of the cave was the pit that the pictures had shown. It was only a rough hewn opening in the floor, but had been greeted with a prompt.
You have found: Ancient Dungeon.
After he had seen that the pit was an entrance to a dungeon more than ten thousand years old, Richter had immediately started backing away. Almost as if to speed him on his journey, a gust of wind rose out of the hole and washed over the war party. It stank of fetid rot and decomposing flesh. Everyone in the cave had run out of it and breathed sighs of relief when they once again could feel the sun on their faces. Richter still shuddered when he thought about it. There hadn’t been any overt physical danger, but he knew in his heart that there was something sinister down that hole.
He had almost been reluctant to finish the quest after that, but he still powered through. Thankfully, the third interesting location was relatively benign. His map had led him to the foothills to the north of the village. After climbing a narrow and winding trail, he had found himself in a small clearing. What he found was a miniature Stonehenge. Each of the upright rocks had a symbol carved into them, weather had worn almost all details away. Luckily one of the wood elves in his party knew of the importance of such sites. She said that it was thought stone circles like this could lead to the world of the fey. The elf had scoffed right after she had said it, stating it was a tale grandmothers told children and nothing more. Richter wasn’t so sure though. Right after the elf guard had finished speaking, he had received a prompt letting him know his quest had been completed…
Reward: 4,688 experience (base 7,500 x 1.25 x 0.5).
Reward: +0.04% chance of locations within your domain of Interesting rank or higher becoming a Labyrinth!
The experience wasn’t that much, but that wasn’t really the point. He had finished three out of four of the quests needed to level his village! Richter had been worried that he would need to unlock all of his Powers for the settlement to reach level two. He wasn’t sure what level of monsters would appear, but he knew his people weren’t ready to deal with it. The fact that other quests would be spawned by the village was a game changer!
Even more exciting was the second reward. Richter initially had no idea what a labyrinth was, but once he spoke to Terrod, he knew that he needed one. According to the captain, notable locations often attracted monsters and beasts. That was how dungeons were created. In very rare instances, the energy of the monsters could infuse the locations with their magic and souls. From that point on, the dungeons were known as a Labyrinth, and the monsters would continually be reborn. Terrod said that while this might sound horrible, the monsters would start dropping coins and items occasionally when slain so Labyrinths were coveted locations. Richter’s face almost split in half by the time his Companion had finished speaking. He did have one question, though, “Is there usually a really difficult monster to beat at the end of the Labyrinth?”
Terrod nodded, “So you have heard of these special dungeons before, my lord?”
Richter nodded with extreme satisfaction. All that was going through his mind was, “Ohhh Baby!”
Even though the chance to obtain such a dungeon was slim, it was still exciting. In the meantime, though, he focused on what he could do. Another benefit from his daily excursions was that he was able to discover various plants that were scarce or even more rare. The first day, for instance, Richter was finally able to retrieve the shiverleaf frond that was on the edge of his domain. It had been difficult because it was at the bottom of a submerged cave. He had had to use his fish ring to get to the bottom of the subterranean lake, and it was populated by a type of large eel. The creatures were weak, though and after he killed one with a dagger strike, its fellows occupied themselves with eating the corpse.
Richter had to search for a while, but he finally found fronds hidden under a rocky overhang thirty feet underwater. Once Richter saw them, it became clear how the rare plants had earned their name. The green fronds vibrated slightly, creating small bubbly disturbances. He harvested more than twenty of the plants along with handfuls of the muck they had been growing in, leaving eight behind. The plan was to plant some of them in the Dragon’s Cauldron, but in case they did not grow there, Richter wanted to allow this patch of plants to regrow.
The war party was normally out for two to three hours, though the first day required the entire afternoon. He ended each hunting trip by reestablishing his control over his tamed adder. He made sure his entire war party was present for two reasons. One, to kill the snake in case it broke free of his control, and two, to restrain him if the Blood magic made him a danger again. Luckily, his improvement in Self Awareness paid huge dividends in his use of Blood magic. Richter actively linked to Alma each time that he cast Tame, and though he felt the bestial side of himself rise up, he was able to keep it under control. Richter felt a swell of pride at his new magical proficiency. It was true that he was only casting the weakest of Deep Magic spells, but it was a start!
After his war party was safely back behind the walls, Richter finally tried his hand at working with the builders. Roswan had spoken to him with his customary “real men have calluses” attitude when Richter had first walked up, but the builder still welcomed another able body to work beside him. The chaos seed quickly gained the Construction skill. He also gained a subskill in Masonry when he worked with stone and a subskill in Carpentry from helping to lay a wooden floor. After four days, he had leveled all three several times.
Congratulations! You have reached skill level 4 in Construction. +2% to Building Speed. +1% Durability of the finished building.
Congratulations! You have reached subskill level 3 in Masonry. +2% to Durability when building with stone. +2% Longevity of finished buildings.
