Chapter 223 - To Realms Wild

A/N: This is the last Chapter of Book 4 of The Runic Artist (current title - Brushstrokes of Defiance). I hope you've all enjoyed it so far. Nate is about to take the next step on his journey and we'll continue with the first Chapter of Book 5 on Friday (normal release schedule).

Also, Daylight Savings just ended in AU so the release time may have shifted by an hour for some of you. Just letting you know! Onto the story!

Nate and Kiri frowned in confusion as they looked at the axe-wielding Lesser Divine.

The bearded Lesser Divine grinned as he stared back at them with undisguised glee, “Where are my manners? I am Wulfgar, the Bleeding Axe, Lord-Prefect and Founder of the Adventurer’s Guild. And you two? You two are the entire reason I created the bloody thing.”

“You created the Adventurer’s Guild!?” asked Kiri, beating Nate to the punch.

Frick chose that moment to pop his head out of the ground where he had been hiding in preparation.

“Bleeding Axe! That’s an awesome name!”

“HA! It is!” boomed Wulfgar. “Yeah, I created it. When I rose to Lesser Divine over three centuries ago, those two vultures tried to pick my corpse clean. When they failed, they forced me to agree to their little pact of killing any new Lesser Divines to rise. If I hadn’t, it would’ve been the end of my people. But I snuck in a little provision, see. That any children of mine would be exempt from our little agreement. Course, I don’t have any actual kids. Balls got crushed before I evolved and I never got around to fixing them. But then, Blood not of my Blood means I do… in the form of the Adventurer’s Guild. So, you two up for helping me kill those bastards?”

Nate looked on poleaxed. Wulfgar had no filter but he couldn’t argue with the man's goals. Of course, he’d want to get to know him better first, but the Adventurer’s Guild itself seemed a force for good. If Wulfgar really did create it, he felt they could find common ground. But, it would have to wait.

“We are required by Reciprocity to handle something else for the next six months,” Nate answered, leaving out that they wouldn’t be on the planet.

“That’s fine. Those two will turtle up while trying to gather information on you both. We can wait that long. When you’re ready, leave a message with the Guild. I’ll come. Looking forward to putting an end to those two cunts.”

With his part said, Wulfgar pulled out a small item that looked like a compass, before turning and stomping off in a random direction towards the forest.

“Umm, where are you going?” called Kiri.

“Can’t teleport, can I? Least, not without wasting Divine Energy. There’s a Guildhouse connected to the portal network in this direction.”

Wulfgar didn’t bother waiting, stomping off incredibly quickly and vanishing into the forest.

Nate turned to look at Kiri who matched him, before they both shrugged.

“Skills, then we head back?” Nate suggested.

“Yep,” agreed Kiri. 

Nate opened up his next notification. With the threat of the Lesser Divines, he had forgotten that he had received his Embodiment. The first notification was not about his Skills, but about his Embodiment—the method through which he connected with Reality.

Congratulations! You have filled all three Class Slots on your Class Core. You have received your Embodiment.

Current Embodiment: Conceptual Artist - To create using the underlying Concepts of Reality.
Embodiment Bonus: When directly using Concepts in the form of Sigils or Runes, all Magic and Mental Stats are doubled.

Nate laughed, filled with joy. He had wanted Conceptual as an Embodiment. It had been a huge part of him, but it wasn’t all of him. His Path had incorporated his artistic tendencies since the start. And it seemed The System, Reality, or both, agreed with him. A two-word Embodiment. It was broad, but didn’t that just mean he should find it easier to gather Divine Energy? He certainly hoped so. With joy still in his heart, he moved on to the next notification, a smile plastered to his face.

Accrued Mana and Divine Energy applied to Primary Class.

Level up…

Stats adjusted: +1 Endurance, +3 Intellect, +3 Creativity, +1 Willpower, +2 Perception, +1 Magic Control, +2 Mana Reserve, +1 Mana Absorption, +7 Free Stats

Divine Skill Improvements Available! Please Select 3* Skills.
Skill Improvement Options: 

Conceptual Sight of the Runic Artist (D)
Divine Bonus II: Visually perceive Concepts within vision range. Cost: 2 Divine Energy. Duration: 6 minutes.

