New Story -- Chapter 44

Chapter 44

Managing to squeeze nearly the last of his PICK into one final Level, Thaden smiled as he narrowly hit what he needed to equip his new Shadow Necklace of the Grave.

PICK requirements met! 13,000/13,000

Increase Personal Level? Y / N

Note: This can only be completed while not currently in combat and while not in a dungeon.

Level up! You are now a Level 45 Lifewarden!

As part of the Leveling process, you have received the following:

Mentality +5

(1) Spell selection choice

With reaching Level 45, he was down to a total of 57 PICK – which was a long way off from reaching the next Level, which required 13,300 PICK. Along the way to where he was now, he’d received an additional 42 Mentality, as the amount he received each Level increased to +5 at Level 40 from +4 in his 30s, so it shot up quite a bit to land at 167. He also received another 16 free stat points, as he now received 3 at a time after Level 40 when he got them, putting him at a total of 39.

As for spells, he received a single selection at Level 39 – but no new spells to choose from for the first time. Since he only had the ones he already had previously to choose from, he upgraded Health Augmentation to Major strength, as he figured it couldn’t hurt to have just a little bit harder to kill in case things went wrong. It would also benefit from the same things as Health Reduction would, only in this case it would give him more Health.

At Level 42 he received 2 spell selections, and this time there were new spells unlike the previous opportunity to select something.

Major Absorb Health (Single Cast): Grants a target the ability to absorb the Health of a foe when attacking; cannot be cast on self.

Healing Rate: 20% of damage inflicted is returned as Health

Duration: 3 minutes

Number of Targets: 1

Range: 40 feet

Casting Time: 6 seconds

Mana Cost: 270

Major Dampeners (Single Cast): Each time a target loses Health, they receive a damage mitigation effect that lasts for a limited time; these damage mitigation effects are cumulative; cannot be cast on self.

Damage Mitigation: 10% per Health loss instance

Damage Mitigation Maximum: 50%

Damage Mitigation Duration: 10 seconds

Number of Targets: 1

Spell Duration: 5 minutes

Range: 60 feet

Casting Time: 4 seconds

Mana Cost: 150

Both of the new spells weren’t beneficial for Thaden, because they couldn’t be cast on himself, but they would certainly be useful if he was in a party. Since he still hadn’t figured out what he was doing in the future, he decided to err on the side of caution and picked them both up.  There were no other spells he really needed to upgrade at the moment, so he figured that he might as well take them.

Now, when he looked at his spell options at Level 45… he was once again left without a new spell to choose from. As a result, he was forced to choose another new spell or to upgrade one of his Lesser-strength spells – which wasn’t really a bad thing, but he had to be particular in his choice.  Resurrection was already expensive at its Lesser strength, and there wasn’t really a benefit to having it at Major strength.  Protective Barrier and Damage Shields were good for party members, but they were already pretty strong and would be enhanced by some of his bonuses and other spells, so they weren’t really needed.  Mana Rejuvenation fell into the same category, as it did absolutely nothing for him but could help others, but just having it in his repertoire was enough for now.

Lesser Healing Circle, while somewhat useful against the Undead, would likely be rarely used after that because it healed monsters as well as allies. The new Healing Wave was only for allies, but he already had plenty of other healing spells that were single cast rather than channeled, which was what worked best for him at the moment. Regrowth was also a channeled spell, and while useful in certain situations, he figured it being at its Lesser strength was more than good enough.

So, the choice came down to the new “Link” spells, Lesser Healing, and Lesser Aura of Life. Since both Lifelink and Wardlink only worked on allies, he couldn’t see it every being necessary even in a party. Lesser Aura of Life had been extraordinary in the Mausoleum dungeon because it constantly hurt the Undead without him having to do anything, but it also healed anyone around him – so it would, if anything, be harmful for him to have it active if he was being attacked by anything. In a group, sitting in the back lines, it was sure to be helpful; if he was solo, it was something he likely wouldn’t ever have active.

Therefore, Major Healing won out. While it was a channeled spell, it was still a staple, single-target healing spell that might work much better than some of his other spells in certain situations.

