“Shit, I almost couldn’t learn that. I had just enough Light,” I said as I toggled my UI back to look at my stats. Under the section for Light, it read:
Light (Overall)- 25
Light (Magic)- 0
Light (Stats)- 25
Perception- 12
Charisma- 13
“What was that?” The fenia called from the back room where she had disappeared with Allurie.
“Nothing. Sorry!” I yelled back and looked at the other ability book. What would happen if I tried to use this, but I didn’t have enough Light attribute? Would it just not work? Would the words fade and I wouldn’t be able to use it again? I checked my stats sheet once more. I had 34 attribute points waiting for me to spend, which wouldn’t go far if I pushed them into Perception or Charisma. I could bump up my Perception to 13, and my Charisma to 14, but that would cost me 27 points. Maybe I could spend the rest on Magic. I recalled Zarra saying that a point spent there calculated as three times its value in the Overall stat.
I realized there was actually something off about my stats. I wasn’t getting the bonus from my Broadsword of the Charming Mind. It should have given me an extra 3 attribute points to my Charisma rating, which would have raised my Light (Overall) to 28. I laid my hand on the hilt of my sword with the UI window displayed, and saw my Charisma display as 13(16). Ahhh. It looked like I only got bonuses from weapons when I had them in my hand. It was probably going to be better to learn the skills with my base attributes, instead of relying on weapons.
“Excuse me, Kikias is it?” I called out into the back room.
“Yes?” she said over the sound of coins touching the metal of her safe.
“I’m getting the feeling that Guardian of Fortune is a much tougher ability to learn than Breath of Life. What happens if I don’t have enough Light attribute to learn it?”
“You just won’t be able to understand the words,” she called out.
“Can you tell me how much more attribute I’d need to learn it?”
“Hmmm.” The fenia woman stepped out from the back of the room with Allurie and twitched her nose. “The ability uses twice the amount of Light, and twice as much Mind than Breath of Life needed Body, it is also much harder to use. Protection magic is a tough road, and many just stick with heal abilities instead.
“Ahh. I get it,” I said as I moved my hand over my stats window again to focus on my Mind rating:
Mind (Overall) - 31
Mind (Magic) - 0
Mind (Stats) - 31
Intelligence - 15
Willpower - 16
Breath of Life only used 10 Body so it wouldn’t be an issue if Guardian of Fortune used 20 Mind. I really needed to worry about raising my Light.
I reached out and ran my fingers over the book for the protection ability, then I took a deep breath, flipped it open, and prayed that I wouldn’t actually lose the text if I tried to read the thing without enough of the attribute.
I spun through the pages with the usual flip book method, but the designs inside were just gibberish. I could kind of see a bit of a shield shape, but it never actually formed as I turned the pages. Then I was at the end of the book, and a message flashed over my UI: This ability requires 55 Light and 25 Mind to learn.
Damn. That was really expensive, and the fenia had told me that was one of the easier protection style abilities to learn. It kind of made sense, though. Preventing damage from happening in the first place was much better than taking care of it after, especially if Zarra was going to keep the whole “Players feel some pain when they take damage” idea she wanted. I would rather not get hit in the first place.
If I raised my Perception and Charisma by one each, and then pumped the 7 remaining points into Light Magic, I would only end up with 48 attribute points in Light Overall, so I was going to have to just do one stat, and then put the rest in Light Magic.
Or I could just put it all in Light Magic, maybe some in Mind Magic, and be able to use the ability more often with less fatigue. The decisions made me pause, and I felt a big smile come to my lips. This was one of the aspects of video games that I loved. Garf, Jax, and I had spent countless hours debating builds of classes, skill and attribute point distributions, and counter skills to other classes. My eyes focused on my Perception attribute. It still bugged me that it was so much lower than my other stats, so I motioned over it to raise it from 12 to 13. I didn’t gesture over the button to confirm because I wanted to play around with the numbers more, but this decision made me feel a bit better, even if it was just vanity.
