jonathanbrooksauthor

The Affinity Collector 2 Cover Art sneak peek!

I'll be putting the book up for pre-order very soon, but i wanted to share with you all the cover for The Affinity Collector 2!

Plans for Feb 15-20

It has started! The first 4 chapters of The Affinity Collector 2 are now up :)

I'm always a little slow getting chapters written when I start a new book, at least for continuing series, as I get used to the world again, but hopefully next week will have an increase in my output. I have a few things that I need to take care of next week, namely editing The Affinity Collector 1 again after I received the edits from my narrator (which means the audiobook should be coming soon!), as well as making final changes to Enthralled Healer based on beta-reader feedback. I'll also be putting The Affinity Collector 2 up for pre-order at some point, which means writing the blurb and going through the whole publishing process on KDP, as I should have the final cover very soon (hopefully by the end of today).

Also next week, Monday most likely, I'll be releasing the last few of the Enthralled Healer chapters to all of my Patron tiers, and they'll be up for another week before I have to take them down because of Kindle Unlimited rules.

Plans for next week:

Sunday: Pre-order for TAC 2/edits for TAC 1 from narrator

Monday-Tuesday: Writing TAC 2

Wednesday: Final edits for Enthralled Healer

Thursday-Friday: Writing TAC 2

Have a Happy Valentine's Day and a great weekend!

The Affinity Collector 2 -- Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Jeremy finally had to use his Abilities against the [Burning Goblins] in the next route, which were 4-foot-tall humanoid-looking monsters with reddish-colored thick skin and burning, rusty metal swords that looked like they could actually hurt him if they managed to make contact.  Fortunately, they were fairly slow even though they were Level 5, so it was easy enough for him to stay out of their reach as he primarily used the Abilities he had that weren’t yet at reserved Level 10.  Vine Whips snaked around the spindly legs of the [Goblins] and tripped them up, causing them to fall on their faces, and a use of Shadow Strike on his staff slammed into them once they were incapacitated, killing them in a couple of good hits, if not with one-hit kills.  Obtaining Tier 2 in Shadow Strike, which was one of the first Abilities he’d had permanently applied, allowed him to add a little more Mana to the Ability, which seemed to increase the damage the shadowy extension of his staff did, significantly increasing its potency. 

After the first few he killed requiring more than a single strike, as cutting through the tough skin of the [Goblins] was a messy affair with the blade-like edge of Shadow Strike, he realized that if he altered the Ability to be more of a blunt weapon like a large hammer, he could crush the monsters’ heads rather than try to cut them apart.  Therefore, he changed up his intent when activating Shadow Strike, forming a ridiculous-looking, oversized hammer head on the end of his staff…

…but it worked exactly as he hoped.  He had to use more Mana to keep it intact, as the impact with the [Goblins] threatened to destabilize the shadows used in the Ability, but it was only a matter of an extra 2 Mana to keep it working properly.  Soon enough, he was smashing heads like he was prop comic smashing watermelons on a stage somewhere, and none of the single [Burning Goblins] even got close to him. 

It was only when they started coming in 2s or 3s that he had to start using Leafy Barrier to block the additional attackers, literally pushing them back as his intent had the large leaf slamming into them.  It didn’t do much damage, but it sent them tumbling and out of range for a short time, allowing him to finish off the others. 

Unfortunately, toward the end of the route, the [Burning Goblins] started to come in groups of 4 or 5, making his previous tactics a bit harder to maintain.  The burning swords of the monsters not only cut into his leafy barrier, but they also lit it on fire, which consumed it quite quickly.  He could cancel it and activate the Ability again, but that cost more Mana, so he searched for another solution.

He originally tried combining the effect from Shroud of Darkness or Shadow Strike to the Leafy Barrier, making it stronger and adding some durability, but the same thing he noticed when {Dark} Abilities interacted with {Plant} Abilities interacted with each other occurred, where the plant would become corrupted with a type of rot, making it somewhat more fragile.  He’d been able to make something work with Shadow Strike and his Vine Whip when he used it against the [Fire Slimes], but even then, he still saw the corrupted rot.

After defeating another group of 5 [Goblins] and seeing that he still had quite a few more groups to get through in order to get to the Rift Core, he debated just falling back on Bend Light and Energy Boost to create lasers, which he was fairly certain would work well enough against the monsters without too much trouble.  However, he didn’t want to have to rely on the attack every time he ran into a problem, otherwise he might end up in a situation where it wouldn’t be quite as effective and wouldn’t have any other options.  Therefore, he took the time to move off to the side and sat down, thinking about the problem from another perspective.

Whatever the magical component in his {Dark} Abilities was, it had a negative effect on plant life.  His hypothesis was that it was likely due to plants needing light to thrive, and by taking that away, he would essentially cripple the cellular structure of the plants from the inside.  He quickly experimented with Leafy Barrier and combined it – through Equilibrium – with Bend Light and Shroud of Darkness, hoping to strengthen the leaf while eliminating the corrupting issue, but just like his experiment with Vine Whip, the effects were lessened, but all it did was slow the leaf’s deterioration. 

What if it’s not actually the lack of light that is making plants deteriorate in the presence of {Dark} energy?  If it was, then I would think that Equilibrium would eliminate those issues, especially if that is my intent when activating the multi-Affinity Ability.  If that’s the case, then what if it is a quality of the {Dark} energy itself that is corrupting the plants?

As he recalled all of the times he’s seen his {Dark} energy corrupting vegetation, both in his own experiments and when he was in the Instructor Assessment Rift, he could practically see the energy wreaking havoc on the cells of the plants as they withered away and died – essentially the opposite of what light would do.  However, with that explanation somewhat in question, Jeremy began to consider if the energy itself was like some sort of corrupting toxin that was simply lethal to plant life.

Closing his eyes as he thought about some of the things he’d learned on Earth, he knew that there were a multitude of plants that actively helped to clean toxins from the environment.  Certain palms, snake plants, and ivies were commonly used to clean airborne toxins such as benzene, formaldehyde, and carbon monoxide, for instance.  Cattails, duckweed, and water mint were amazingly good at removing nitrates, heavy metals, and even harmful bacteria from water, and Sunflowers were sometimes used to remove small amounts of radioactive contaminants from soil.  Not only did these plants on Earth act as filters for different toxins, but some of them actually thrived on these contaminants, using them to grow faster and healthier than they would otherwise.

What if I use that same principle here?

In practice, he’d manipulated the size and shape of the leaf that was formed when he activated Leafy Barrier in order to find its limits, but he hadn’t actually changed the leaf into something other than the generically large leaf that appeared.  He wasn’t sure if he actually could change it, but all of his efforts with his other Affinities told him that there was probably a good chance that he could.

Therefore, with intense focus, he slowly activated Leafy Barrier while he pictured changing the very nature of the leaf, imposing his desire for it to absorb the harmful nature of {Dark} energy.  There was immediately some pushback from the Ability and a significant strain on his mind, and – at least at first – nothing appeared.  It took another 30 seconds of adding more and more details of what he remembered learning on Earth about the cells inside plants, how they actually absorbed different nutrients, and how they reacted to different types of stimuli before something finally happened. 

Like a bursting bubble, the strain on his mind disappeared and a new-looking leaf appeared floating in front of him.  The new leaf was shaped like an oblong oval, with it being 2 feet wide and 4 feet long, and it was a much darker green than he was used to seeing from the Ability.  That wasn’t the strangest part of the leaf, however, as that honor belonged to the black veins that ran through the entirety of the leaf, like someone had traced them with a black permanent marker.   

Ability {Plant}: Leafy Barrier has increased to Tier 6!

Tier increase reserved…

Ability {Plant}: Leafy Barrier has increased to Tier 7!

Tier increase reserved…

Affinity {Plant} Strength has increased to Weak 5!

{Plant} Strength increase reser—

Nexus Rift detected!  Absorbing Rift energy for necessary changes!

{Plant} Strength increase applied!

………

Affinity {Plant} Strength has increased to Minor 1!

{Plant} Strength increase reser—

Nexus Rift detected!  Absorbing Rift energy for necessary changes!

{Plant} Strength increase applied!

The increase in his Ability wasn’t quite a surprise, given that he’d just fundamentally changed the nature of the leaf, but 2 Tier increases certainly was!  What was also somewhat expected was the increases to his {Plant} Affinity Strength as he was doing something new with it, but to have it shoot all the way up to Minor 1 from Weak 4 was a massive increase.  He could feel the changes affect him, though as he was used to the sudden increase in Affinity Strengths by that point, he was more than capable of working through the temporary pain and maintaining his control of his Leafy Barrier Ability.

When all of the changes subsided, Jeremy looked at the leaf floating in front of him before he decided to see if it actually worked the way he intended.  As he layered Shroud of Darkness over it, he could immediately see that the leaf was unaffected – but it also started sucking up the darkness from his other Ability at an incredible rate until it all disappeared, causing the Shroud Ability to fail.

Well, that’s not quite what I wanted.

Another attempt did exactly the same thing, so he canceled his Leafy Barrier and rethought his process.  I think that, because they’re currently separate, one of them is going to overpower the other; it used to be my {Dark} energy destroying the leaf, but now it’s just the opposite.  I need them to work together….

With only a second of hesitation, he began activating both Leafy Barrier with his previous intent in place as well as Shroud of Darkness, focusing on the darkness infusing the leaf itself instead of staying separate from it.  There was another round of mental strain, but eventually he broke through whatever obstacle that was preventing it from working as the same leaf from before popped into existence, but this time it seemed to exude a darkness that wafted off it like a mist or a thin smoke.

Ability {Plant}: Leafy Barrier has increased to Tier 8!

Tier increase reserved…

New Ability Unlocked!

{Plant/Dark}: Nightshade Tier 1!

Attainment earned and held in reserve!

Affinity {Plant} Strength has increased to Minor 2!

{Plant} Strength increase reser—

Nexus Rift detected!  Absorbing Rift energy for necessary changes!

{Plant} Strength increase applied!

Affinity {Plant} Strength has increased to Minor 3!

{Plant} Strength increase reser—

Nexus Rift detected!  Absorbing Rift energy for necessary changes!

{Plant} Strength increase applied!

Affinity {Dark} Strength has increased to Moderate 4!

{Dark} Strength increase reser—

Nexus Rift detected!  Absorbing Rift energy for necessary changes!

{Dark} Strength increase applied!

Yes!  I did it!

At least he thought he had.  As he looked over the notifications, he saw yet another increase to Leafy Barrier, bringing it to a reserved Tier 8, and both his {Plant} and {Dark} Affinities increased in Strength.  But what made him the most excited was the new multi-Affinity Ability he unlocked, which was called Nightshade.  When he concentrated on the new Ability, he got the impression that it was very similar to Equilbrium, where the two Affinities would work with, instead of against, each other.  He realized that he could use this Ability on his Vine Whip, as well as Leafy Barrier, making the vines he used weapons in and of themselves, as he could finally add Shadow Strike without the vine falling apart within seconds from the corrupting rot.

Jeremy smiled as he got to his feet, cracking his neck dramatically as he moved toward the next group of [Burning Goblins].  As the 5 monsters charged at him, he activated Vine Whip and Shadow Strike together, and his smile widened as he saw the final 3 feet of the whip containing what looked like a sharp, black blade made of shadows, while the rest of the dark-green vine had veins of black infusing it down its entire length.  He snapped the enhanced Vine Whip toward the neck of the closest [Goblin], simply hoping to wrap it around and cut into its throat, but apparently the now-bladed whip didn’t bend all that well with the Shadow Strike edge on its tip.  As a result, the vine whipped out at incredible speed, acting almost like an extra long sword as it cut entirely through the neck of the monster, lopping its head off in a spray of blood that fountained upward even as the rest of the body collapsed.

He was so shocked that he barely reacted in time to defend against the other [Goblins] that attacked him, but he managed to activate his new Leafy Barrier with Shroud of Darkness enhancing it; he instinctively slammed it into a pair of the monsters and was again shocked at the crunch of bones upon impact, sending them flying end-over-end.  He jumped backwards to avoid the last 2 [Goblins], pulling the newly created Vine Whip back with him; a snap of his wrist sent it toward one of the monsters, which was a little lower than he intended, but the shadow blade on the end cut through both of its knees, sending it tumbling forward and landing on its own sword.

The final unharmed [Goblin] managed to close the distance while he was distracted and swung its burning sword at him, but he quickly brought his Leafy Barrier back to him, imposing it in between him and the strike.  Instead of it being cut through, which was would’ve happened with the normal Leafy Barrier, his Nightshade-enhanced leaf was strong enough that the sword actually bounced off, rebounding so hard that the [Goblin] nearly dropped it.  The flames on the blade did manage to catch on his leaf, unfortunately, though he could immediately see that they weren’t spreading nearly as fast, as if the darkness infusing it was slowing down its progress significantly.

Dropping his Vine Whip, he double-handed his staff and – with an application of Shadow Strike – smashed his weapon into the recovering [Goblin’s] head, doing enough impact damage to snap its neck.  Once it was down, he quickly finished it off, followed by the rest of the group, the temporary survivors of which were struggling to even move after the damage they’d already taken.

Well, I guess that could be counted as a success.

