Glory to the Brave (Ascend Online Book 4)
Page 37
You currently have 1 unspent Class Skill Point.
Please select an ability from the following list to learn:
Traits:
Arcane Surge
Type: Ability, Magical
Duration: 30 seconds
Skill Requirement: Three Arcane Trees Level 20 or higher, any Weapon Skill Level 20 or higher, three or more Martial abilities.
Description: After countless hours of honing both your magical and physical ability, you have learned how to temporarily surpass your body’s normal limits by sending a surge of mana coursing through your muscles.
Effect: For the duration of this ability, all of your physical stats are increased by 25% and you gain an additional 10% damage bonus to all melee attacks. Note: Due to the toll this ability takes on your body, you must wait five minutes before reusing it.
Resist Magic
Type: Trait, Magical
Duration: Permanent
Skill Requirement: Three Arcane Trees Level 20 or higher, ten or more spells learned.
Description: Gaining a better knowledge of Spellcraft as your skill increases, you have learned how to prevent hostile magic from fully latching onto you, causing it to slide off with reduced or little harm.
Effect: This Trait grants you a bonus 20% chance to reduce or avoid the effects of hostile debilitating or damage over time magic directed at you.
Familiar Magical Aptitude
Type: Trait, Magical
Duration: Permanent
Skill Requirement: Improved Familiar, four Arcane Trees Level 20 or higher, Magically Sensitive Familiar.
Description: After prolonged exposure to your magic through your shared link, your familiar has begun to develop the ability to learn and cast its own spells. Furthermore, thanks to this development, any spells that you share across your link with your familiar now require less mana to cast.
Effect: Your familiar learns three of your spells and is now able to cast them at will from its own mana pool. In addition, any spells that you share with your familiar have their mana cost reduced by 20%.
Oh, wow! I gasped mentally as I finished reviewing all of the options available to me, my surprise causing me to almost trip over my own feet as Freya and I continued to walk. These are all amazing! And even more powerful than anything we’ve ever gotten before up until now!
Pausing in disbelief, I forced myself to read through all of the traits for a second time, trying to absorb each of their contents and how they would fit into my playstyle.
These are all capstone abilities to round out our final base class progression, I thought as I read. This is our last skill point that we get in our base class, then we have another class challenge waiting for us at level twenty-nine, followed by our advanced class the level after. I think that these abilities are supposed to be a class-defining feature in our playstyle going forward.
With that thought still floating in my mind, I couldn’t help but look at the list a third time, noticing that each trait outlined a particular aspect of play. Arcane Surge was an offensive trait that could greatly augment the spellsword’s ability to cause damage over the course of a short window, turning them into temporary melee juggernauts. Resist Magic, on the other hand, was the defensive choice, adding onto the class’s ability to avoid damage or being pinned down by hostile spells, something that I could appreciate given my most recent encounter with Carver. Then, of course, there was the utility choice in Familiar Magical Aptitude, a trait that couldn’t help but pull on my heart the instant that my eyes landed on it. While it wouldn’t affect me directly as the other two options would, choosing that trait would further enhance Amaranth as he fought beside me, allowing the cat to better support me, as well as grant him a whole new level of development.
But for as interesting as all of those options were, it was also what I didn’t see that caught my attention as well.
There’s nothing here about my ætherwarping or my mana draining ability, I realized, wondering why an option reflecting further developing that path hadn’t appeared to me, even if I wasn’t completely sure that I’d pursue it. Maybe this is just restricted to a class progression? Or maybe there are hidden conditions I haven’t met to unlock new skills? Ever since I lost control that one time, I’ve never let myself get anywhere close to running out of mana again. Or…any further progression on that path doesn’t involve a skill point and instead is something that I need to explore physically in the game world.
But despite my thoughts swirling wildly in my mind as I considered all my options, it only took a second for my thoughts to begin to crystalize and a decision to form. There was just one option before me that I could live with, and I knew that if I didn’t take it, I would regret my choice forever. Filled with conviction, I turned my attention back towards the list of abilities and selected Familiar Magical Aptitude.
Amaranth will definitely be in for a surprise once he respawns tomorrow, I thought as I confirmed the choice, a small smile creeping across my face.