Conceptual Sight of the Runic Artist (D)
Divine Bonus I: Sphere of Awareness Range multiplied by ten. Cost: 1 Divine Energy. Duration: 2 minutes. 

Conceptual Sight of the Runic Artist (D)
Divine Bonus I: Sphere of Awareness Range summoning range multiplied by ten. Cost: 1 Divine Energy. Duration: 2 minutes.

Conceptual Sight of the Runic Artist (D)
Divine Bonus I: Perception Stat multiplied by five. Cost: 1 Divine Energy. Duration: 1 minute.  

Conceptual Automated Existence (D)
Divine Bonus I: Duration of Automated Existence multiplied by five. Cost: 1 Divine Energy. Duration: N/A.

Nate realised as he read over the list that Divine Classes didn’t provide new Skills. Instead, they provided Divine improvements to existing Divine Skills. The first option for Conceptual Sight of the Runic Artist was just a more efficient version of his existing Divine Bonus. For twice the cost he’d get three times the duration. The other options interested him far more. Being able to increase his sphere of awareness from thirty-five metres to three-hundred-and-fifty metres, and then being able to summon his farsight sphere of awareness up to six kilometres away would let him scout any area they ended up in. Perfect for where they were going. Multiplying his Perception Stat had some uses for his own visual acuity, and would likely work with his ability to perceive concepts, but it was less important to him than being able to create lasting automations that could protect and assist him. With that in mind, he chose the increases to Sphere of Awareness Range size and summoning range, along with the improved Conceptual Automated Existence duration.

With that decision made, he moved onto his next notification.

Accrued Mana applied to Secondary Class.

Level up…

Stats adjusted: +1 Endurance, +1 Constitution, +2 Intellect, +2 Creativity, +1 Willpower, +2 Magic Control, +1 Channelling Speed, +2 Mana Reserve, +6 Free Stats

Skills Available! Please Select 3* Skills.
Class Skill Options: 

Life Manipulation (Mythic)
To be a Life Artist is to alter the biological building blocks that make up most sapient beings. To do this, a Life Artist needs to be able to manipulate these biological existences, changing them to suit their needs. Life Manipulation focuses on the ability to understand and change biological processes. In addition, this Skill reduces the mana cost of such manipulations by Skill Level multiplied by one percent.

Improve what is Broken (Legendary)
A Life Artist doesn’t just heal, they improve. With this Skill, a Life Artist can make lasting improvements to what they repair. This Skill imparts a small amount of the user's Creativity to reinforcing and enhancing biological entities that they heal or alter. Any changes or healing provided by the user makes the affected biological being more durable and grants a bonus to Endurance and Constitution for a set duration. Percentage durability increase is equal to Creativity divided by ten. Endurance and Constitution bonus is equal to Creativity divided by ten. Duration is equal to Skill Level in days. 

Efficient Lifeform (Epic)
Life evolves. But evolution is imperfect. Sometimes it evolves based on what is best for the environment, sometimes it completely changes the underlying organism because, at its heart, evolution is chaos. This Skill allows the user to empower themselves or others by manually fixing the inefficiencies that exist within life. This Skill is mana and time intensive. For every hour spent, increase the effect of Physical Stats by one percent. This is capped at Skill Level. Changes made are permanent.

Permanent Alterations (Epic)
Life is malleable. A Life Artist may use this Skill to mold life, making it beautiful or grotesque as they see fit. This Skill allows the user to graft other living organisms or parts thereof together to create new and interesting methods for life to exist. This Skill is mana and time intensive. This Skill will assist and guide the grafting process. Rejections can occur due to dissimilar biological nature. Size of alterations and grafts possible is based on Skill Level plus Creativity divided by one hundred and fifty, in kilograms of material.

Improved Alterations (Rare)
As the Life Artist manipulates and alters life, this Skill makes sure they get the most out of those improvements. A Life Artist’s only limitations are their mana and their Creativity. To that end, this Skill enhances the effect of Creativity on any Life-related Skills. Creativity Enhancement for Life Skills is equal to Skill Level multiplied by two percent.