The Mana expense to activate and maintain all of those Abilities did add up, unfortunately, consuming about 20 Mana all told, but with his Regen (Mana) alone allowing him to fully refill his Mana within about 30 minutes, it really wasn’t that bad.  He was used to using quite a bit of Mana to fuel his laser, after all, and it was worth it to explore different attack options.

That, and it was beneficial toward his development, as he managed to increase the reserve Tier of 2 more Abilities.   

Ability {Plant}: Vine Whip has increased to Tier 6!

Tier increase reserved…

Ability {Dark}: Shadow Strike has increased to Tier 8!

Tier increase reserved…

More than worth it.

The rest of the fight through the [Burning Goblin] route was fairly easy, as he used his combination of his Nightshade-enhanced Vine Whip and Leafy Barrier a few times, but then he switched to his laser to make sure it was still working.

Spoiler alert – it did.  He was easily able to punch through the heads of the charging [Goblins], especially with the fact that both Bend Light and Energy Boost were Tier 2, meaning that he could pump more Mana into each Ability to make the laser beam even stronger than before.  It wasn’t yet on par with the laser cannon that he’d made in the Ebon Citadel, but it was still a nice step up.

The Level 7 [Burning Goblin – Rift Overseer] was barely a challenge, as it was by itself and he ended up using his new Nightshade-enhanced Abilities to slice it apart within seconds with Vine Whip from a distance.  When he dispersed the energy from the Rift Core, he was pleasantly surprised to see that the NEPs he received had jumped a little from the [Sprite] pathway; instead of 200 NEPs like he expected, it had risen to 250.  He kept going with his plan to increase all of his frequently used Abilities up to at least Tier 2 before he did anything else.

Nexus energy dispersing. 

Time remaining until this Rift Route is fully functional: 119 minutes, 59 seconds

Ability {Light}: Light Orb has been permanently increased to Tier 2!

Ability {Dark}: Shroud of Darkness has been permanently increased to Tier 2!

Ability {Plant}: Vine Whip has been permanently increased to Tier 2!

Ability {Plant}: Leafy Barrier has been permanently increased to Tier 2!

Ability {Multi}: Equilibrium has been permanently increased to Tier 2!

With how much time he’d spent in the second and third routes, he estimated that the first [Fire Slime] pathway had likely repopulated by that point, so he cautiously left the [Goblins] behind and made his way back to slaughter some more helpless red blobs.

Time to disperse more Rift Core energy!

The Affinity Collector 2 -- Chapter 3

Chapter 3

While he didn’t have a perfect view of the safe zone from his now-camouflaged hollow, if he moved to the edge of where his new enchantment was hiding him, he could somewhat see into the area – even if he wasn’t quite close enough to see or hear them clearly.  What he could tell, though, was that the individuals who entered the Rift didn’t appear to be looking for him, as they immediately moved toward one of the higher-Level routes.  He had no idea what kinds of monsters were inside the path that the 4-person Defender squad (at least, he assumed they were Defenders) were heading down, but it certainly wasn’t appropriate for Fandermere students.  Based on what he’d been told, the monsters ranged all the way up to Level 60, but he wasn’t told what the others were; he would have to investigate at some point, so that he could at least know what to avoid. 

He didn’t move from his place inside of Field of Concealment, as now that there were people inside the Rift he couldn’t risk them seeing him.  To help reduce the risk of being spotted, however, he spent a few minutes adding yet another Field of Concealment Enchantment to another blank copper piece, while also checking his backpack and seeing that he only had 2 more blanks left.  He had plenty of other enchanted copper pieces that he’d created at the Academy before he left for the Rift, ranging from Mana Enchanted ones that would explode after a short time like delayed grenades, others that would rapidly heat up an area with infrared light, and even simple Light Enchants that were so bright that it could blind him if he wasn’t careful with them.  He’d prepared for a number of eventualities, but none of it was immediately useful. 

When he completed another Field of Concealment Enchant on the copper blank, focusing once again on himself and his backpack, he didn’t attach any extra Mana Enchanted copper pieces to it to make it larger.  Instead, he found that the dome it created was more than large enough to cover his entire body and extended out a few feet in each direction.  It wasn’t quite enough to camouflage his staff if he was extending it to attack something or someone, but otherwise it was good enough for his current purposes.

Jeremy discovered that he could place the enchanted copper piece in his pocket and it would continue to stay active, meaning that he didn’t have to hold it, though if he placed it in his backpack, the spatial enchantment would cut it off – which was pretty much what he expected.  As he began to walk away from the camouflaged hollow, hoping to get slightly closer to see when the new squad of people came back, he noticed something about the Field of Concealment Enchant almost immediately.

It was not meant for movement.  While he couldn’t see what it looked like from the outside of the dome covering him, from the inside it wobbled and seemed distorted unless he moved at a virtual snail’s pace.  He was reminded of some movies and games where characters had some sort of high-tech active camouflage covering them, but when they moved, their shape could be seen as a distortion in the air – but this was even worse.  He had a feeling that the quality of it would improve if he was able to apply any increases in its Tier through the use of Rift Cores and NEPs – after he earned those increases, of course – though it was also obvious that using this method to try to escape the Rift, as well as those guarding it on the outside, would be nearly impossible until it was much more powerful.

Moving as slowly as he could while keeping himself and the concealing dome out of direct sight of the safe zone, Jeremy eventually made it back to the same outcropping of stone that he’d previously used to spy on those coming to kill or take him away, and he laid down again, placing the enchanted copper plate next to him so that he wouldn’t jostle it if he had to shift a little. 

Then he waited.

He expected to have to wait for a while before he saw the group of Defenders come back after clearing the route that they had chosen, but something happened within only a few minutes of him arriving at his current viewing place.  The energy around the Rift entrance spiked again, and he watched as someone else arrived – and they were somewhat familiar.  It only took him a few seconds to recognize the older woman as one of the other Instructors from Fandermere Academy, though she was one for an entirely different Year.  She was followed a few seconds later by a bunch of students dressed in various shades of dark blue, which told him that they were likely Fifth Years, all of them around age 12 or so.  The majority of them were equipped in some sort of basic armor and wielded a variety of weapons; some of them appeared in more mundane clothing, but none of those he caught glimpses of appeared scared or hesitant like the crafters that had originally come with Jeremy.

Wow.  They didn’t even wait a full day after I “died,” did they?

He supposed that he should’ve expected it, though it felt somewhat like a slap in the face from those in charge at Fandermere.  While he couldn’t necessarily blame the Dean for wanting to maintain the normal training schedule for his students, it seemed somewhat insensitive to him to have them arrive only a few hours later after his supposed death.

Now I’m glad I didn’t go back.  I thought I was special, but apparently not special enough to take time to mourn my unfortunate passing.  I guess it’s business as usual at the Academy.

He watched the students assemble quickly into a handful of small groups of 4 or 5, before they dispersed into both the first route filled with [Fire Slimes] and the one next to it, which he was told contained [Flame Sprites] that were a slightly higher Level.  Once they were assembled, the groups rapidly moved into the pathways they’d chosen, the Instructor staying behind in the safe zone while she watched over the entrance to the [Flame Sprites] route.  Standing with her arms crossed over her arms, she seemed slightly bored, but he could tell that she was laser-focused on those making their way through the Rift pathways.  He could only assume that she had a way of observing them from a distance, because it seemed a bit dangerous to let a bunch of kids killing monsters without keeping tabs on them.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much more that Jeremy could observe, so he simply waited longer for something to happen.  Approximately 30 minutes later, the original squad of Defenders he’d seen enter ran quickly up the pathway they had disappeared down earlier, and while he couldn’t see them clearly enough to see their names or Levels, the impression he got from glimpses of them was that they weren’t running from something; instead, they were simply eager to leave after a successful delve through the Rift.  He did catch a glimpse of the Instructor nodding toward one of the Defenders, which was returned with mutual respect, but that was the only interaction as the squad disappeared into the portal leading out of the Rift. 

No more than 5 minutes after that, the students returned from the [Fire Slime] route, and another couple of minutes passed before the rest of the students finished up in the [Flame Sprite] route.  The Instructor clapped to get their attention once they all congregated together, saying something at a low-enough volume that Jeremy couldn’t make it out, before leading them out through the portal. 

Just like that, the Rift was empty again.  A few seconds after they left, there was another rumble that passed through the ground as the enormous dragon in the distance shifted in its sleep, but it once again didn’t do more than that.

Still, Jeremy waited.  He was glad he did, as no more than a half-hour later, another squad of Defenders entered, and this time he could see that they ranged in Level between 35 and 40 – which, from what he’d learned, was quite strong.  The squad of 4 went down a different pathway than the first squad, disappearing through the route within seconds of arriving. 

Almost like clockwork, no more than 15 minutes after the squad arrived, there was another surge from the Rift entrance, and another small set of students from Fandermere arrived, these ones all dressed in various shades of black, meaning that they were around age 14 and were Seventh Years.  There was absolutely no hesitation as they jogged toward the third pathway that Jeremy had been told contained [Burning Goblins] that were a higher Level than even the [Flame Sprites]. 

Over the next 6 hours or so, he watched patiently as one group after another entered and departed the Rift, with the majority of them being students from various Years, following a schedule that seemed designed to take advantage of the times it took for each of the Rift Cores to recharge and the monsters to repopulate.  He knew that the [Fire Slime] route required an hour to recharge and to begin repopulating, but he could only assume that the others were similar in their times, especially based on the frequency of students arriving. 

Eventually, as he watched yet another student group leave, this one being Fourth Years, he wondered when the next group would arrive.  However, after a couple of hours of waiting, some of which he’d spent feeding himself while he sat largely out of sight, nothing came inside the Rift entrance.  He took a few periodic naps that were light enough that he would’ve been alerted if someone came through the Rift entrance, but nothing happened.  By the time he finally felt the Rift entrance come alive again, he estimated that a good 12 hours had passed since he’d been left alone.

Does everything shut down for the night or something?  That’s certainly what it seems like to me.

Moving back to his hollow as slowly as possible, Jeremy settled down in his concealed refuge and slept for real, using his backpack as a pillow.  Thankfully, even without a blanket, he didn’t have to worry about getting cold, as the ambient temperature of the Rift was a bit hot as it was, and there was no obvious day/night cycle to worry about.  It reminded him somewhat of the Ebon Citadel, though in this situation he was better off with what he had stored away.  Eventually, he would run out of food and water, but he hoped that by the time that happened he would be more than capable of leaving on his own terms.

He estimated that he slept around 8 hours, and after eating a breakfast from his stored supplies, he got up and went back to his observation post near the safe zone.  Even though he hadn’t watched the first two-thirds of the incoming Defender squads and students, the remaining groups were pretty much a copy of what he’d seen the day before.  When the last students left, he waited another hour just to make sure that no one else was going to come inside, before he cautiously climbed toward the perimeter of the safe zone and started making his way around to the same route full of [Fire Slimes] that he’d cleared the day before.  His Field of Concealment was still active around him, and while he was sure he stood out while he was moving, he felt somewhat more secure having it on his person rather than leave it behind.

There was absolutely no reason to experiment with any of his Abilities as he made his way through the pathway full of red [Slimes], as his entire goal right now was to clear it as quickly and efficiently as possible.  Therefore, he practically ran through the route as he used his staff to puncture the cores of the multitude of [Slimes] he encountered, killing them so quickly that they barely even noticed he was there before he was gone again.  The fact that they did seem to “see” him before their cores were destroyed was odd to him, as while the distortions in the air around his Field of Concealment was clearly obvious, he was pretty sure the gelatinous blobs had any eyes in which to view it.  Instead, after a brief experiment when he stood completely still and let one of the [Fire Slimes] pass by him, only to somehow still detect his presence, led him to deduce that they were “seeing” him in some other way.  Another quick experiment when he threw out a copper blank with an infrared “heat” enchant on it, only to have the [Slime] completely ignore him and head toward the enchantment, made him conclude that they were detecting the heat inside of his body. 

That could be a problem if someone comes here that can detect my body heat.  Hopefully, there are too many heat sources in the Rift for them to spot me, but I need to be careful.

As he thought about that vulnerability in his Field of Concealment, he realized that there were even more ways that he could be detected.  Sound and smell were obvious, and he could only assume that there were some individuals out there adept at tracking monsters or people through the use of those senses.  But then he thought about someone with an {Air} Affinity somehow detecting his breathing as he disturbed the air, or someone with a {Healing} or {Blood} Affinity sensing his heartbeat from a distance; he wasn’t even sure if all of that was possible, but he’d seen so many things since coming to this world that he wouldn’t doubt it.

There was nothing he could really do about it right now, though, other than to continue being as careful as possible to avoid attention.

When he killed the Level 2 [Fire Slime] that counted as the Rift Overseer guarding the Rift Core, he quickly dispersed the energy inside of it, acquiring another 100 NEPs.

Potential Nexus Energy Points (NEP) available to allocate: 100 NEP

{Fire} Affinity Unlock: 1% per 20 NEP

Applied Experience: 1 Experience per NEP

Applied Affinity Strength Increase: N/A

Applied Ability Tier Increase: 1 Tier per 50 NEP

Applied Attainments: 1 per 1,000,000 NEP

As much as Jeremy wanted to start applying the NEPs he earned toward fully unlocking the {Fire} Affinity, which would take a total of 2,000 NEPs according to the chart, he instead put them toward his Abilities.  He had already thought out what he was going to do with what he acquired, and so he didn’t hesitate to permanently upgrade some of his most-used Abilities – starting with Energy Boost and Regen (Mana), bringing them both to Tier 2.