“So,” I said as I dismissed skill list and turned my attention back towards Freya, my grin growing even wider. “What skills did you get?”
Chapter 28
Thursday, April 18th, 2047 – 10:15 a.m.
“Sorry! So sorry!” I called out behind me as I continued to run, twisting just enough to see the surprised looks on their faces.
Appearing without warning, the aforementioned familiar was then suddenly directly in front of me, the faint snap of magic heralding his arrival. Glaring at me inquisitively as I stumbled to a stop, the cat sat down on its haunches and cocked his head towards me in question.
“Now behave and follow me!” I said to Amaranth, motioning for him to fall in beside me. I didn’t even know how to begin to explain to the onlookers about what had just happened, let alone know if they’d even understand. The best thing in my mind right now was to get as far as I could away from here and hope they assumed I was training my familiar to do tricks or something.
Escaping the situation by simply walking away from it as fast as our feet could take us, it took us a few minutes to travel to the other side of town and to Aldford’s arena, navigating the busy streets as best we could. Fortunately, that extra bit of time also gave me a chance to catch my breath and reconsider my approach on how I was going to coach Amaranth on his new abilities.
I t
hink I might have underestimated just how excited he was going to be, I thought, recalling the first moments after I explained to the cat about being able to cast magic and asked what spells he would be interested in learning. He’d responded with a flurry of excitement, sensing the sudden change in his ability instantly. The minutes that followed afterward were filled with Amaranth demanding for me to recite every spell that I knew so that he could choose which ones he wanted to learn. Deciding quickly once I did so, Amaranth then chose Blink Strike, Flameburst, and oddly enough, Jump, as the spells that he wanted to learn, which, in hindsight, should have prepared me for what happened next.
He took off.
Clearly overjoyed with the prospects of being able to control a whole new set of abilities, the cat didn’t waste a single second in starting to explore them, abruptly using Blink Strike to teleport to the roof of the nearest building. Not content with that simple experiment, Amaranth at that point tested out his newly learned Jump spell, clearing nearly an entire district in a single powerful leap. It was at that point when I realized that my plan had gone terribly off the rails, my familiar then leading me on a merry chase across the better part of Aldford.
At least he didn’t try to use Flamestrike, I pointed out to myself silently as we finally reached the arena, a place where passing people were no longer staring at us strangely. That would have been a completely different sort of disaster.
Settling in, the next few minutes passed by slowly as I coached Amaranth through the basics of spellcasting and how important it was not to overextend one’s self magically. Fortunately, in Amaranth’s case, he didn’t have the same problem I did when it came to regenerating mana, giving him the opportunity to continue practicing under more controlled conditions. Learning quickly, it didn’t take long for him to discover just how many spells he could cast before exhausting his mana supply, which compared to mine was notably smaller.
He hasn’t had much reason to use mana until now, I thought as I watched Amaranth effortlessly clear a near forty-foot vertical jump, landing in a cloud of dust in the center of the square. There was little doubt in my mind why he’d chosen that particular spell as one of his three, it enhancing his already potent leaping ability to near ridiculous proportions. As I watched him continue to test his limits, I suddenly had a vision of him climbing onto everything that he could now, which given my most recent experience, now included buildings. Never in my life did I think I’d have to housetrain a giant puma. Or better put, train him not to climb on houses.
Eventually, Amaranth tired of his jumping antics, switching over towards practicing with Blink Strike, vanishing and reappearing all throughout the arena, his paws glowing with an aura of arcane energy whenever he did so. Listening to his commentary during this time, I slowly discovered that the way he was beginning to understand his magic was a world of difference compared to mine. For him, everything was near instinctual, the spells simply reacting. to his will the instant he needed them. It didn’t seem that he needed to understand the workings of magic the same way that I did in order to cast one. To him, it was simply as if he’d discovered a new muscle to use.
Which I suppose helps in him not needing to train his own subset of magic skills, I said, not a little jealously as I recalled the constant effort of needing to practice Blink Step when it’d first learned it in order to not have it fail. Not lasting nearly as long as his practice session with Jump, Amaranth eventually tired of Blink Strike, switching his focus to the last and final spell in his newly learned arsenal: Flameburst.