The last thing he looked at after his PICK was all used up was his Natural Regeneration Competency Advancement.

Please select (1) Advancement for your Natural Regeneration Competency:

Quicker Regeneration – Natural Health regeneration is now 50% faster

Firmer Regeneration – Natural Health regeneration now toughens the skin, reducing further damage by 25% for 30 seconds

Deeper Regeneration – Natural Health regeneration now heals major injuries at double the normal regeneration rate

Rougher Regeneration – Natural Health regeneration is 75% slower, but max Health is temporarily increased by 33% for 10 minutes after being fully healed

Softer Regeneration – Natural Health regeneration is 75% faster, but max Health is temporarily decreased by 33% for 10 minutes after being fully healed

Goes Both Ways – Mana can now be exchanged for Health at a 2 to 1 ratio and Health can now be instantaneously exchanged for Mana at a 2 to 1 ratio; the exchange happens at the rate of 1 second per 10 Health or Mana exchanged; normal Health and Mana regeneration is unaffected

The choice was easy when he reviewed his Advancement options: Goes Both Ways. Being able to exchange his limitless mana pool for Health was extremely overpowered, even if it wasn’t instantaneous. If that were the case, he would be unstoppable and could keep his Health topped off perpetually even if he were walking through those green flames he remembered nearly killing him back in the Vogmite Tunnels Dungeon. Still, it was something that could save him if he was somehow unable to heal himself with spells, for instance, and none of the other Advancements really appealed to him.

Now with all of his Level, spell, and Advancements taken care of, the only thing left was to assign his free stat points – which took all of a few seconds because there was only one place to put them: Fortuity. With an addition 39 points added to his previous 72, he now had 111 Fortuity; that translated to a 33.3% chance to double-cast support spells or to reflect 5% of prevented damage from his defensive spells. It had just gone from about one-fifth of the time to one-third, which was a dramatic improvement. That would only go up if he was solo and/or in a high-Level dungeon, meaning the chance would probably get up to nearly 50% depending on the circumstances.

Getting up from his bed feeling quite satisfied with everything, only slightly disappointed that he hadn’t shot up in Level even further, which he partly blamed being in a party for, he headed for the door. As he reached for the handle, he suddenly remembered that the Level above his head would now say 45 instead of 35 like it was that morning, so he quickly accessed his ability to change it back to 35. He’d already been seen before this as a Level 35, and as much as he wanted anonymity that being a Level 2 or 3 would bring right now, he would have to wait until he was done with his task for Sarah and her party.

I can’t really see that it’s working, so I’ll just have to trust that it now says Level 35.

He also made sure to change out of his robe and wasn’t wearing his new Ring, as he didn’t want his Personality stat to drop down to 1. When that was done and he was as prepared as he could be, he went downstairs to the lobby of the Coalition building, only to find that it was around dinner time – and that the place was packed. He didn’t think that all of the Contenders based out of Ashcleft were there, but there were at least 100 of them sitting around and talking while they ate, laughing and being loud and boisterous. Looking over their Levels, he saw that most of them were Level 3 and 4, with a familiar face at Level 5 gathering the largest crowd of people in the corner. Figures it would be Chad.

Not all of the people were happy, though. He couldn’t help but notice one small party of two sitting by themselves along the edge of the room, their heads down over their drinks as they stared at the liquid in their cups. He didn’t have to be a social genius to realize that one or more of their party members had likely died, and he felt a slight pang of regret that he hadn’t been near to resurrect them. However, he shook off that thought quickly, knowing that he couldn’t be everywhere and that the world out there was dangerous; it was more than likely that many of these people would die out there and there was nothing he could do to stop it – not unless he could somehow stalk every single group and resurrect them when they died. That didn’t even take into account all the different Contenders around the world, who he had no chance of even meeting, most likely, so would therefore not be able to help.

He nearly turned around right then and there as he looked at the packed lobby, as he didn’t want to draw any more attention than he already would just by being there, but it was already too late. Rippling out from his position, heads turned and conversations quieted as more and more people stared at him, and he mentally squirmed at everyone’s focus now being direction toward him. Rather than cause even more of a scene by turning on his heel and running away, he did his best to calmly ignore the stares as he walked toward the couches and chairs where he’d seen the “broken” Contenders earlier.