Nexus energy dispersing. 

Time remaining until this Rift Route is fully functional: 59 minutes, 59 seconds

Ability {Energy}: Energy Boost has been permanently increased to Tier 2!

Ability {Energy}: Regen (Mana) has been permanently increased to Tier 2!

There was a brief flash of energy through his body that made him twitch a little at the changes, but it was nothing like unlocking an entirely new Affinity all at once, and soon enough he could feel the differences in his newly upgraded Abilities.  Without actually testing Energy Boost on something, he wasn’t sure how much it had changed, but when he activated Regen (Mana), he could immediately see that the amount of Mana he was Regening every hour had increased by 10% – which was a fairly large increase, considering what it currently was.  With his current {Energy} Strength at Moderate 4, he was able to push up his Mana Regen up to 200 per hour with the use of his Regen (Mana) Ability, so an extra 20 Mana per hour was quite significant.

He ran back up through the pathway, slowing down as he reached the area around the safe zone, stopping as he peered around a bend in the route, ensuring that no one else had entered while he was killing [Slimes].  When he didn’t see anything, he made his way to the next pathway filled with [Flame Sprites].  Cautiously, since he hadn’t actually faced them before, Jeremy made his way down the new route, encountering his first [Sprite] within the first 50 feet, and the 2-foot tall fairy-like monster hovered about 4 feet above the ground, lazily moving back and forth from one wall of the pathway to the other.  When he was within about 20 feet, the flying monster apparently spotted him – again, despite his Field of Concealment – and a spherical ball of loose flames approximately the size of a baseball appeared in between its hands.  The ball of flames seemed to charge up before it was flung straight at him despite him standing perfectly still and basically invisible, and he instinctively activated Leafy Barrier to block it.     

A large leaf suddenly appeared in front of him and intercepted the projectile, which slammed into the barrier and dispersed into flames – which flowed over the leaf as if it was dry tinder, immediately starting to burn it.  He dismissed the Ability a second later, which caused the flames to sputter out as they had nothing left to fuel their growth.  Jeremy was already on the move, however, as he took off toward the [Flame Sprite], which attempted to fly away to put some distance between them, but he hadn’t been training his physical body over the last year and a half at the Academy for nothing.  He quickly caught up before it could go more than 10 feet, and with a sweeping blow from right to left that cracked against the fragile body of the [Sprite[, he sent it careening into the nearby wall. 

[Flame Sprite – Level 2] killed!

Experience reserved…

These are much easier than I expected.  I guess I’m so used to having to kill monsters so far above my Level that anything even close to it seems too easy.

As he made his way through the route, he encountered more and more [Flame Sprites] until they started to come in pairs and even larger groups – but he was still too quick for them as he tore through them with his staff.  He did end up taking a few hits from their flaming projectiles, and while they did burn him a bit worse than a severe sunburn on the arm and once on his cheek, all he had to do was activate Regen (Mana) with a focus on his Health instead of Mana to start naturally healing them.  Theoretically, he could’ve used some of his Abilities to kill them a lot more safely, or even some of his enchanted copper blanks in his backpack, but there was no reason to waste Mana or his enchantments.  His staff was more than enough to get rid of them all.

Once he killed the Level 3 [Fire Sprite] that acted as the Rift Overseer for the route, which pretty much just as easy as the others, he dispersed the energy within the Rift Core.  Instead of only 100 NEPs like the [Slime] Route, the [Sprite] Core had 150 NEPs – allowing him to upgrade 3 of his Abilities instead of just 2.

Nexus energy dispersing. 

Time remaining until this Rift Route is fully functional: 74 minutes, 59 seconds

Ability {Energy}: Mana Enchant has been permanently increased to Tier 2!

Ability {Light}: Light Enchant has been permanently increased to Tier 2!

Ability {Dark}: Dark Enchant has been permanently increased to Tier 2!

Because he’d been using his enchantments so frequently, especially to create things like Field of Concealment, he figured it would be worth it to start bumping them up.  He was looking forward to experimenting with them later to see what had changed, but he wasn’t quite done yet with his monster-killing and Rift-Core-dispersing objectives.

He hadn’t really been challenged yet, so he figured it was time to fight something a bit more dangerous.

The Affinity Collector 2 -- Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Cleaning up the last of the blood near the Rift entrance, Jeremy made a deliberate decision to avoid the safe area as much as possible from that point on.  Not because he didn’t believe in being safe, but because the risk of someone else coming into the Rift and finding him there was too great.  Unlike the other 2 Rifts that he’d been trapped inside, The Sleeper’s Lair was open to other Defenders and even more students from Fandermere Academy coming inside to train.  While the impression he received about the Rift was that it was more of a private training facility than something like a public gym, as knowledge about it was supposed to be on a need-to-know basis and for those who earned the privilege, there would still likely be quite a few visitors that he would have to work around if he was going to stay and become stronger.

And unless Fandermere Academy had another equivalent set of Rifts set up for the students, it was almost a guarantee that he’d be seeing more of his fellow students soon.  They might delay a few days after his “death” was reported by Charmaine, or they might not; he didn’t “die” because of a monster, after all, so The Sleeper’s Lair was still technically as safe as ever.  Dean Paxtin would probably be heavily disappointed after learning of his supposed demise, but Jeremy thought he knew the old man well enough after working closely with him over the last couple of school years to know that he wouldn’t let this tragedy hinder the student’s normal Rift training for long.

So, not only would he have to hide his presence from the random Defender squads or other privileged groups that were given permission, but also the Fandermere students that would inevitably appear fairly consistently.  He was fairly certain that he could find a place to stay along the same area he had hid from the groups that had come to kill or take him away, as it was unlikely anyone would be looking in that area – but that was the easy part.

The hard part would be avoiding attention while he killed monsters and dispersed the energy within the partial Rift Cores at the end of the different routes.  Not only would he have to find a way to become invisible, like a ghost, but to also eliminate any suspicion that there was someone secretly staying in the dungeon, which could lead to an investigation that he definitely didn’t need.  No good would come from anyone finding that he was still alive; he no longer trusted anyone in authority at Fandermere, other than perhaps the Dean (though he was still a bit on the fence) and the friends he’d made, and any other group unassociated with the Academy might seek to take advantage of him if they discovered who he was and what he could do.  Based on the fact that a group of assassins had somehow found out about him, even if he was unsure about how much they actually knew, he had no idea how far his information had spread out in the wider world outside of the Academy; everyone was, therefore, suspect.

In short, Jeremy had to become strong enough not to worry about being taken advantage of or even killed outright. 

But first, he had to figure out how to do that safely without being found.  Ideally, he would love to leave the Rift and find another that wasn’t as busy, but he didn’t believe he could leave quite yet without being spotted by those guarding the Rift from the outside, nor did he have any idea of where to go if he did manage to get out.  He needed some serious strength behind him before he ventured out, otherwise he’d just be at risk of falling into the same trap he’d already experienced with the recent pair of Instructors.

As much as he wanted to start slaughtering more [Fire Slimes], as they had started respawning an hour after dispersing the energy from the partial Rift Core at the end of that route, so that he could obtain more Nexus Energy Points, he knew that he had to be a bit more cautious.  Therefore, he moved back toward the spot where he’d hidden from the groups that had come looking for him, taking some time to search for a better area to make a semi-permanent shelter.  If he was going to be living in the Rift for some time, he would rather have somewhere he could call “home”; even if it wasn’t going to be the most comfortable, he’d made do with rough conditions before.

A few minutes of searching over the warm rocky terrain, which was thankfully free of any monsters since they seemed to be contained exclusively along the different routes, he came across something he thought might work for now.  It wasn’t exactly a cave, more like something had taken a scoop out of a stone wall and left behind a hollow that reached 30 feet deep, was a good 10 feet wide, and just over 6 feet tall.  It was dark toward the back of the hollow, and while it wasn’t completely concealed, it was also somewhat facing away from the safe zone near the entrance, so it wouldn’t be immediately visible if someone came looking.  That being said, all it would take was a few curious people climbing up and peering around, especially since it was less than 300 feet away from the safe zone, so he would have to find a way to keep it concealed if that came to pass. 

He journeyed out a little further, hoping to find something better, but without spending a significant amount of time potentially carving his way through the stone with lasers or even blowing some things up, there wasn’t really anything within 1,000 feet of the safe zone – and he didn’t dare venture out further than that.  While he didn’t see any monsters or anything specifically dangerous, there was an unidentifiable threatening feeling the further he ventured out.  He’d somewhat learned to trust that feeling, so he didn’t investigate past the point that he already had.

After establishing that little hollow as his “home base,” he sat down and began thinking about what he needed to do to conceal it from any curious eyes.  He experimented briefly with Bend Light, using it similar to how Instructor Tremic had by creating an illusion of an empty hollow, and while he didn’t exactly have fond memories of the {Light} and {Energy} wielder who had tried to enslave him, he had to admit that the man’s illusions were quite powerful.  Shaping the scene with his intent, he stood outside the hollow and channeled his Mana into the illusion, taking half a minute to copy it as perfectly as he could.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t exactly adept at illusions and his concentration kept wavering slightly, causing the relatively large bending of light to ripple and it seemed almost transparent, like it was see-through.  Not enough power behind it.  Energy Boost helped to firm up the scene he was intending, but even that didn’t make it completely match what he had in mind.  He realized the problem was one of scale, as even his recent increase of Bend Light to Tier 2 thanks to the energy dispersed by the Rift Core wasn’t enough to make an accurate illusion that would cover the entire entrance to the hollow. 

Therefore, he shrunk it down to a more manageable size, keeping it to about a 3-foot by 5-foot rectangle, and it seemed to finally coalesce into an illusion that looked exactly like what was behind it without any distortion, transparency, or waviness that the much larger illusion had possessed. 

Unfortunately, even if he managed to raise his Tier in the Bend Light Ability further to encompass the entire entrance to the hollow, he couldn’t exactly maintain the illusion indefinitely, as it required concentration and a constant drain on his available Mana.  In short, it wasn’t a viable option for him; instead, he needed something more permanent.

Taking one of the few copper blanks that he’d brought along in his spatial storage backpack, he sat down with his back against the inside of the hollow as he considered a new type of enchantment.  Previously, he’d only really altered Light Enchant to create different types of light wavelengths, as well as some reflective mirror-like effects for use in his laser cannon; he’d never made one that created a large illusion before, though he knew it was likely possible based on what he’d learned at the Academy.  The problem was with containment, as the light that emerged from the enchantment would simply spread wherever it could reach; he got away with the mirror-like effect in his cannon because the light was contained within the chitinous tube made from an [Ebon Devourer].  But with any other Light Enchanted effect, there was nothing keeping the light contained within a certain area, unlike when he directly used Bend Light.

Closing his eyes, he did his best to recall some potential options from earth, thinking about TVs and even movie theaters.  For modern TVs, their screens were contained in a clearly defined space based on the housing and their LED technology.  For older TVs, such as CRT and rear projection TVs, as well as in movie theaters, they projected light against a surface, which either was captured and displayed on a defined surface or hit a reflective surface that was then bounced back toward the audience.  As much as he would love to figure out how to produce an LED screen, that seemed a bit beyond what he could do at that point; that left what was likely going to be a projected light, but that still didn’t necessarily help with his ultimate problem.

Containment.

Fortunately, he’d somewhat solved that problem when he was playing around with his {Light} and {Dark} Affinities, and in particular his Equilibrium Ability.  What it did was balance the two opposite energies contained within the Affinities so that they not only worked together, but enhanced the other. 

Opening his eyes, he looked at the copper blank in his lap and started to imagine what it was that he wanted to create.  First, he activated Light Enchant on the blank and imagined the static image of the hollow when seen from the outside, but instead of the light going in all directions, it instead projected into an upright and slightly curved wall that would cover the entire entrance of the hollow.  This was followed by a Mana Enchant with a focus on light energy to help power the size of the Light Enchant – but there was still the issue with containment; as it was, the light would simply continue projecting upwards and to the sides with no clear definition. 

This was where Dark Enchant came in, and instead of simply a large field of darkness floating around the enchanted blank, he activated her Equilibrium Ability to mold the darkness emitted from Dark Enchant to somewhat mimic his Shroud of Darkness Ability.  He imagined it stretched out and fully containing the light being projected upwards and to the sides, enclosing it like a box.  The tricky part was making one side, the side facing outward, essentially transparent, while the other side was reflective and somewhat opaque, which would allow the illusion he was creating to show outwards while keeping any light from behind (or from inside the hollow) from shining through.

He got the idea from how one-way mirrors would work back on Earth, which would reflect back the light from a brightly lit room while the other side of the mirror had a dark room.  Ideally, he would still be able to look out from behind the illusion while no one would see anything but what he wanted them to see. 

Keeping all of these intents in place strained his focus as he applied them all to the copper blank, especially since he was trying to accomplish multiple effects that he had never tried with his Enchants before.  Thankfully, unlike the last time he had strained himself in the Instructor Assessment Rift while developing the Rapid Light Energy Absorption Enchant, he wasn’t starving from lack of food and could devote all of his attention toward his purpose.