I had 21 points left, and I put 10 in my Light Magic stat:
Light (Overall) - 56
Light (Magic) - 10
Light (Stats) - 26
Perception - 13
Charisma - 13
With this set up I should be able to learn the Guardian of Fortune ability, and Jennifer had told me that I could use it once a minute without feeling any mana fatigue. I still had 11 points that I could spend, but I didn’t know how useful it would be to dump more into either Light Magic or Mind Magic. Would a few points higher than their requirements really help with Mana Fatigue? I figured it was probably going to be best if I just raised my attributes to the bare requirement a new ability needed, and then try to increase my base non-magical stats whenever I had a massive surplus of unspent attribute points.
I clicked on the confirm button and looked at my character sheet once more:
Leo Lennox
Body (Overall) - 33
Body (Magic) - 0
Body (Stats) - 33
Brawn - 17
Quickness - 16
Mind (Overall) - 31
Mind (Magic) - 0
Mind (Stats) - 31
Intelligence - 15
Willpower - 16
Light (Overall) - 56
Light (Magic) - 10
Light (Stats) - 26
Perception - 13
Charisma - 13
Shadow (Overall) - 32
Shadow (Magic) - 0
Shadow (Stats) - 32
Comeliness - 16
Luck - 16 (17)
With 11 unspent attribute points.
I didn’t feel much different after I had confirmed the points, but there had been a flash of my UI, and my vision had kind of sharpened for a second. Then my sight returned to normal, and I flipped the Guardian of Fortune ability book open again. The designs on the pages now looked like a shield with a pair of dice on them, and I watched the intricate illustration dance across the pages in the usual style when I thumbed through the book.
Guardian of Fortune Light 55, Mind 25. Enchantment Spell. Intended target is enchanted with Guardian of Fortune. While Enchantment is active, attacks against target will do 0 damage 75% of the time they hit. Enchantment lasts caster’s Light attribute divided by 20 in seconds. (2.75 seconds).
The parenthesis that surrounded the 2.75 seconds was in a slightly darker shade of orange, and I reasoned that it would change when I increased my overall Light attribute.
“How do you feel?” Kikias asked after I had closed my UI and smiled at her.
“Not that different, but I’m excited to test this out.”
“You can try right now. Cast Guardian of Fortune on yourself.”
“Uhh. Okay. Do I just think I want it on the target?” I glanced down at my chest and then gasped when a teal glow highlighted my body. It was a faint illumination, but I could see small dancing shields cascade across my clothes and skin.
“Wow!” I shouted.
“Hold still,” Kikias growled, and she reached her paw out toward the part of my forearm that was bare. Claws suddenly extended from her fingertips, and she swiped across my skin. I didn’t feel anything the first time that she did it, but the second time she swiped I grunted in pain, and saw that she had left five bloody scratches on my arm.
“You cut me?” I gasped as I tried to move away, but she managed to get one more swipe across my arm. The third one I couldn’t feel
again.
“It is just a chance for attacks not to do damage. It won’t make your target invincible.”
“I guess not,” I grunted as I looked at my arm. The cuts weren’t super deep, but they were starting to bleed as if I’d made light swipes across my arm with a razor blade.
“Oh, no! Leo is hurt. Can I help you?” Allurie sprang over the counter like a running gymnast and cradled my arm.
“Use Breath of Life now,” Kikias said. “It will heal you in a second.”
“Okay,” I said as the glimmer of Guardian of Fortune faded from my skin and clothes.
I thought about using my new healing ability on myself, and I suddenly began to glow with a faint green light. There was a vermillion kind of pulsing color that ran through the glow in time with my heartbeat, and I saw the cuts on my arm disappear a second after I had used the ability. It had itched for half a moment, but now my arm looked completely undamaged, and there wasn’t even a scar.
“Dang, that is really cool.”
“These are your first Light spells?” the fenia woman asked.
“Kind of. I have Ember also, and I think it uses Light.”