As he got closer, he was slightly relieved to see Sarah and her group sitting squished against each other and practically sitting in each other’s laps on a comfortable-looking leather loveseat. Sarah caught his eye and surreptitiously glanced to her left, the other members of her party pretending not to pay any more attention to him than the other Contenders in the room, and Thaden saw a young man sitting on a large, upholstered chair nearby. Thaden immediately registered his slouched position and hanging head, allowing him to see the man’s messy blonde hair that hung down over his face, and the hands that fidgeted in his lap seemingly without conscious thought.

Raising his eyebrows just enough that it was likely only those really staring at his face would see it, an imperceptible nod answered his question and he calmly walked over to the young man’s side. Seeing that the chair was big enough that both of them would fit, as the broken individual was quite thin, he squeezed in next to his target, and the young man squished himself against the side, making room for him. The action was so automatic that Thaden realized that Brant, as his name tag said, probably only subconsciously registered his presence and his body moved without conscious thought. He could only imagine that someone could probably take his hand and lead him around, and the young man would probably do it without complaint until his body collapsed with exhaustion.

In other words, his body was here, but his mind was somewhere else.

As he sat down next the young man, his abrupt height change took him out of sight of many of those in the lobby, and some of the conversations resumed. However, Thaden couldn’t help but hear some people mention his “strange name” and the fact that he was Level 35, which was a good sign that his change to his overhead verbiage had worked. He also heard a few variations of, “No, he can’t be a Contender. He’s probably an Adventurer from here,” a couple of times, which was also a relief.

When things seemed settled down, he looked around to see some of the Contenders in the nearby seating areas staring at him, and he could sense that a few of them were about to speak up and approach him. Wanting to cut them off, he quickly concentrated on the man sitting next to him, who hadn’t done anything to indicate that he even knew Thaden was there after unconsciously shifted to make room. With only a slight hesitation, he cast Major Cure Mental Afflictionon Brant, and a strong white glow suffused his hands before it enveloped the young man’s head, looking as if he was glowing from the inside. It started to fade almost immediately, but he wasn’t done yet.

Repeatedly casting the spell so that it almost looked like he was casting it, he interspersed a Major Regeneration or three in with his other spell, making Brant glow green throughout his entire body, before adding Major Cure Physical Affliction into the rotation – just in case it would help.

At first, nothing seemed to be happening. Actually, that wasn’t quite true, as the conversations in the lobby halted completely at the sudden lightshow, but Thaden ignored it as he continued to concentrate on the man sitting next to him.

It was only after about 15 seconds that the first change started to manifest itself, as Brant suddenly twitched a few times, before inhaling a huge lungful of air, as if he was just coming up from the depths of the ocean. It was only then that the sounds of his wracking sobs escaped his throat as he bent even further over and covered his face with his hands, visible tears dripping through his fingers.

Thaden kept up his cocktail of spells for a little bit longer, even though he knew it probably wasn’t doing anything more for the young man. His efforts had already done its work and gotten him this far, and now it was up to Brant to see himself the rest of the way through – as well as, hopefully, his new party. The Lifewarden had healed his mind enough that he was no longer stuck in his broken state; now the poor Support Class would have to work through whatever problems stuck him in that state, just like everyone else.

He looked over at Sarah, seeing tears in her eyes as well, and nodded. Thaden got up out of the chair after gently patting the sobbing young man on the back, and he was quickly replaced by Sarah and the other members of her party as they gathered around the chair.

Grinning ear to ear at what he had accomplished, which was miraculous indeed to somehow start the broken individual on the road to recovery, he looked around to see everyone staring at him again – this time in astonishment.

“What did you do to him?” an older woman nearby suddenly asked, cutting over the soothing sounds that Sarah and the other women in her group were making toward Brant as his sobbing began to subside.

Oh, crap. It was obvious that this would probably be a bad idea if I did it in front of everyone, but I did it anyways. Stupid, stupid, stupid…

He mentally berated himself, but stopped as a thought occurred to him.

Maybe I can turn this to my advantage.