And yet, despite all of his focus on creating a unique enchantment, what he ended up creating wasn’t exactly what he had intended.  As he neared the final seconds of his Enchant Abilities, he finally felt all of them click together, relieving the intense strain on his mind.  The enchantment completed, forming on the copper blank, but before he could check to see if it was working, he was bombarded by some notifications. 

Affinity {Light} Strength has increased to Moderate 5!

{Light} Strength increase reser—

Nexus Rift detected!  Absorbing Rift energy for necessary changes!

{Light} Strength increase applied!

Affinity {Energy} Strength has increased to Moderate 5!

{Energy} Strength increase reser—

Nexus Rift detected!  Absorbing Rift energy for necessary changes!

{Energy} Strength increase applied!

Affinity {Dark} Strength has increased to Moderate 3!

{Dark} Strength increase reser—

Nexus Rift detected!  Absorbing Rift energy for necessary changes!

{Dark} Strength increase applied!

Ability {Dark}: Dark Enchant has increased to Tier 9!

Tier increase reserved…

Ability {Light/Dark}: Equilibrium has increased to Tier 4!

Tier increase reserved…

New Ability Unlocked!

{Light/Energy/Dark}: Field of Concealment Enchant Tier 1!

He hadn’t necessarily been trying to unlock a new Ability, but as he looked over his notifications, he wasn’t going to complain.  However, when he delved deeper into the new Field of Concealment Enchant Ability, he was temporarily dismayed as it wasn’t what he had intended to create. 

It was better than what he had imagined.

Almost as if the magic he employed had somehow taken his idea and ran with it, improving it multiple ways, his new Ability had gone above and beyond anything he could’ve wished for.  Instead of a static image that was projected and contained within a set area, what the Field of Concealment Enchant did was essentially create an illusionary dome around the enchantment that didn’t let any light emerge from underneath the dome, while bending the light from outside around the dome.  In other words, from the outside, he would be virtually invisible if he was underneath the dome, while from the inside, he would be able to see outside with absolutely no issues.  It was the one-way mirror idea he had but with stealth capabilities and then ramped up to 11.

He opened Athera’s Blessing and looked at his new Status after all of the changes.

Athera’s Blessing – Status

Name:

Weldin Collsmith

Experience (Applied):

0/1,000

Level:

1

Experience (Reserve):

148,768

Health:

70/70

Mana:

81/110

Stamina:

70/70

Health Regen:

7/hr

Mana Regen:

10/hr

Stamina Regen:

7/hr

Might:

7

Endurance:

7

Speed:

7

Insight:

11

Sagacity:

10

Appeal:

5

Affinities:

Energy

Affinity Strength (Energy):

Moderate 4

Light

Affinity Strength (Light):

Moderate 4

Dark

Affinity Strength (Dark):

Moderate 3

Plant

Affinity Strength (Plant):

Weak 4

Abilities (Energy):

Energy Boost

Manipulation

Tier 1 (Tier 10)

Regen (Mana)

Conversion

Tier 1 (Tier 10)

Mana Enchant

Application

Tier 1 (Tier 10)

Abilities (Light):

Light Orb

Illumination

Tier 1 (Tier 10)

Bend Light

Illusion

Tier 2 (Tier 10)

Light Enchant

Infusion

Tier 1 (Tier 10)

Abilities (Dark):

Shadow Strike

Imbuement

Tier 2 (Tier 7)

Shroud of Darkness

Concealment

Tier 1 (Tier 10)

Dark Enchant

Enchantment

Tier 1 (Tier 9)

Abilities (Plant):

Vine Whip

Restriction

Tier 1 (Tier 5)

Leafy Barrier

Construction

Tier 1 (Tier 5)

Rapid Growth

Production

Tier 1 (Tier 4)

Abilities (Multi):

Light/Dark

Equilibrium

Tier 1 (Tier 4)

Light/Energy

Light Energy Enchant

Tier 1 (Tier 3)

Light/Energy/Dark

Field of Concealment Enchant

Tier 1

Light/Energy/Dark

Rapid Light Energy Absorption Enchant

Tier 1 (Tier 3)

When he closed his Status and looked at the new enchantment and the energy that flowed out from it, it quickly became obvious that his new Ability did one more thing – it kept all of the energy being used to create the Field of Concealment Enchant inside of the dome, as well.  That meant that, unless someone walked through the edge of the Field, they wouldn’t even be able to detect any of the energy. 

Unfortunately, he also saw that – unlike what he was intending – the dome surrounding the enchanted copper blank was just barely large enough to cover himself.  To cover the entire hollow, he would have to add some extra Mana Enchanted copper blanks to extend its range, but that was not that big of a deal.  He now not only had a way to keep his temporary “home” hidden, but himself as well – it wasn’t that much of a tradeoff. 

Over the next hour, he completed the project with some Mana Enchanted blanks, using his laser to melt the edges of the plates together, placing the much larger and finished enchantment near the entrance of the hollow.  When he went outside and looked within, somehow the enchantment knew to exclude his backpack that he’d left inside the hollow, and everything appeared completely normal.  What bothered him a little was that he didn’t know exactly how it knew to exclude his backpack, but as he stared at it a little longer, he began to see how the energies within the enchantment worked.  It all had to do with intent, and since his intent – when he created the enchantment – was to conceal him and everything on or around him, they were excluded; he began to understand how this could be limiting, as anything new added to his person might not be excluded in the same way.  For instance, if he built a chair or a table out of stone or something to be used as furniture and placed inside the hollow, they might show up – the same went for if he was carrying something that wasn’t originally with him.

Hmm… I have to be a bit more precise with my intent, I guess.  I might even have to update it with a new enchantment every time I bring something new to the hollow.  It was annoying, but he supposed it was better than nothing.  He could only hope that it would improve and remove some of those restrictions as the Ability was developed, but he’d have to wait to see if that was true or not. 

For now, he had a relatively safe place to stay that was hidden from the world, and that was worth any annoyances that his new Ability brought with it.  And thankfully, he was fully inside its radius when he felt yet another surge coming from the entrance to the Rift.

The Affinity Collector 2 -- Recap/Chapter 1

Recap

Weldin Collsmith had just received his Goddess-given Affinities after turning 8 years old, when the celebration was interrupted by a mysterious, homicidal figure that attacked the other children and sent Weldin flying through a destabilized portal.  Ending up in a Rift which was far above his own Level and extraordinarily dangerous, the scared-but-resourceful 8-year-old used the sword and knife his blacksmith father had given him to survive against the Dark-aligned monsters within the Rift – but it wasn’t enough.  After an unfortunate meeting with a Level 25 Ebon Devourer, Weldin bled out as he fled back to the cave in which he originally appeared, dying before he could escape and explore the new {Light} and {Energy} Affinities he had just recently acquired.

But Weldin’s story didn’t completely end there.  His body lived on as a soul from another world suddenly and unexpectedly took control, bringing him back from the dead through some unknown power.  Coming from Earth, Jeremy had knowledge of many subjects, and while he wasn’t a particular expert in any of them, he knew enough about almost everything to help him in this new world.  Using scientific principles to manipulate his {Light} and {Energy} Affinities, he discovered how to create a magically powered laser to kill the monsters within the Ebon Citadel Rift, eventually escaping after he accidentally blew up the Rift Overseer with an overloading laser cannon.  Upon completing the Rift, however, he ended up unlocking the {Dark} Affinity, given him access to yet another series of spells and abilities.

Discovered by a squad of Defenders after he exited the Rift, they bring him to the nearest city so that he can be sent to an academy; all 8-year-olds are required to attend them to learn about their Affinities and the world, so that they can become valued members of their communities.  When he arrived, Jeremy learned that having opposing Affinities – such as {Light} and {Dark} – was not only rare, it was thought to be impossible; as a result of his uniqueness, the Academy Registrar sends him to the preeminent Academy available to him, Fandermere, but something goes wrong as he attempts to enter the Academy.

Because of his foreign soul, Jeremy was sent to an Instructor Assessment Rift for incoming Instructors, where he is forced not only to survive, but to prove that he had what it took to become an Academy Instructor.  He hadn’t cared about the latter, but survival against the Plant-based monsters he’d been forced to face were much more difficult than his previous experience in a Rift.  Fortunately, he learned how to embrace his newest Affinity, {Dark}, as a source of offensive capabilities, and even discovered how to create an equilibrium between his opposite Affinities, using them in tandem to enhance his capabilities.

Barely surviving the Rift, as well as unlocking a new {Plant} Affinity, Jeremy ends up in Fandermere as a “Provisional Instructor,” which no one had ever seen before.  Dean Paxtin soon learned of his multiple Affinities and thought it prudent to keep it a secret from the rest of the world, though he employed a few specific Instructors, Charmain and Tremic, to help him train in private.

At Fandermere Academy, Jeremy learns a lot more about the world and about the different kinds of Affinities available, making him more eager to collect more in the future, but he is fairly stymied in his development – at least compared to his experiences in the pair of Rifts he had been forced to fight through.  Fortunately, his lack of advancement was hopefully going to come to an end as, in his third year at Fandermere, all students were to be accompanied by Instructors into a Rift to experience what it was like, as well as start applying any of the advancements that they’d achieved by that point through the use of a Rift Core’s energy.

Jeremy’s trip to The Sleeper’s Lair Rift, despite worries that something else would go wrong and he would end up being transported somewhere else, went off without a hitch, and he was able to fight through a portion of the unique Rift by himself, killing [Fire Slimes] without any trouble.  The trouble only began when Instructor Tremic slipped an Obedience Collar, which was designed to enslave people, around Jeremy’s neck and forced him to explain the secret behind his successes, and his lasers in particular.  While the Collar didn’t actually work against him, Jeremy pretended to go along with it, as he looked for a way to escape.  That escape, or so he thought, came in the form of Instructor Charmaine killing Tremic for using an Obedience Collar on a student.  Sadly, shortly afterwards, he learned that this whole situation was exactly what she wanted, as she was paid by her powerful non-Academy employers to capture him so that they could take him away for their own experiments or other shady purposes.

Fortunately, he was still unaffected by the Collar, and while he followed her instructions to stand still in the Rift’s safe zone near the entrance for a minute or so after she left him behind, telling him that her employers would be picking him up in a few hours, he was able to remove the Collar by himself and threw it away.  After that, he finally dispersed the energy within the small Rift Core that he’d fought to get to earlier, finding that he could direct the Nexus Energy Points (NEPs) he gained from the Core’s energy dispersion to advance specific portions of his development – including unlocking a new {Fire} Affinity, though that would take many more NEPs to fully unlock it. 

Now, after the betrayal of not just one but two Instructors and escaping their immediate clutches, Jeremy had a choice to make while he was still inside the Rift.  Should he try to escape and make a run for it?  Should he pretend to still be a captive and escape later, once he’d been freed of the Rift?  Or was there, perhaps, a third choice…?

Chapter 1

Nearly tripping over a rock as he backed up, his entire attention on the enormous monster called [Flametrix, the Sleeping Dragon] wrapped around the volcano in the distance, Jeremy managed to catch himself as he tore his gaze away from the Level 300 Final Rift Overseer.  As he’d made his way back up the pathway toward the Rift entrance, a rumble that shook the ground had brought his attention to the figurative “elephant in the room” that was the dragon, but while there were a few signs that it had slightly moved – seen in some falling stones along the volcano’s exterior – the monster thankfully still seemed to be asleep.

Is my presence inside the Rift causing it to wake up?  I certainly hope not.

Shortly after Jeremy arrived with the other students, along with the treacherous Instructors Tremic and Charmaine, some sort of “privacy geas” had attempted to affect him and had been rejected by his soul, which had caused the dragon to shift slightly in its sleep – but he had hoped that that had been all after it seemed to calm down.  Now, though, he worried that it was slowly waking up, which would be a disaster of epic proportions if it was able to escape the Rift.  While his Instructors had ended up betraying him in the end, with Tremic attempting to temporarily enslave him in order to obtain some of the secrets that Jeremy was hiding, and Charmaine essentially selling him out to her non-Academy employers (whoever they were, he didn’t relish the thought of falling into their hands), he didn’t doubt that they had been truthful about the last time Flametrix had awoken.

Millions of deaths on his conscience wasn’t something that he wanted to contemplate – if he even survived long enough to learn about it happening.

Fortunately, it seemed to have settled down again, and there didn’t seem to be any other indication that it was waking up any further.  For all he knew, the Final Rift Overseer frequently shifted in its sleep, so everything he’d experienced thus far could be normal.

As he arrived at the entrance once again, he felt the “safe zone” around him fall into place, where he knew he would be safe from pretty much anything in the Rift; he was fairly certain that if [Flametrix] woke up, it could tear apart what little safety Athera seemed to control around the entrance, but if that happened, he was confident that it would be too late to even worry about it.

Putting that thought out of his mind, as it didn’t help him to worry about the sleeping dragon, he instead turned his attention to his current situation.  It wasn’t monsters that he was worried about, after all; it was another threat entirely that contributed to his worries.  While he didn’t know exactly how long he had until Charmaine’s employers came to fetch him, thinking that he would be standing obediently next to the Rift entrance for their arrival, he was under the assumption that he had at least an hour or slightly more.  He’d spent a little of that time dispersing the energy from the Rift Core at the end of the first pathway filled with [Fire Slimes], but he estimated that he had at least a large portion of an hour left before they arrived – even if it was probably more than that.