“I’m surprised you were able to learn them. Most people spend years in school, or studying privately before they can handle such magic.”
“Leo is amazing! I’m not surprised at all,” Allurie cheered as she hugged my arm.
“Ha. I can see that. Well, if you need to learn more, come on back with your gold. I’ve got a lot of other ability books, as well as healing potions and the like.”
“How much is a healing potion?” I asked. I had one of Light Healing in my pocket and another one of Cat’s Grace, but it probably wouldn’t hurt to have a few more just in case.
“My least expensive is seventy-five gold. It is like a single use of Breath of Life.”
“Dang. What about a light healing potion? Is that what you are speaking of?”
“That is a hundred, heals much less than the other, but it works instantly.”
“Okay, maybe we’ll come back another time.”
“Sure, don’t forget your gold and backpack,” the cat-woman pointed at the counter where the last stack of gold coins sat.
“Thanks, you have a great day. I’ll be back,” I said as I scooped up the remainder of my gold. I put a dozen pieces in my pants pocket, and then placed the rest in a pouch that I knotted closed before placing in my backpack.
Allurie and I walked out of the store, and I took a deep breath of the city air. I did feel a lot more badass with these new skills, and I was eager to return to Switt so that I could inform him of my progress. I didn’t know if the man would introduce me to Wicum and Mirea, but this was a step in the correct direction.
“Where are we going now?” Allurie asked after I watched the crowd for a few moments.
“Are you hungry? It feels like lunch time.” As soon as the question left my mouth, I felt kind of dumb. I hadn’t actually ever felt hungry in the game, but I loved to celebrate success with a nice meal, and the idea had come to my lips without even realizing what I was asking. I kept forgetting that this was a game.
“That sounds like a date? Is it a date? Oh! By the Light and the Body, I’m so happy! Yay! Oh Leo, I always wondered if I could change your mind. I didn’t want to press you because I knew you also loved men, but I still carried hope in my heart that you would mate with me and—”
“No,” I raised my hand with a gentle laugh. “As friends. Can’t we just be together as friends?”
“Oh. Well… yes. I would love that too.” The elf girl smiled sincerely at me, and I felt my fondness for her grow a bit. Allurie was a bit of a pain, but she really did seem to care about me unconditionally, and I realized that my gaming experience was much more entertaining with her around. It still didn’t change my mind about elves being a little too sexual for a video game, but Allurie had really grown on me.
“What do you feel like eating?” I asked as I glanced back to the busy street. It still amazed me to see the throng of unique NPCs.
“Oh, I don’t care. Whatever you want.”
“That sounds like a usual woman response,” I said with a laugh, then I noticed someone walking through the crowd, and my laughter caught in my throat.
“Do you see that half-orc?” I asked Allurie as I nodded into the crowd.
“The tall, muscular one with the gray cloak?” she asked.
“Yeah. That fucker,” I confirmed as I watched the man stroll through the crowd.
The half-orc’s hood was up over his head, but he didn’t seem to be in a hurry. He even nodded to a few people as he walked, and made a more elaborate bow to a pretty woman wearing a pink floral dress. The woman didn’t seem interested in his greeting, and gave him a sour face before continuing on her way. The half-orc shrugged at her expression, smiled, and then continued his meander.
“He stole some gold from me yesterday,” I explained as I stepped off of the porch of the Light magic store.
“Oh, no! That meanie, I’m going to go over to him and get your money back right now,” Allurie huffed.
“Hold on a sec, bulldog,” I said as I grabbed her shoulder. “That guy’s three times your size. I’ll confront him. Let’s follow him for a bit and see where he is going.”
“Oh. That’s a good plan,” Allurie whispered to me. “It will be like a secret.”
“Yeah, okay. You are excellent at spotting stuff, so it is your job to make sure I don’t lose him.”
“Yay! I love—”
“I know you love jobs, let’s go,” I said as I pulled on her arm and walked into the flow of traffic.