Nate looked over his options. In some ways, he wanted all of them. However, there was one he knew he couldn’t do without. Selecting Life Manipulation was a no-brainer, as everything he had planned was based around the idea of manipulating life. As for the other four Skills, they would require a more thorough review. Improve what is Broken was clearly based around the healing path of life. Taking that which had been damaged and fixing it so that it was better than where you started. It was an interesting option, and the highest tier Skill left now that he had taken the Mythic Skill Life Manipulation. Still, it didn’t fit with his plans. He was happy to heal. Happy to help those he encountered. But it wasn’t his Path. His Embodiment and the Class itself defined what he was. A Conceptual Life Artist. His goal was to create and alter. Moving on, he looked at Efficient Lifeform. This one was tempting, since with his ability to divide his attention, he could effectively vastly improve both Kiri and himself over time with this Skill. However, Kiri would be the one to benefit the most, since Nate was quite weak in his Physical Stats. An argument could be made that this could be used to shore up a weakness in his build, but Nate had no desire to get in the thick of it and throw punches or wield a sword. No, he wanted to create, and it was the last two Skills that would let him do so. Permanent Alterations, coupled with Life Manipulation, would let him create or alter living things, creating living art. Improved Alterations would enhance the effect of his lagging Creativity Stat. With certainty in his mind, he chose Permanent Alterations and Improved Alterations as his final two choices for his Conceptual Life Artist Class.

With his decisions made, he moved on to his last notification.

Accrued Mana applied to Tertiary Class.

Level up…

Stats adjusted: +4 Magic Control, +2 Channelling Speed, +2 Mana Reserve, +1 Magic Power,
+1 Mana Absorption, +5 Free Stats

Skills Available! Please Select 3* Skills.
Class Skill Options: 

Simple Spatial Creation (Legendary)
The Spatial Artist can create or define their own spatially created zones. These zones must be maintained through mana. This Skill reduces that cost significantly by relying on Reality to reinforce these spaces until, at the highest levels, these zones become permanent parts of Reality under the Spatial Artist’s control. Number of zones that can be created is equal to one plus one additional area per fifty Skill Levels. Mana cost reduction to maintain these zones is equal to Magic Control divided by forty. Maximum size of spatial zones is equal to thirty metres cubed.

Basic Spatial Laws (Epic)
The Spatial Artist has full control of the spaces they create. Specifically, the laws that relate to space, being time and gravity. This Skill allows the user to redefine these laws within their spatially created zones, altering them within reason. Reality can be bent, but not broken. This Skill lets the user shift Gravity and Time to be stronger or weaker, faster or slower, within the zones they create by Skill Level plus Magic Control divided by one hundred as a percentage. 

Spatial Expansion (Epic)
Creating spatial zones is what a Spatial Artist works towards. Their own private spaces. Emphasis on space or, at least, how limited it can be. This Skill works to allow the Spatial Artist to increase the maximum size of their spatially created zones. This Skill is mana and time intensive. Increased size is based on the initial size of thirty metres cubed. This Skill increases the maximum size of spatially created zones by Skill Level plus Magic Power divided by forty as a percentage of initial size. 

Spatial Anchors (Rare)
A Spatial Artist is able to send things in and out of their spatially created zones, but often cannot enter themselves due to their own body being the main anchor that keeps their spatial pocket anchored to Reality. This Skill allows the user to create additional anchors, allowing them to physically enter and exit this space or create permanent pathways into the space they have created. Anchors cannot be more than one hundred metres from the created spatial zone. Number of possible anchors is equal to one plus Skill Level divided by twenty.

Spatial Network (Rare)
A Spatial Artist who can create multiple spatial zones doesn’t want to have to exit one to return to normal Reality before going and finding the entrance to another of their zones. This Skill allows the user to create pathways between any zones created by the user, creating a network of zones that can be multiverses apart, connected only by the user. Number of spatial zones that can be connected is equal to one plus Skill Level divided by forty.

Looking over the Skills on offer, Nate instantly decided he wanted all of them. But, he had to prioritise. He already had a spatially expanded space in the form of his Runic Gallery. It hadn’t yet reached the apparent maximum size without Skill assistance, but it was two-thirds of the way there. Spatial Network would be amazing, but it wouldn’t show it’s value till he had multiple spatial zones. Spatial Anchors was a must, so that he could enter his own zone. That meant Spatial Expansion was as well, as he had big plans and being limited to thirty-metres cubed was just not going to work. Basic Spatial Laws was tempting, and he expected he could get it to synergise with Spacetime Control and Gravity Manipulation, which he already possessed. But, the mana cost to maintain the zones would grow with time and likely with size as well as how much it differed from Reality. With that in mind, he was forced to take Simple Spatial Creation as his final Skill. With these Skills he would be able to create a home away from home for he and Kiri while they were forced to go train and improve in a Wild Realm.