Jeremy had already spent some time after Charmaine had left him behind to be picked up thinking about what he was going to do now.  He had briefly considered pretending that he was still under their control and then escape later, but he had worried that he might be brought somewhere that he couldn’t escape from – Obedient Collar around his neck or not – so he discarded it almost as quickly as the thought occurred to him.  That left two options: Fight or flight. 

The first option was to set some things up in his favor so that he could kill whoever came looking for him.  There were multiple issues with that option, however, as he had no idea who would be coming to fetch him; they might be too powerful to kill with what he could put together in such a short time, or they might be fast enough to react to an attack and could negate whatever he attempted to do to them.  Even if he managed to get lucky and wipe them out, it was entirely possible that more of these people from Charmaine’s “employer” would be sent out to capture him when they didn’t return.  Those people might end up being much stronger, to the point where he couldn’t kill them – and he’d wind up in the same position as he was right now.

The second option was to flee, to head back out of the Rift and attempt to sneak by everyone outside, including the noble in charge of keeping the Rift protected and relatively private.  He highly doubted his abilities were strong enough to get him far, and once he was discovered, he might be dragged back to the Academy – or possibly held captive by the noble or some other powerful organization.  Neither prospect was great, as Charmaine had said she was returning to the Academy and would likely kill him so that he couldn’t reveal her betrayal, and being held by a powerful organization was what he trying to avoid.

But there was third another option that Jeremy had eventually decided upon.  He wouldn’t fight those who came, nor would he flee – at least, not immediately.  Instead, he would stay…

…and use the Rift as an opportunity to get stronger.

He had enough food and water in his spacial storage bag to keep him alive for 6 months, which he was hopeful was enough time to become proficient enough in his abilities to leave without being detected.  He didn’t actually know for sure if that was true, but he was more than willing to see what happened and give it a try.  By that time, he also figured that, with no sign of him, Charmaine’s employers would figure he was dead – which brought him to his next conundrum.

How do I convince them I’m dead?

He knew it was highly unlikely that the people coming to fetch him in his obedient state would simply walk inside the Rift, see that he wasn’t there, and then immediately turn around and leave.  They would search for him, likely thinking that he had wandered off somewhere despite orders to the contrary, and would probably find him no matter what he did to hide.  He didn’t know even a fraction of what Affinities could do, but he figured that a team sent to acquire a person likely had a way of tracking people down. 

Jeremy considered and discarded multiple ideas on how he could convince someone that he was dead.  Thoughts of elaborate illusions created by his Bend Light combined with the physical aspect of Shroud of Darkness as a way to create a realistic-looking body flowed through his mind, but he knew that he didn’t have the kind of power to get away with something that elaborate.  Sure, perhaps he could fool someone from a distance, but they would likely check it up close and personal; he doubted he could keep something together like that under close scrutiny.  That didn’t even consider that he would have to be fairly close in order to maintain those spells, and he wasn’t going take the chance that someone would be able to feel his energy use at such close quarters. 

No, none of that would work – at least not without a lot of practice and a lot of luck.  And if they decided that they wanted to take the body back with them, the jig would be up almost immediately even if he managed to maintain the illusion until they left the Rift – though he wasn’t even sure if they could remove his “body” or not.  Regardless, there were too many variables that would go wrong with a plan like that.

In other words, the more complicated and complex the plan, the more likelihood it had of failing.  Which meant he needed to fall back on something he’d learned back on Earth.

KISS.  Exactly; Keep It Simple, Stupid.

Rather than try to convince his upcoming captors that he was dead with some elaborate visual or complicated story, all he needed to do was to give them a hint of what might have occurred and let them dictate what happened.  With that in mind, he quickly located the previously discarded Obedience Collar he’d pulled off his neck, walked next to the Rift entrance, and then snapped the circular piece of metal together so that it appeared whole and unbroken.  Even the feel of it in his hands kind of creeped him out, so he dropped it on the dark stone under his feet exactly where he’d been standing when Charmaine had left.  Taking a deep breath, he pulled out his knife, the same one that had survived with him throughout the Ebon Citadel Rift, and cut the palm of his hand while he activated Regen (Mana) with Health as its focus.

Blood dripping from his palm splattered across the stone beneath his feet, creating scattered pools as he squeezed his hand to force even more out from his body, and he made sure to cover the Obedience Collar liberally with his vital fluid.  His Health Regen was already working overtime to heal his cut, so he was forced to cut it again after a few minutes in order to keep the blood flowing.  After about 10 minutes, he started to became lightheaded, so he stopped and began let his wound heal enough to clot, before breaking out some dried meat and a capped bottle of water from his spatial storage backpack.  He ate it right there, feeling better after about 20 minutes as the magical nature of Health Regen replenished his blood – and then started another round of blood-letting around the entrance, sending it flinging out in a few directions, but keeping it largely focused on the one spot near the Collar.  When he was satisfied at the macabre display, he let his wound heal up again before leaving the area, pulling even more food and water from his backpack to alleviate his hunger and his headache.  He looked back to ensure he wasn’t tracking any of the blood behind him, and while he didn’t see anything, he worried that someone would still be able to track any minute traces he might be leaving behind.

To alleviate this, he quickly formed a laser with an Energy Boost that had a wider aperture, using it to sweep the stone behind him, which he hoped would eliminate any trace of bodily fluids he left behind on the material.  He’d done the same thing in the Ebon Citadel when his private cave had begun to stink from waste and dried blood; the wider laser was capable of disintegrating the smaller particulates and sterilizing the area. 

Of course, when he finished doing that as he reached the edge of the safe zone, opposite of where the pathways leading to separate Rift Cores were located, he realized that the use of {Light} and {Energy} could potentially lead someone to him if they were able to track the energy use.  What I need a way to absorb the energy—

He nearly smacked his forehead with his still-healing hand, but he managed to stop himself before he could hurt himself again.  While he didn’t have a perfect solution already custom-made, he knew the principles behind the Rapid Light Energy Absorption Enchant Ability he’d developed in the Instructor Assessment Rift well enough that he thought he could somewhat apply it to the situation.  With that Ability, he had used the {Dark} portion of the enchantment to absorb the light energy from the sun to power a laser, but that wasn’t what he needed now.

Instead of an enchantment that would consistently reinforce itself and build up to the point where it might explode, all he needed to do was absorb energy.  Starting with Shroud of Darkness, his intent formed it around him before he sent it outward toward his lingering traces of energy he could vaguely see in the path he’d taken away from the Rift entrance.  Shifting his intent, he had the Shroud absorb first {Light} energy and then everything leftover from his use of his {Energy} Ability, using it to fuel itself and grow larger, reaching all the way back to the Rift entrance before he canceled it.  He had successfully eliminated all traces of his {Light} and {Energy} Affinities… and left his {Dark} energy behind from his use of Shroud of Darkness.

Should’ve thought this through. 

Fortunately, because there was still quite a bit of visible light coming from the environment of the Rift, both from the stormy-looking sky above and the light from fires and lava everywhere, the {Dark} energy dispersed much faster than the other energy would have, so he had to settle for simply waiting for it to disappear.  Turning his attention back to the broken-up ring of stone that seemed to encompass the perimeter of the safe zone, he started to climb while protecting his still-healing hand, until he finally reached the top.  With a better view up above, he could see that the rear portion of the safe zone was essentially just a bunch of jagged stone with scattered pools of lava bubbling here and there, though fortunately the extremely hot molten liquid was far enough away that it wasn’t a direct threat to him.

Also fortunately, the jagged rocks seemed to form multiple pockets where he thought he might be able to hide, at least temporarily, and while they weren’t exactly caves where he could fully conceal himself, they were at least better than nothing.  He carefully made his way toward one that was far enough away from the entrance that he didn’t think he would be seen right away, while also being close enough to observe the entrance from his position.

He laid stomach-down on the hard, warm stone and adjusted himself so that he could view only a sliver of the safe zone, which he also thought would keep him mostly concealed from that area, as well.  He found that he could shift himself quickly to be completely out of sight if he needed to, though if someone was able to track him without sight, then he wouldn’t be able to hide from them long.  He briefly considered getting up and moving further back, or perhaps attempting to hide halfway down one of the Rift Core pathways, but before he could make up his mind, his options were eliminated when he could feel a surge of energy coming from the safe zone.

They’re early.  Extremely early.

The next moment, Jeremy watched as a group of Defenders entered the Rift, their weapons drawn and clearly on edge by the way they moved. 

Marshell Gharmin

Developmental Period: Adult Cycle 46

Defender Designation: Striker

Level: 28

His view of the area was narrow enough that he could only clearly see one of the people who came through the Rift entrance, but that was enough to convince him that he made a good decision not to try to kill them.  He counted 5 of them that had come out and spread out faster than he could see their names, and if they were all around the same Level as the scale-armored Marshell, then he probably wouldn’t have succeeded in harming them much – if he could even hit them with how fast they seemed to be. 

Fortunately, he was close enough to hear their conversation, even if he couldn’t see all the speakers.  “Hurry, eliminate the package before those from Velipath House arrive later.”

“Where are they?  Didn’t your informant tell us that someone Velipath wanted was supposed to be here?”

“Look around, they couldn’t have gone far—”  The female voice cut off, and Jeremy could see Marshell and the edge of some others approaching his bloody display.  He still couldn’t see the others properly, but he saw and heard enough to know that he had no intention of moving to view them better.  Instead, he was frozen in place as they stared at the blood and Obedience Collar on the ground.

“Did someone get here before us?  I thought we were given priority to eliminate the package before Velipath could get their hands on it?”

“It’s fresh, so it had to have happened very recently.  But how did they find out before we did?”

“I have no idea, but it’s obvious that we’re too late.  Let’s get out of here before our window closes.”

In less than a second, the squad of Defenders that had been looking at the bloody scene he’d left behind disappeared back through the Rift entrance, and Jeremy let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. 

They… came here to kill me?  Does that mean they’re not from Charmaine’s employers? 

He could only assume so, because if they wanted him dead, it would’ve been easy enough for his treacherous Instructor to commit the deed. 

Jeremy didn’t move for hours as he contemplated the fact that someone wanted him dead enough to send a squad of Defenders to kill him.  Why?  From what he could tell from the conversation he overheard, the assassins had been instructed to do it to keep him from falling into the hands of Velipath House.  Is that the name of her employers?  He could only assume so, at least until he had more information.

He was frozen in place for so long that he was startled when there was another activation of the Rift entrance, and this time he saw another squad of Defenders enter – though they moved out of his sightline fast enough that he couldn’t see them clearly.

But he could hear them.

“Where is—?”

“Damn it!  Those bastards got to him!  How did they even know?”

“That’s not important right now.  What matters is that our package is gone; based on the blood and the completely intact Obedience Collar, I can only assume he was eliminated entirely and the corpse thrown down one of the routes.”  There was silence for a moment as something happened, which he couldn’t see from his position, but he felt a burst of some sort of energy disperse through the area.  He was a little worried when it got close to his position, but it disappeared before it touched him.  “I can’t detect any trace of him anywhere close for proof of death.  Grab the Collar and let’s get out of here.”

“Are you sure we shouldn’t look around in case he’s—”

“No.  We have our orders, and we need to report this as soon as possible.  It looks like Velipath is going to have to take some time to clean house; there are obviously a couple of rats lurking around, so we’ll probably be quite busy over the next few weeks.”  There was another pause, as Jeremy saw someone reach down and pick the Collar up from the ground so fast that it was basically a blur.  “Alright, let’s go.”

And before he could even think about breathing again, they were gone.

Jeremy’s head collapsed onto the warm stone as the extreme tension left his body and he exhaled loudly in relief.  It worked.  At least as far as I can tell. 

He wasn’t sure how long he laid there, exhausted beyond the physical exertion he’d been forced to participate in through the day.  He might have even slept a little as he recovered, though he couldn’t remember doing so; regardless of whether or not a nap had overtaken him, once he recovered enough from the stress of the last few hours, Jeremy pushed himself up and looked around.

It was then that he started to make some plans.  

Plans for Feb 8-13

I finished the editing and revisions for Enthralled Healer this week, as well as writing the blurb and putting it up for pre-order -- it comes out on February 25th. It's with the beta-readers now, which will hopefully give me some more edits and feedback to make it even better.

Based on my poll last Friday, I'll be starting to write The Affinity Collector 2 on Monday; I'll be starting the planning at that time, so there may not be a chapter that first day, but they'll come soon after.

Plans for next week:

Sunday: Off

Monday: Planning The Affinity Collector 2

Tuesday-Friday: Writing The Affinity Collector 2

Have a great weekend!

Enthralled Healer is now on pre-order!

Now on pre-order -- Enthralled Healer is the start of the continuation arc of Thaden's story from Earthen Contenders, and I'm very excited for everyone to read it!  It arrives on eBook, paperback, and hardcover on February 25th  

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GL6L678Q

No longer a simple Contender, a new world awaits the powerful Healer…

After completing the developmental world of Tarth, the remaining Contenders and Humans from Earth are transported to the world of Plangea.  Unfortunately for Thaden, his trip to the new world has taken another route, and his arrival ends up severely devastating his ability to survive.  Sadly, many of the advantages that he had enjoyed on Tarth as a Contender are no longer available to him. 