It was easy to see the tall half-orc, he stood at least a head above everyone else on the street, and his gray cloak hood was somewhat of a contrast to the more colorful clothes that the citizens of Arnicoal wore. Allurie and I followed him for a good ten minutes and managed to place ourselves thirty feet or so behind him. There was a bit of a break in the foot traffic on the street, and I made my move to confront him, but he made a sharp turn off of the street and walked into a large brick building. It seemed to be a restaurant, and it had black wood trim and decorative iron work on the high balcony where well dressed people enjoyed their midday meal.
“This looks expensive,” I said as I studied the sign over the door. It read The Salted Sea Bass and was crafted with more flowery iron twisted over a long piece of driftwood.
“Leo, I don’t need to have lunch here. I’ll eat anywhere, as long as it is with you,” Allurie’s fingers wrapped around mine.
“We are following this asshole. I bet he’s using the gold he stole from me to buy himself a nice meal. Ugh.” Anger knotted in my stomach, and I pulled Allurie inside of the restaurant behind me.
The foyer was even nicer than I expected. There was a fountain flowing down a stairway of stones in one corner, delicately manicured ferns in another, and the soft sound of a harp echoing to us from the opened dining area.
“Two for lunch?” a hostess asked as I approached her. The woman glanced down at my clothes, over at Allurie, and then back to my face with an eyebrow raised. “Or is there something else I can help you with?” Her voice had changed to sound rather snooty, and I realized that it had been many, many years since someone had spoken that way to me.
“Was there a half-orc that just came in through here?” I asked as I tried to calm my anger.
“I’m afraid I don’t know, sir,” the woman said as she straightened some menus behind her counter.
“Fine. Two for lunch,” I said.
“Our lunches run around a gold per plate,” she said as she looked down at my dwarven made clothes. They were definitely crafted with durability in mind over styling, and the seams were all triple stitched with thick threading.
“That’s fine. I’m just looking for my friend. Maybe you’d be able to sit us close to him?”
“Come this way, please.” She cleared her throat, gave Allurie a half disgusted look, and then turned to lead us
into the dining area.
The woman’s attitude was all sorts of annoying, but the way she looked at the elf girl really pissed me off. I thought about saying something to the old hag, but when I looked back at Allurie, her face was smiling wide, and her bright turquoise eyes were busy looking at the decorations inside of the restaurant. I doubted that my friend had even noticed how rude the other woman was, but then again, Allurie probably wouldn’t have even cared.
I looked for the half-orc as we walked through the interior of the restaurant. The place was about half full of customers, and I spotted the asshole sitting by himself at a circular table big enough to hold four people.
“Here is your table,” the woman said as she gestured to a very small two person booth in the far corner of the restaurant. We were about twenty yards from the half-orc man who had stolen my money, and I saw other empty tables closer to him, but I guessed that the older woman was putting us out of sight because of our attire. It was kind of a weird treatment because the half-orc didn’t look to be wearing expensive clothes. They looked just as utilitarian as mine.
“This is fine, thank you,” I said as I pulled Allurie’s chair. The elf girl giggled as she sat, and then I slid my backpack under my chair before I took my own seat.
“Your server will be with you shortly,” the woman said with a sigh, and I almost yelled at her, but that would have made a scene, and I didn’t want the half-orc to know we were here.
“Leo, how much did that bad man steal from you?” Allurie asked after the hostess had left.
“Two gold.”
“But this meal will cost us two gold. We could have gone somewhere less—”
“It’s okay,” I hissed at her. “I don’t even care about the money. It is just the principal of the matter. Shit, they are bringing this guy’s food already? Is he some kind of king or something?”
I saw two waiters approach the half-orc’s table. Each carried a large tray of cooked beef, shellfish, salad, and various breads. They laid the food before the green skinned man, and then another waiter approached to speak with the half-orc.
Lion's Quest: Dual Wield: A LitRPG Saga Page 13