Erupting in a burst of fire directly out from his leading paw, a blast of searing flames filled a roughly cut arc of the sandy arena ground, stretching half a dozen feet in front of the cat. Feeling its heat even from my position several feet away, I couldn’t help but wince as Amaranth followed it up with a second cast of it, albeit slightly closer to me. Mercifully, however, the rapid casting of the powerful spell exhausted his mana supply, leaving him standing directly between two blackened scorch marks on the ground.
Amaranth said as he turned his head towards me.
I replied, smiling at my familiar’s enthusiasm.
Leaving the cat to his own devices, I allowed him to continue practicing, content to give him a bit longer to get used to his abilities before we were forced to get on with our day. It gave me a chance to unwind a bit from the initial excitement of needing to chase him as well as enjoy a brief break from my morning’s travel back to Aldford from Valor’s Point.
After having a chance to take a bit of a break yesterday with Freya, we’d found ourselves quickly back at work, the demands of the war we’d found ourselves in only allowing us a momentary break. Where she had gone to help organize the repairs of the base, I’d found myself drawn into a meeting with nearly all of our mages as they tried to figure out an answer for the magic and spirits that the orcs had thrown against us. Unfortunately, while the second portion of that question eluded our best efforts—if at least for the time being—Stanton and Donovan were able to supply an answer for the first.
Evidently, during the war, such large-scale war hexes—such as the one that we had experienced—had been somewhat commonplace depending on the tribes involved in a battle, and there were a variety of methods to mitigate their effects. Ranging from the obvious method of simply killing or disrupting the spellcasters channeling the spell to preparing specialized wards to blunt such hostile magic, both of the mages were confident that we would be able to blunt the effects of future war hexes in battles to come.
Assuming, of course, that the orcs give us time to make enough of these wards that Donovan suggested we use, I thought, the mage having proposed that instead of using several larger and thinner spread wards to protect the bulk of base that we instead use multiple smaller ones to each cover a smaller radius but with more strength. According to him, the smaller wards would better be able to resist the hostile magic simply because they covered less space and wouldn’t need to stand up to the full brunt of the war hexes’ effect. The one downside to such a strategy though was making and upkeeping all of the wards, which was a labor-intensive process for all the mages involved. To which I’m a little thankful that I have a blind spot for wardmaking as a spellsword, because Halcyon certainly didn’t seem happy last night after he found out just how much work he had in store for him.
Once that particular meeting was done, I stayed true to my earlier word with Ritt and returned to the supply yard to help him and Jenkins sort out the spoils that we’d recovered from the battle. Working late into the night, it took us all hours to get everything into a reasonable state for transport back to Aldford, which after an all-too-short night’s sleep, was the reason I found myself back here. Arriving long before the sun had even begun to think of breaking the horizon, I’d unloaded the bulk of our spoils in the crafting hall for Lé
andre and the other crafters to recover for scrap or repair enough for use. From there, I hung around until Amaranth respawned, helping them out with whatever they needed before eventually leaving to start the process of teaching my familiar how to use magic.
Which despite its rough start looks to be going pretty well now, I added as I continued to watch Amaranth, the cat steadily practicing with Flameburst as his mana allowed. Wanting to give the cat plenty of time for practice before we began the journey back to Valor’s Point, I found myself a nearby fence post to lean against and cleared my mind, enjoying the brief opportunity to relax. Content watching Amaranth go through his spell routine, the next few minutes passed by quickly and without thought, right up until the point where a private message appearing in my vision interrupted me.
Mithaniel: Hey, Lyrian, I know that we’re early in replying, but I wanted to reach out and let you know that we’ve made a decision.
Blinking, I stared at the message in confusion at first, it taking me several seconds to fully absorb it. The second that I did however, I felt my heart begin to pound and my eyes widen in sudden anticipation.
That’s Elliot, I realized, mentally translating the name of Lionheart’s guild leader to the one he bore in reality. I hadn’t been expecting to hear anything from either of the guilds until later in the evening. To have them message me so early meant that things had either gone very well when they’d broached the subject with their guilds or that it had gone exceptionally poorly.
And there was only one way to find out.
Lyrian: Oh yeah? What did you all decide?
Swallowing hard, I sent my reply back, waiting for what seemed like an eternity before a single short message flashed in my vision.