But all hope isn’t lost.  Even if going out and Leveling up is nearly impossible in his current situation, there is a solution in this new world that wasn’t available on Tarth:

Thaden is told that he can select a profession-based Secondary Class.

However, as it seems like business-as-usual for the System-breaking Healer, something goes wrong during his Class selection; in short, he ends up being automatically assigned a second Primary Class.  Now the newly minted Novice Enthraller can explore the world around him with spells that he can finally afford to cast, but Plangea turns out to be much larger and more dangerous than Tarth ever was – especially when the Assimilation System and the Persistent Adversary start up with their shenanigans once again.

This is the next series/story arc of the Earthen Contenders series, but it can still be enjoyed without having read the previous series.  This story contains an overpowered MC with a normally non-offense-based Class, LitRPG progression mechanics and stats, and isekai/portal fantasy elements.  Contains no sexual content or harems.  

Plans for Feb 1-6

I did it! I finally finished Healer Arc 2 Book 1 (Enthralled Healer)! I'll be releasing some chapters for my $2/$5 Patrons starting on Sunday, and I'll continue to release them leading up to its publication on amazon toward the end of February.

Next week, there will be no new chapters, as I'll be editing, making revisions for story improvements (for instance, did you know that--as it is written--there is an insta-kill combination of spells and advancements that I accidentally created? If you know what it is, comment below), finalizing it for my beta-readers, creating the blurb, and finally putting it up for pre-order on amazon. After that, I'll probably take a couple of days off, getting back to work on Monday, February 9th.

Plans for next week:

Sunday-Wednesday: Editing, revisions, beta-readers, blurb, put up pre-order

Thursday-Friday: Off

As for what I'll be writing next, well, I had originally planned on doing the next Retrogression Keeper book (Book 3), but with the success of The Affinity Collector and everyone looking forward to the 2nd book, I'm not sure what I should do.

So, I'm going to leave it up to my Patrons. Which one would you like to see me write next? (I know that some might want Healer Arc 2 Book 2 next, but I need to get back to my other series first)

EDIT: I put the wrong book on the first poll, so I updated it with the correct book

Healer Arc 2 -- Final Stats

Final Stats

Thaden {Densartis Faction}

Primary Class – Fortunate Catastrophe

Primary Class Level – 18

Secondary Class – Thrall Commander

Secondary Class Level – 34

Progressive Internal Combat Knowledge (PICK) – 5,200/5,200

Adventurer Coalition Rank: Platinum+ 705/810 RP

Health – 12,750/12,750

Mana – 18,680/18,680

Physicality – 1,258 (1,275)

Celerity – 1,102 (1,176)

Mentality – 1,680 (1,868)

Personality – 7,388  (7,405)

Fortuity – 1,579 (1,591)

Spells: (127 to select)

Primary Support Spells:

Celestial Resurrection (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Mana Rejuvenation (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Health Transformation (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Mana Transformation (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Lifelink (Reserved) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Mass Healing (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Regeneration (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Mass Regeneration (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Cure Physical Affliction (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Cure Mental Affliction (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Health Reduction (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Health Augmentation (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Absorb Health (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Aura of Life (Reserved) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Wild Health Leach (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Healing Burst (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Overheal (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Support Sprite (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Health Treatment (Single Cast) – 3 Access Slots

Celestial Cleansing Aura (Reserved) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Denial of Healing (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Recharge (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Full Heal (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Healing Transference (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Equality (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Shower of Life (Reserved) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Resuscitation (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Reanimation (Reserved) – 5 Access Slots

Celestial Repeat (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial External Stimulation (Channeled) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Health Renewal (Single Cast) – 3 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Regeneration (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Healing Burst (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Full Heal (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Mass Healing (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Mana Rejuvenation (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Recharge (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Recovery State (Reserved) – 5 Access Slots

Celestial Price of Healing (Single Cast) – 3 Access Slots

Celestial Vitality Infusion (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Health Relinquishment (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Chaotic Battlefield Absorption (Reserved) – 10 Access Slots

Celestial Disastrous Recovery (Channeled) – 7 Access Slots

Defensive Spells:

Celestial Protective Guards (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Death Ward (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Negation Zone (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Dampeners (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Protective Barrier (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Damage Shield (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Sacrifice (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Wardlink (Reserved) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Stacking Buffers (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Affliction Shelter (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Defensive Sprite (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Lockdown (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Secure Bulwark (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Defensive Denial (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Mirrored Vigil (Reserved) – 3 Access Slots

Celestial Safe Harbor (Reserved) – 4 Access Slots

Celestial Focused Cover (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Guardian Totem (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Aura of the Sentinel (Reserved) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Incarnation of Protection (Single Cast) – 3 Access Slots

Celestial Indomitable Aegis (Single Cast) – 5 Access Slots

Celestial Repose (Channeled) – 4 Access Slots

Celestial Internal Automation (Single Cast) – 3 Access Slots

Celestial Social Pariah (Single Cast) – 3 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Protective Guards (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Protective Barrier (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Damage Shield (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Stacking Buffers (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Dampeners (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Death Ward (Single Cast) – 3 Access Slots

Celestial Guarded State (Reserved) – 5 Access Slots

Celestial Unstable Fortification (Single Cast) – 3 Access Slots

Celestial Vitality Diffusion (Reserved) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Protection Relinquishment (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Borrowed Bastion (Single Cast) – 10 Access Slots

Celestial Catastrophic Bracing (Reserved) – 7 Access Slots

Spiritual Spells:

Celestial Pacification Aura (Reserved) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Spirit Lock (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Dispel Spiritual Influence (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Aura of Confusion (Reserved) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Aura of Rage (Reserved) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Aura of Fear (Reserved) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Aura of Silence (Reserved) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Aura of Sleep (Reserved) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Dominate Spirit (Single Cast) – 5 Access Slots

Celestial Spirit Drain (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Befriend Spirit (Reserved) – 3 Access Slots

Celestial Repast (Reserved) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Spiritual Reclamation (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Spiritual Enhancement Aura (Reserved) – 4 Access Slots

Celestial Zone of Spiritual Misfortune (Channeled) – 4 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Aura of Confusion (Reserved) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Aura of Silence (Reserved) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Aura of Sleep (Reserved) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Aura of Fear (Reserved) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Aura of Rage (Reserved) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Auric State (Reserved) – 5 Access Slots

Celestial Karmic Imbalance (Single Cast) – 3 Access Slots

Celestial Vitality Of Spirit (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Spiritual Relinquishment (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Spiritual Guardians (Channeled) – 10 Access Slots

Celestial Devastating Fortitude (Single Cast) – 7 Access Slots

Secondary Support Spells:

Major Health Siphon (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Major Minion Regeneration (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Major Health Reinforcement (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Major Life Cooperation (Reserved) – 1 Access Slot

Major Explosive Recuperation (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Major Healing Assistant (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Secondary Spiritual Spells:

Major Enthrall (Channeled) – 1 Access Slot

Major Subjugation Aura (Reserved) – 1 Access Slot

Major Sacrificial Backlash Aura (Reserved) – 1 Access Slot

Major Spiritual Absorption (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Major Enthrallment Infection (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Major Willful Concealment (Channeled) – 2 Access Slots

Major Enthralling Call (Channeled) – 2 Access Slots

Major Commanding Presence (Reserved) – 2 Access Slots

Access Slots: 290

Competencies:

Support Spellcasting Competency (Level 34,856, 15%)

·                     Ready to Go

·                     Extracurricular Toys

·                     Afterglow

·                     Strongest Healing

·                     Faster Healing

·                     Group Healing

·                     Delayed Satisfaction

Defensive Spellcasting Competency (Level 34,228, 78%)

·                     Hardest Protection

·                     Thickest Protection

·                     Faster Protection

·                     Double Team

Spiritual Spellcasting Competency (Level 4,318, 39%)

·                     Ultimate Spiritual Domination

·                     Haunted Nemesis

·                     Karmic Balance

·                     Spiritual Connection

·                     Sadistic Group Play

Natural Regeneration Competency (Level 581, 55%)

·                     Goes Both Ways

·                     Firmest Regeneration

Emboldened Leadership Competency (Level 1,413, 40%)

·                     Silent Voyeur

·                     Rubbing Off

·                     Lucky in Love

·                     Indecent Proposal

·                     Compatible Chemistry

Psychic Resiliency Competency (Level 2,095, 33%)

·                     Hardened Heart

·                     Size Matters

·                     Psychic Edging

·                     Emotional Baggage

·                     Missed Connection

Mana Assassin Competency (N/A)

Mana Management Competency (N/A)

Achievements:

Why Aren’t You A Control Class? I

Why Aren’t You A Control Class? II

Why Aren’t You A Control Class? III (WF)

Why Aren’t You A Control Class? IV (WF)

Why Aren’t You A Control Class? V (WF)

Why Aren’t You A Control Class? VI (WF)

Dungeon Clearance I

Dungeon Clearance II

Lone Wolf I

Lone Wolf II

Lone Wolf III

Punching Up I

Punching Up II

Punching Up III

Punching Up IV

Punching Up V

Obey Me I

Obey Me II

Teamwork I

Teamwork II

Teamwork III

Teamwork IV

Teamwork V

Defensive Powerhouse I

Defensive Powerhouse II

Defensive Powerhouse III

Bonus Traits:

All single-target spells can now target anyone (From Fortunate Catastrophe)

You can now choose to have all single-target spells affect all allies, all hostile targets, or all targets within 180 feet of your location with a 100% increase in effectiveness (From Fortunate Catastrophe)

All existing wide-area spells and effects now have their effectiveness and range increased by 300% (From Fortunate Catastrophe)

All spells have their effectiveness increased by 50% (From Fortunate Catastrophe)

Fortuity is increased by 300% while in combat and for 30 seconds after combat is concluded (From Fortunate Catastrophe)

Fortuity will now have a visible, tangible effect when facing hostile targets 90+ Levels higher than the Fortunate Catastrophe (From Fortunate Catastrophe)

Allies within 900 feet of the Fortunate Catastrophe receive a 50% boost to their own Fortuity, but take 50% more damage (From Fortunate Catastrophe)

All hostile targets within 3 miles are drawn to the Fortunate Catastrophe and will ignore any allied targets not engaged in direct contact with those hostile targets (From Fortunate Catastrophe)

Any allied deaths within 3 miles of the Fortunate Catastrophe cumulatively increase the Fortunate Catastrophe’s Fortuity by 30% (From Fortunate Catastrophe)

All rewards are increased by 30%, including from Quests completed and Achievements earned; however, there is a Fortuity/1,000 % chance that rewards will be increased by 300%

Each spell cast by the Fortunate Catastrophe has a Fortuity/5,000 % chance to double in effectiveness; when a spell is doubled in effectiveness, the chance will trigger again, thereby quadrupling the original spell’s effectiveness; this process can be triggered up to 9 times in a row (From Fortunate Catastrophe)

All controlled targets will instantly recover 10% of all damage taken as a Support-based healing effect (From Thrall Commander)

There is a Fortuity/50 % chance that all automatic healing is reflected as magical damage upon the source of the original damage (From Thrall Commander)

+39% success increase to any spell or ability where Personality reflects the outcome (From Why Aren’t You A Control Class? V)

All controlled targets automatically deal 60% more damage and have a 60% reduction in damage done to them (From Why Aren’t You A Control Class? VI)

+39% to damage inflicted to all hostile targets of higher Level than Party (From Punching Up V)

Equipment:

Ruby Amulet of Abundant Health

Rarity: Uncommon

Class Restrictions: All

Level Restriction: 20

+9 Physicality

+18% increase to all healing both given and received

Bronze Armlet of All Defense

Rarity: Uncommon

Class Restrictions: All

Level Restriction: 30

+3 Physicality

+3 Celerity

+3 Mentality

All damage received is reduced by 3%

Silver Ring of the Placid Mind

Rarity: Rare

Class Restrictions: Control, Support

Level Restriction: 22

+9 Mentality

+5 Personality

+9% increase in all spell casting speed

+3% reduction in all spell cooldowns

Focus Stone of the Supportive Healer

Rarity: Rare

Class Restrictions: Support

Level Restriction: 28

+9 Mentality

+6 Celerity

+6% increase in Support spell effectiveness

+3% reduction in all healing spell Mana cost

Black Manaweave Robe of Concentration (+CAMP)

Rarity: Rare

Class Restrictions: Support

Level Restriction: 30

Physical Damage Resistance: 4 (20)

Magical Damage Resistance: 12 (60)

+15 (+75) Mentality

+5 (+25) Celerity

+2 (+10) Mentality

+2 (+10) Personality

+2 (+10) Fortuity

+3% (+15%) Reduction in Support spell Mana cost

Dark Grey Infused Hide Boots of Swiftness

Rarity: Rare

Class Restrictions: Support

Level Restriction: 30

Physical Damage Resistance: 5

Magical Damage Resistance: 8

+5 Mentality

+15 Celerity

+18% Increase in Support spell casting speed

Black Manaweave Gloves of Manipulation

Rarity: Rare

Class Restrictions: Support

Level Restriction: 30

Physical Damage Resistance: 2

Magical Damage Resistance: 9

+20 Mentality

+9% increase in Support spell effectiveness

Gold-threaded Manaweave Belt of Healing

Rarity: Rare

Class Restrictions: Support

Level Restriction: 30

Physical Damage Resistance: 1

Magical Damage Resistance: 2

+10 Mentality

+10 Celerity

+30% increase to healing from spells and effects

Grey-striped Black Manaweave Cape of Protection

Rarity: Rare

Class Restrictions: Support

Level Restriction: 30

Physical Damage Resistance: 1

Magical Damage Resistance: 3

+5 Physicality

+5 Celerity

+5 Mentality

+3% Reduction in all damage taken

Black Manaweave Beret of Enduring

Rarity: Rare

Class Restrictions: Support

Level Restriction: 30

Physical Damage Resistance: 1

Magical Damage Resistance: 4

+15 Mentality

+5 Celerity

+18% increase in Support spell duration

Dark-grey Manaweave Mask of Sight

Rarity: Rare

Class Restrictions: Support

Level Restriction: 30

Physical Damage Resistance: 0

Magical Damage Resistance: 1

+10 Mentality

+18% increase in Support spell range

Condensed Adaptable Mimicry Plate

Rarity: Artifact

Imprinted User Restriction: Thaden

Level Restriction: 2

Durability: Indestructible

Usage Limit: None

Special Properties: Growth

Can be attached to and unattached from any non-consumable item to mimic and quintuplicate all of its effects

Adds +2 Mentality, Personality, and Fortuity to any item it is attached to

Additional effects can be unlocked upon the growth of the Condensed Adaptable Mimicry Plate

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 41

Chapter 41

“Sadia?  Are you back yet?”