Returning to the Etruan Capital took no time at all, and that night Nate and Kiri celebrated their evolution with friends and family, booking out the top floor of the nicest restaurant still standing in the city. Nate caught up with Aisling, talked with Evindal about the Life Artist Class and the Skills involved, watched as Luc tried to flirt with a waitress who was, to Nate, clearly Hildi in disguise. Null and Britt had not come, and he understood that with two Prefects present, the swordsman had needed to hold down the fort. Britt’s absence hurt a little, but he couldn’t blame her. She was just trying to move on, the same as he had been. Baroness Olithia had been an interesting woman; after the over top flirting had vanished, he’d found her to be passionate, both about the painting he had done for her and the intimacy that followed. Rania and Jorge sat with Kiri most of the night, taking in the vista and sharing some last moments with their beloved daughter before they would leave in the morning. Rania had even pulled Nate into a dance when Luc had convinced the staff to fetch a musician for the farewell festivities. The fact that it was Morgane, also in disguise, was not lost on Nate either and he’d rolled his eyes when the woman had tried to inquire as to his future plans, disengaging from her to enjoy the time remaining with the people he cared about. Deverell was as stoic as ever, but Nate thought he caught a hint of a smile when he’d heard Kiri talking about all the changes taking place in Etrua. Even Jacque had come, dragged out of his workshop at the Artist’s Emporium where the man had basically taken up permanent residence. Unsurprisingly, it was with Jacque Nate spent much of his time, talking about the art of the possible, and where Jacque himself could take his runic journey. Frick had vanished to say his own farewells, and if Nate was sensing things right, for some reason the little blue goblin was out in the Slums. Surprisingly, not in a brothel. Nate had no idea what his Familiar was up to, but trusted Frick to not cause too many problems. The night ended too soon, but Nate knew that he and Kiri needed to be awake and prepared for whatever waited on the other side of the portal Nate had created.

Standing in the Third Basement, looking over the portal, Nate waited alongside Frick and Kiri, ready for the next step on their journey and path together. They didn’t need to wait long, with Arikanvil appearing within a minute.

“It is time. Once you cross, you will have six months before I call my first task due. During that time, you will need to improve yourselves as quickly as you can. As for returning, this will suffice.”

Arikanvil made a thin book appear in Nate’s hands. Inside was one single page, detailing a complex runic structure. It had similarities to the rune he graffiti’d over two years ago on the side of a train—the anchoring rune that had seen him thrown across the multiverse and changed his world. He knew what this rune was. An anchor back to Arikanvil’s research station and a way to return to this universe. With the utmost care, he placed the book in his Runic Gallery.

“Excellent. It’s time for you to leave. I eagerly await your return. Anything less than level ninety and I would consider you fodder for the Lesser Divines in the Heartlands. More is better, but that is your baseline. Finally, do not neglect your Skills.”

With his final piece said, Arikanvil sent mana into the Mythic Portal Nate had created. A sphere of altered space appeared in the centre of the portal, looking like swirling darkness. Kiri reached out, taking hold of Nate’s hand and, together, they stepped forward. As Nate’s hand touched the portal, a notification appeared before his eyes.

Assistance granted. Debt owed reduced. Seek that beyond me.

Then it vanished, along with Nate, Kiri and Frick.

*************

Arikanvil appeared at his research station and screamed in rage. As the pair of potential Heralds had reached for the portal, he’d felt himself locked out of the portal, unable to sense where it led. When the moment had passed, he followed the portal to the Wild Realm he had picked for the pair. They were not there. The System had interfered, sending them somewhere else. He had no idea why, but The System was trying to change his destination by altering theirs, interfering with his Path. In a fury, he destroyed a passing asteroid, turning it to dust. As calm returned, he sneered. It didn’t matter. Either the pair would survive what The System had done, and be forced to return to him in six months time, or they would be dead, setting Arikanvil back, but not truly stopping him. It was time to call two of his other Heralds home, just in case.