Congratulations! You have reached subskill level 4 in Carpentry. +1% Durability when building with wood. +1% weather protection for finished buildings.
Even Roswan seemed impressed at the quickness that Richer was picking up the good building practices. When the elf heard about Richter’s Masonry and Carpentry subskills, he let loose his most expressive “Grrrmmm” yet. Richter almost blushed.
Once Richter gained his Construction skill, he was able to add more unskilled workers under him which made the building pace increase. The increase in the mist workers he could summon was also good for productivity. For instance, ten to twenty were dedicated to pulverizing simple stone into gravel each day and making rudimentary roads between the buildings and up to the village gate. Even that simple change made it a good deal easier to move around.
Three other factors made a bigger difference, however. The increase in village Loyalty increased productivity by 20%; the increased Morale upped production speed by 10% and his own modest skill in Administration further increased productivity. The boost in productivity coupled with the mist workers nearly doubled the work that could be done every day. Piles of wood and harvested stone grew, waiting to be used. With the excess resources came renewed complaints about needing a storage shed, but it was a good problem to have.
Richter also received another subskill while working with his people.
Congratulations! You have reached subskill level 5 in Lead from the Front. +1% Productivity for projects you ordered that you help with yourself. This is a subskill of Administration.
Each day he worked with the builders until it was time for dinner. The number of mist lights multiplied as Richter, Alma and Futen made them whenever they could. The mile of cleared land around village wall was soon festooned with the glowing grey orbs. His people could now see easily, day or night. Key areas within the walls also had lights hung regularly at about fifteen feet above the ground. Richter planned to have the rest of the village lit as soon as possible.
After sharing a small meal with his people, Richter went to the eastern edge of the village alone. Alma normally perched somewhere nearby. Some of the villagers started coming to watch what their lord did each night, enjoying the show from a safe distance. Richter had decided to do something he had put off for too long. It was time to grind.
The chaos seed faced off against a small boulder each night and started casting. He would go through his spells one by one, chaining them together without pause. Weak Flame, Weak Ice Dagger, Weak Acid Sphere, Weak Lightning Bolt, Weak Life Bolt and Weak Dark Bolt. Richter pushed himself to go as fast as possible until his mana ran out. He intentionally pushed until the blue bar in the corner of his vision almost completely depleted. Then he would wait until it refilled completely, before starting again. He didn’t gain any bonus characteristic points, but his ability to deal with the pain of mana depletion improved.
For at least an hour each night, he focused solely upon his Fire magic. His Book of Weak Fireball was calling his name, but he couldn’t learn the spell until he reached skill level twelve. Richter kept at it each night, and his magic skills slowly improved. It was frustrating how much slower his skills progressed outside of combat, but there was no denying that fighting a boulder was infinitely safer than battling monsters.
After two to three hours, Richter would call it a night. His villagers would clap and then retreat to bed once the show was over. The chaos seed then walked into the catacombs with one of the novice mages in tow. With their help, he would then spend a few hours transcribing a new spell. Over the first few days, he was able
to make several books.
Congratulations! You have created a spell book: Book of Virol’s Blessing. Durability 11/11. Item Class: Common. Quality: Well Crafted. Weight: 0.4 kg. Casting this spell will increase the yield and potency of a 20x20 yard area of plants by 5%. Successive casts of this spell create a cumulative effect for a max of 100%. This spell can be cast once per day. This is a spell of Life, level 1.
Congratulations! You have created a spell book: Book of Weak Air Push. Durability 13/13. Item Class: Common. Quality: Well Crafted. Weight: 0.4 kg. This spell creates a column of air ten feet in front of you, one foot in diameter. Does no real damage, but will knock enemies back and possibly prone. This is a spell of Air Magic, level 1.
Congratulations! You have created a spell book: Book of Weak Life Beacon. Durability 11/11. Item Class: Common. Quality: Well Crafted. Weight: 0.4 kg. This spell shoots a golden flare high into the air. Any creatures with a relationship to you, friendly and above, within one mile, will be compelled to come to your aid. This is a spell of Life, level 1.
Richter learned each of the spells, as well as Glitterdust. Soon all of his magi who had sworn fealty, and had the required affinity, learned the spells from him as well. After scribing each night, he would retire to his bed chamber. His final task of the day was spending some, ahem, quality time with one of the twins or Lorala, and on one special night, all three. Admittedly, that was Richter’s favorite part of the day.
After the first day, Elora and the other pixies started making their way into the village. Every last man, woman, and child fell in love with the beautiful flyers. The celestial children definitely had a mischievous streak, but they played tricks on each other as much as on the villagers. As far as Richter could see, no one really minded. For his own part, he quickly came to love them all as well. Many called him “Unca Wichter” and happily buzzed around him as much as they could. One of their favorite games was chasing Alma and Futen, the only other two fliers in the village. The dragonling took the attention in stride, but the remnant seemed to pulse in irritation when he was mobbed with children. At least that was the way it appeared to Richter.