Thaden rubbed at his eyes, wiping the sleep out of them before he stretched his arms above his head, feeling pleasantly rested for the first time in what felt like years.  He opened his eyes, hoping to see his squirrel companion nearby, but there was no response.  Looking out the window, he deduced that it had only been about 10 hours since the battle outside the walls of Teglir, so he probably had to wait another few hours until she was back.  Even now, he could feel a tiny thread of System energy slowly filling the CAMP that was placed on his now-repaired but still dirty robe, showing that it was at work recharging Sadia’s home so that she could come back out.

Stomach growling, he decided not to leave the room quite yet, for a couple of reasons.  First, he really didn’t want to walk all the way down to one of the few restaurants catering to Adventurers, as he felt like being a bit lazy for the moment.  Second, and more importantly, he hadn’t forgotten what had just happened during the battle when Sadia had been temporarily killed.  Everyone on the walls saw him almost single-handedly dismantle the monster army that had attacked, and he was sure that he would gain more attention than he was comfortable with for his actions – both good and bad.  For the moment, he’d rather avoid any of that, so he pulled out some of his stored food from his Inventory and ate alone in his room. 

While he was looking through his Inventory, he noticed that it was a bit more full than it had been after he had emptied it of all the stuff he’d picked up from the Wild Flower Dungeon.  It wasn’t bursting at the seams, but there were quite a few items that he’d obviously picked up defending himself from the Gorams that attacked.  A quick glance through it showed that most of it was a bunch of crafting materials, though there were some pieces of equipment that ranged from Level 20 to 28 that likely came from the Charging Goram, more that was Level 45 to 50 dropped by the Assault Goram, a few that were Level 80 to 90 from the Behemoths, and a single pair of boots for someone Level 250 which obviously came from one of the Colossi.  A brief perusal showed that none of them were for Support Classes, which barely shocked him anymore given how unlikely Support loot had been so far. 

But if he didn’t get much he could use, he might be able to buy it, because his Gold total had jumped up to just over 4,000, which was an incredible amount compared to what he had before.  

Yet, all of his loot and money he’d acquired didn’t sound like a lot compared to how many of the monsters he’d killed, which he estimated numbered in the hundreds of thousands.  Granted, there were only a few dozen of the larger Colossi, but there were so many of the others that he – and his Raid Party, as they would undoubtedly take their share – figured he’d be, if not a millionaire, then at least have something like 100 times more than he actually did have in his Inventory.

It was a mystery, and he hoped that his messages had an answer for him.  Before he opened them, however, as he was expecting his feed to be a significantly impactful experience, perhaps even knocking him out, he finished his quick meal and used the bathroom, taking a shower and relieving himself of everything dirty, inside and out.  Approximately 30 minutes later, he came back to his bed, threw off the soiled blanket on top, and laid back down on the clean sheets, as he’d simply fallen on top of the blanket when he arrived after the battle.

With a deep breath, Thaden braced himself to be bombarded with a million messages and waves of PICK energy, hoping that he would be able to hold on long enough that he didn’t pass out, because that was always a very disorienting experience.  He also hoped it wasn’t too painful, as that kind of thing tended to linger and made it difficult to understand what he was reading until the pain went away.

He opened his messages…

…and while he was flooded with PICK and his body went through some extremely painful changes as his stats significantly changed even more than last time, the onslaught of messages didn’t manifest.  He quickly figured out why that was after he recovered from the changes.

You have been detected participating in the defense of the city Teglir inside the Aroxis Empire, part of the Densartis Faction, against an enemy that severely overshadows the current defenses.  Reward restrictions regarding Level disparity are temporarily suspended, and all rewards will be evenly distributed among all 108,437 participants until the end of the conflict. 

You have now joined the Teglir City Defense Force.  

Current average Level of 108,437 participants: Level 44

This message was the first one on his feed, which he estimated had arrived as soon as the first Charging Goram was killed.  It seemed as though being part of a Raid Party didn’t actually matter other than for coordination, as the rewards for the entire battle weren’t going to go to just the Raid Party, but the entire “Teglir City Defense Force” – whatever that was.  It was the first time he’d ever heard of such a thing, as he didn’t remember anything like it on Tarth, but he supposed that it made sense on a world that was perpetually in conflict with both monsters and other Factions in one way or another. 

That didn’t eliminate the sting of losing out on all the PICK and overflowing Inventories that he and his Raid Party would’ve had if it hadn’t been shared with over 100,000 people.  Once he was fairly certain he understood what was going on, he continued reading his messages, expecting to see a million “monster slain” messages, but apparently that wasn’t necessary for the “Teglir City Defense Force” that had been set up.  Instead, all he received was a summary of what had happened, including the destruction of his companion, which he had to admit was a bit of a letdown after everything that had occurred.

Unfortunately, your SADIA has been temporarily obliterated and is currently reconstituting within your Condensed Adaptable Mimicry Plates.  As a warning, the level of destruction inflicted upon your SADIA’s physical form may require longer than the standard 24 hours for full stabilization. 

Congratulations!

The Teglir City Defense Force has succeeded in repelling the attacking army of monsters!

Battle Results:

Participant Casualties: 11

Civilian Casualties: 6

Buildings Damaged: 1

Charging Goram (Level 34) killed X592,400 = 59,240 (77,012) PICK rewarded to each participant

Assault Goram (Level 60) killed X36,300 = 72,600 (94,380) PICK rewarded to each participant

Behemoth Goram (Level 105) killed X950 = 57,000 (74,100) PICK rewarded to each participant

Goram Colossus (Level 280) killed X44 = 44,000 (57,200) PICK rewarded to each participant

Your Raid Party Teglir City Defense Force Contribution: 99.63% (#1)

Looking at the sheer numbers of monsters that had been killed, he almost couldn’t believe he had survived against so many of them.  It was also extremely disappointing to see how much PICK he’d earned from killing them, as it appeared he’d only received 0.1 PICK per Charging Goram, 2.0 PICK from each Assault Goram, 60.0 PICK per Behemoth Goram, and the Goram Colossi were only worth 1,000.0 PICK despite them being so much higher of a Level than everyone present.  He assumed that this was all due to the PICK being shared between a little over 100,000 people, which he didn’t think was right; for all of that work, he only earned a little over 300,000 PICK when he added up the totals he received from his 30% reward increase from Fortunate Catastrophe.  In comparison, clearing the Wild Flower Dungeon had given him around 166,000 PICK – so he thought he should’ve earned quite a bit more than this from such an epic battle.

Of course, the PICK he’d earned from this whole Teglir City Defense Force situation and the monsters that were killed weren’t the end of his messages. 

You have completed the minimum completion requirements for your assigned SPECIAL Quest!

You have received 5 gold, 1000.0 PICK, and 30 Rank Progress up to Gold Coalition Rank!

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

You have received 6 gold, 45 silver, 1,300.0 PICK, and 39 Rank Progress up to Gold Coalition Rank!

The Teglir City Defense Force has been dissolved.

He had completed the SPECIAL Quest by killing all of the monsters threatening the city, though only the minimum requirements because some people had died and a single building had been damaged.  That didn’t really matter all that much to him, though, because the increased rewards for a full completion weren’t that impressive.  He also noted that it was only when the Quest was completed that the Teglir City Defense Force finally dissolved, meaning that he wasn’t part of it any longer.

Next was his Competency increases, which had many of them being greatly affected because of the fight against hundreds of thousands of monsters.

Spiritual Spellcasting Competency has increased to Level 2,232!

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

Spiritual Spellcasting Competency has increased to Level 4,318!

Support Spellcasting Competency has increased to Level 32,003!

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

Support Spellcasting Competency has increased to Level 34,856!

Natural Regeneration Competency has increased to Level 459!

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

Natural Regeneration Competency has increased to Level 581!

Emboldened Leadership Competency has increased to Level 1,240!

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

Emboldened Leadership Competency has increased to Level 1,413!

There weren’t any increases that led to any additional Advancements this time, but it also reminded him that he hadn’t picked his newest Advancement for his Spiritual Spellcasting Competency that he’d earned from the Wild Flower Dungeon.  Everything had been just one thing after another since he’d acquired his new Evolved Class that he hadn’t had time to devote to looking at it, from shopping for new equipment to being captured by the Local Legion to fighting a battle against thousands of monsters looking to destroy the city.  He resolved to look soon, though he decided to wait until he Leveled-up some more and saw what kinds of spells he might unlock with his Thrall Commander Class.

Finally, what interested him more than all of the other messages came last: Achievements.

Congratulations for simultaneously controlling 1,200 or more monsters while as a Support Class!

Achievement received: Why Aren’t You A Control Class? VI

Bonus reward: 81,000.0 PICK, +300 Mentality, +600 Personality

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

Bonus reward: 105,300.0 PICK, +390 Mentality, +780 Personality

World First Achievement: All controlled targets automatically deal 15% more damage and have a 15% reduction in damage done to them, +900 Personality

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait chance activated!

World First Achievement: All controlled targets automatically deal 60% more damage and have a 60% reduction in damage done to them, +4,800 Personality

Congratulations for slaying a monster 30 or more Levels above your Raid Party’s average Level!

Achievement received: Teamwork I

Bonus reward: +3 to all stats

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

Bonus reward: +4 to all stats

Congratulations for slaying a monster 60 or more Levels above your Raid Party’s average Level!

Achievement received: Teamwork II

Bonus reward: +9 to all stats

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

Bonus reward: +12 to all stats

Congratulations for slaying a monster 90 or more Levels above your Raid Party’s average Level!

Achievement received: Teamwork III

Bonus reward: +30 to all stats

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

Bonus reward: +39 to all stats

Congratulations for slaying a monster 120 or more Levels above your Raid Party’s average Level!

Achievement received: Teamwork IV

Bonus reward: +90 to all stats

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

Bonus reward: +117 to all stats

Congratulations for slaying a monster 150 or more Levels above your Raid Party’s average Level!

Achievement received: Teamwork V

Bonus reward: +300 to all stats

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

Bonus reward: +390 to all stats

Congratulations for your Raid Party ranking #1 as part of a Defense Force numbering over 1,000 participants!

Achievement received: Defensive Powerhouse I

Bonus reward: 300 PICK, +10 Personality, +10 Fortuity

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

Bonus reward: 390 PICK, +13 Personality, +13 Fortuity

Congratulations for your Raid Party ranking #1 as part of a Defense Force numbering over 10,000 participants!

Achievement received: Defensive Powerhouse II

Bonus reward: 3,000 PICK, +30 Physicality, +30 Personality, +30 Fortuity

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

Bonus reward: 3,900 PICK, +39 Physicality, +39 Personality, +39 Fortuity

Congratulations for your Raid Party ranking #1 as part of a Defense Force numbering over 100,000 participants!

Achievement received: Defensive Powerhouse III

Bonus reward: 9,000 PICK, +90 to all stats

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

Bonus reward: 11,700 PICK, +117 to all stats

The Achievements from the battle were extensive, though they weren’t quite what he expected, either.  First, he received some brand-new Achievements that dealt with killing monsters above the average Level of his Raid Party, though apparently it stopped at its fifth tier, as 150 Levels higher seemed to be the limit of the Achievement.  Gaining increases to all of his stats was incredible, however, so he wasn’t sad about the new Achievement in the least.

Then there were a trio of Achievements for his Raid Party ranking #1 in contribution as part of a Defense Force, with each tier depending on how many participants there were.  It came with it even more PICK and stats, which he thought was great for an Achievement he hadn’t been expecting; it didn’t make up for the lost PICK from being part of the Defense Force in the first place, but it was a small consolation that he wasn’t going to refuse.

Lastly, he managed to unlock the sixth tier of Why Aren’t You A Control Class VI, which brought with it a World First Achievement bonus.  The original World First bonus had been a 15% increase in damage dealt and 15% decrease in damage received for all of his controlled targets, which was already amazing, but it became even better when his bonus trait chance triggered and increased his rewards by 300% instead of the normal 30%.  That ended up raising the damage dealt and damage received increases to 60%; dealing more damage was always nice, but being able to negate 60% of the damage his controlled targets received was practically god-like in effect.  He couldn’t wait to test it out.