Looking at the woman, who wasn’t as old as he thought from her voice, as he thought she might be in her low-30s, he said, “I healed what was broken inside of him, allowing him to work through his issues without it paralyzing him like it had been doing. He’s not completely better yet, but now he has a chance.” The room was quiet again, though he could sense that it was about to explode with more questions and perhaps even exclamations that he was a fraud; he knew Human nature as much as the next person, after all, and there was almost always an inevitable group of people who didn’t believe anything you told them, even with physical evidence to back it up. The Earth is round, you say?  No, it’s flat – all of those pictures from space are lies concocted by the government!

“But how—”

Thaden cut her off. “I’ve come here to see what can be done to help these poor, broken individuals, as I can’t bear to see anyone suffer when I have the ability to help,” he said loudly, startling the entire lobby. “I can’t guarantee that I can help them all, but I will do everything in my power to at least get them on the road to recovery. It will take time and patience before they’re able to function normally, but I believe they could be an asset to any party willing to give them a chance, especially as many of them are Support Classes.”

That last statement caused a stir, as he thought it might. Based on what Sarah and her party had told him, many Contender parties had to go without a Support Class, so suddenly having an influx of possible candidates to add to their teams was excellent news. At least for most of them; he couldn’t help but see that Chad in the corner appeared quite vexed. Thaden wasn’t sure if it was because he was stealing his spotlight, or because the addition of more Support Classes might allow the other parties to not only catch up but surpass the arrogant man. Regardless of the reason, he had a feeling that he would have to watch his back around the Fighter, as it appeared as though he’d inadvertently made an enemy.

The Contenders who were without a Support member of their parties descended on the area like a flock of vultures, swooping in to hover around those they hoped to claim for their own. Meanwhile, Sarah had managed to get Brant to his feet and was leading him away, though not in the mindless automaton way he had been before, but with actual feeling behind the sad eyes that Thaden could finally see. A nod of thanks from the grateful party was all he got for the moment, but that was fine – because he was about to be very busy.

Ignoring questions about his “odd” name and Level, he spent the next few hours going from one broken person to another, using the same mixture of spells he’d used before on Brant, snapping them out of their unresponsive state. He never got used to the sheer sadness that erupted from them as soon as they were finally aware of their surroundings, and a few of them that actually seemed to rage at the tears that were flowing down their cheeks frightened him a little before they calmed down.

He couldn’t blame them, though, because he probably would’ve been in the same state if he’d had the opportunity to retreat into his own mind after being transported from Earth. He wasn’t sure if it luck or punishment that ended with him being eaten by Vogmites when he first arrived on Tarth, but his situation had been chaotic enough that it didn’t really give him any time to contemplate what it meant to be there in the first place. He had only been focused on survival in that first day, and after that he had just been trying to make his way through until the Contenders and the Class Representatives arrived.

The Lifewarden finished with the last one, all of them achieving some sort of breakthrough that would allow them to heal – or not. It was up to them now and whether or not their new parties supported them properly enough that they could bounce back from the crippling state they had been in.

Slipping away in all the hustle and bustle that occurred once he was finished, he managed to make it upstairs and to his room without calling any more attention to himself. He’d done his part, not only for the group that had partied with him and nearly died for the second time in the Mausoleum of Despair, but also for the other Contenders that had shown up in Ashcleft. He had no illusions that he would suddenly take it upon himself to travel around to all the different towns and cities around Tarth and cure the other broken Contenders out there. For one, he was only one person and there were likely millions of them out there, according to Diallo. Secondly, that wasn’t what he was here to do, as good and nice as it made him feel to heal the others; it might sound callous, but he had no desire to go around being a magical therapist for the entire Contender group.

Just like he wouldn’t be able to resurrect everyone who died, he wasn’t going to be able to save all the broken ones, either. If he came across someone who needed help, he wasn’t going to avoid helping them, but he wasn’t going to see them out.

Exhausted from all the social interactions despite only being awake for a few hours, he laid himself back down on his bed, before closing his eyes. As he began to drift off to dreamland, he couldn’t help but think to himself, If I’m not going to go around healing people, then what exactly am I going to do?