And that was on top of gaining 4,800 points in his Personality stat – which was just ridiculous on its own.

In all, Thaden earned a total of:

·         569,192 PICK

·         +718 Physicality

·         +679 Celerity

·         +1069 Mentality

·         +6,311 Personality

·         +731 Fortuity

Thaden had essentially more than doubled all of his current stats other than Fortuity, and in one case—Personality—he had increased the stat by 700%.  He looked at his stats (and their totals when he had his equipment on) to see their new numbers, and he smiled to see how much they had increased in less than a week, where he’d been so weak that a stiff breeze could knock him down. 

Physicality – 1,258 (1,275)

Celerity – 1,102 (1,176)

Mentality – 1,680 (1,868)

Personality – 7,388  (7,405)

Fortuity – 1,579 (1,591)

But that wasn’t even all of the changes.  Before the battle, Thaden had consulted with Sadia and he finally consented to changing the allocation of PICK he earned to being a 75/25 split in between the CAMP and to his own PICK reserves, with the majority of it going toward his CAMP.  Unfortunately, it only affected the PICK he earned from killing monsters and not the Achievements where he’d earned more, but even so, 227,019 PICK had filtered into the CAMP, feeding its Growth.  As he took it off his robe, he looked closer at it and expected to be something like Level 20 or 30 by that point, but he was quickly disappointed when it appeared to have gone up a single Level.

Condensed Adaptable Mimicry Plate

Rarity: Artifact

Imprinted User Restriction: Thaden

Level Restriction: 2

Durability: Indestructible

Usage Limit: None

Special Properties: Growth

Can be attached to and unattached from any non-consumable item to mimic and quintuplicate all of its effects

Adds +2 Mentality, Personality, and Fortuity to any item it is attached to

Additional effects can be unlocked upon the growth of the Condensed Adaptable Mimicry Plate

At first, it didn’t seem like it was worth the PICK invested in the CAMP to allow it to grow to Level 2, if all it did was add +2 to Mentality, Personality, and Fortuity.  But then he looked at his stats again after placing the CAMP back on his robe and he realized that it added the bonus stats before the effects were quintupled by the Plate.  That meant it was essentially an extra +12 to the 3 stats; it still wasn’t a lot, but if that was what a single Level could give him, he was eager to see what higher Levels would do.

Now that he’d looked through all of his messages and experienced the changes to his body, Thaden found himself feeling sleepy again, so he decided to wait to make any decisions about Leveling up his Classes and picking Advancements for the next morning, when he could think clearly.  He curled up in his bed, quickly falling asleep, as the world kept moving around him.

                    *

Thaden woke up again for the second time in the last 6 hours, though this time it hadn’t been getting enough sleep that had awoken him.  Instead, it was the incessant magical beeping sound coming from the vicinity of his door that finally got him out of bed. 

Rubbing sleep from his eyes, he glanced outside of his window to see that dawn had come and gone a short time ago, so it was probably time for him to get up anyway and face the day.  After making sure he was at least somewhat alert by gently slapping his face a few times, Thaden walked to the door and pulled it open.

“There you are,” Eleria, the Coalition Branch Leader, said quickly as soon as he opened his door.  He took in her harried-looking appearance while also noticing that she had gained a pair of Levels since he’d seen her just after the battle, which was likely due to the rewards everyone had received.  He was still somewhat salty about the whole “Defense Force” thing, but he did his best to let it go since there wasn’t much he could do about it.

“Uh, hi—” he began to say, but she cut him off.

Pushing a cream and blue-striped envelope toward him, Thaden reflexively took it and stared at the Netherine who was staring back, clearly impatient with him.

“You need to get ready to go as quickly as you can.  You’ve been invited to meet with the Baron, and you can’t afford to be late.”

It took him a few seconds to process what she was saying, but he was still waking up, so he dumbly asked, “Invited?”

“Ordered is more like it, though it’s more politely worded than that.”  She shooed him toward his room.  “Now hurry, we can’t keep him waiting.  I’ll meet you downstairs in no more than 5 minutes.”  With that, she turned on her heel and practically disappeared, running down the hallway with incredible speed before turning the corner and out of his sight.

He slowly closed the door and stared at the “invitation” in his hand, which he was somewhat scared to open.  He’d never met a noble before, and didn’t really have any inclination to do so now, but he supposed that if he was going to be operating out of Teglir for at least a little longer, he needed to be on good terms with those who ran the city.  He was just worried about how much he could share with the Baron without getting himself in trouble, because he was sure the noble had more than a few questions for him.

I’d rather face down a few dozen Goram Colossi again than speak with a noble.

Shaking his head, he placed the invitation on the table instead of opening it right away, and instead proceeded to get himself ready for the day as quickly as he could.  Fortunately, he hadn’t really become too dirty since the night before, so he was ready to go in a matter of a couple of minutes.  With only the slightest bit of trepidation, he picked the invitation back up and headed to the door, taking a deep breath before he left his room. 

As he entered the hallway, on his way to meet with Eleria for his trip to meet Baron Veridoon, he attempted to calm his nerves by thinking:

“What’s the worst that could happen?”

The answer to that didn’t comfort him in the least.

The End of Book 1

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Thaden felt like a mountain was sitting on his back, keeping him squished against the dirt of the hole he’d found himself in not too long before.  Unable to see anything going on around him, he slowly crawled up the side of the hole, the effort involved just as colossal as the size of the monsters forcing their Level Compression down on him.  He had almost entirely forgotten about the annoying phenomenon, as he hadn’t encountered it yet on Plangea, but he could only assume that the rules on this planet was different than Tarth, and there was a threshold a monster had to top in order for it to affect him.

And it was greatly affecting him at the moment.

As he pulled himself to the edge of the hole, which had been formed by the explosion of hundreds of energy beams all converging on him that came from the Behemoth Gorams, he knew he was lucky to be alive.  It was only when he saw them charging up that he made the decision to drop Celestial Spiritual Enhancement Aura activate Major Damage Transfer, which took a few seconds, but it happened just barely in time.  When the beams hit him, all of the damage was transferred to his controlled targets, as it seemed as though his bonuses allowed a full 100% of the damage he took shunted off of him, divided equally among those he controlled.  Unfortunately, Sadia hadn’t been similarly covered for some reason, perhaps because the spell didn’t consider her to be part of his actual Party, and so had been destroyed in the subsequent explosion.  He was sure that there was a note in his messages that would tell him that it would take another 12 hours or so before she could reform, but there was no way he was going to open them at that point; he didn’t need the distractions opening his messages would inevitably cause.

Regardless, she wasn’t dead forever, only for a short time.  As long as he survived, of course, which was looking less likely by the moment.

When he could finally see out of the hole by turning his head through monumental effort, he saw the closest Goram Colossus approaching at incredible speed, looking like a small mountain being tossed at him by a giant.  There’s no way I can survive that, even if my minions can manage to kill it quickly.  He was immediately expecting it to run over them, stomping him into Thaden-jelly with a foot that was as wide as an ancient sequoia tree.  Even with his high Health, he had no real defenses against the amount of damage that would inflict upon him, as the amount of damage he would take was essentially the inverse of how much damage he could do to it.  It wasn’t quite that bad, though, because while he might only be able to do a fraction of a percent of his normal damage to the enormous Goram, it would probably do 10 times its normal damage output to him because of the Level differential.

It was only when Thaden began to see a greenish fog filling the air around him that he began to have some hope.  While he hadn’t seen it before on Plangea, he knew exactly what it was because it had shown up on Tarth when he was facing the World Bosses.  In short, it was the manifestation of one of his Fortunate Catastrophe traits:

Fortuity will now have a visible, tangible effect when facing hostile targets 90+ Levels higher than the Fortunate Catastrophe

His Fortuity was now playing an active role in the fight, and he watched in glee as a part of the greenish fog coalesced around the rushing Goram Colossus’ front legs, condensing just long enough to trip it.  He watched as it fell head over heels, slamming into and crushing around 100 of his controlled minions, who all leeched Health from it simultaneously, while also reflecting 10% of the damage they took as magical damage thanks to a Thrall Commander trait, killing it instantly.  He couldn’t see it fly off behind him, as he couldn’t turn his head in time, but he winced as he heard it hit something in the city, hoping that it didn’t hurt anyone.  Unfortunately, he felt a few people in his Raid Party wink out of existence shortly thereafter, though he couldn’t right away who it was.

Instead, his attention was on his crushed minions, who all appeared to make a full recovery despite being splattered along the ground, as their automatic healing and Major Healing Assistant played a role in bringing them back up to full Health, as well as the ongoing Celestial Regeneration that was still active for a little while longer.

With them back in action, Thaden just hoped that they would be enough as two more of the Goram Colossi approached, running next to each other as if they were in a race.  He saw his Fortuity in action once again, as a subtle push on the leg of one of the running Colossi caused it to swerve into the other, causing them to tumble away, crashing into three others that were rushing from another direction.  All 5 of them hit with such force that it shook the ground even more than it already was, and the overlapping cracks that occurred from the impacts deafened him for a few seconds before the deafness faded.  He wasn’t sure if they had killed each other, as he couldn’t see where they ended up, but he was fairly sure that they were hurt enough that they wouldn’t be back in the fight anytime soon.

He turned his head just in time to see yet another approaching Goram Colossus trip as its left legs seemed to give out, though instead of tumbling end over end, it fell to the side and slide 1,000 feet, just barely missing his minions as it slid past.  Before it got too far and was able to get up, he sent 100 of them to leech Health from it, hoping that it would be enough to finish it off. 

Before he could refocus on something else, two Colossi appeared from different directions, so intent on reaching Thaden that they didn’t appear to see each other.  As they both took a step that squished a good dozen of his minions, who leached Health from them in the process, they dove toward him simultaneously, colliding mid-air above him, missing him by about 10 feet.  The once-again deafening shockwave from the impact sent him rolling a few feet, lifting him further out of the hole, and in the process he watched as the Colossi rebounded backwards from the collision, both of them with broken bodies that might have been enough to kill them even without any Health being leeched from them.

The carnage continued, as the spread-out Colossi arrived singly, in doubles, or even in triplicate, but all of them suffered some sort of catastrophic failure in their attack.  He observed as one of them attempted to swerve to avoid the corpse of another Colossus, only to accidentally clip it with the side of its head, which was just enough to make it turn into the path of a second rushing Collosi, which T-boned it so hard that it was ripped in half.  The blood that shot out from the destructive collision shot out toward a duo of Colossi, causing both of them to slip in mid-stride, causing them to flip upside down and land on their backs with ground-shaking force—right next to and in easy reach of his minions.

A comedy of errors absolutely devastated the entire contingent of Goram Colossi that attempted to attack him, with all of them either ending up so hurt that they couldn’t even get up or were killed outright, leaving only a handful left to eliminate.  As he counted only 3 of them left rushing toward him, he was able to sit upright and get to his knees as he watched 2 of them stumble over each other, only to recover a few steps later as the greenish fog that was his manifestation of Fortuity began to disperse, as if it was spent.  His heart caught in his throat as he witnessed the pair barreling down on him, only to relax slightly as they slammed into a Colossus corpse in their way, causing their momentum to reduce significantly, to the point where they were barely at a walk when they arrived at his perimeter of Charging Gorams a second later.  Thaden immediately had his minions swarm the 2 Colossi, leeching enough Health to take them down before they could build up enough steam to crush him.

Unfortunately, that didn’t help with the final Goram Colossus that was coming from the other direction.  With just the one monster pressing down on him with its Level Compression, Thaden was able to actually get to his feet, if still hunched over by the pressure, so he turned toward the last monster that was threatening to kill him.  Which meant that he watched in horror as the final Colossus leaped over the corpse of another one of its kind, sailing through the air and bypassing the perimeter of his controlled monsters.  He saw his death coming as its head came down like a nuclear bomb being dropped on him, and while he attempted to throw himself out of the way, it was more like he simply flopped over on his side.  The world was filled with pain as he felt himself smashed into the ground, the impact nearly making him black out entirely.

Fortunately, or unfortunately as it was, he was forced to feel all the pain as he felt his minions take the brunt of the damage thanks to Major Damage Transfer, but even that wasn’t enough to prevent all of it.  His connection to them snapped all at once, each one of them taking enough damage to kill them, despite the automatic healing; in an instant, all of his Minions were dead, he was severely hurt, and somehow his Fortuity had abandoned him – because the Goram Colossus wasn’t dead from the damage reflection via his Thrall Commander trait.

The monster tumbled away after the impact with him, though he could barely tell what was going on because he was in so much pain.  Fortunately, his Celestial Regeneration was still active, so his body was put together a few seconds later, but he still groaned as he pushed himself up from the new hole that had been created underneath him.  As he managed to crawl to his knees, forcing the Level Compression aside – he looked up to see the Fighters that had been protecting him struggling to move toward him with varying degrees of success; for the first time, he noticed that Zarin wasn’t with them, the 6-armed Heliothrope completely absent – and completely absent from the Raid Party, as well. 

Did he leave?  Wait, are they all gone?

The entire Local Legion was absent from the Raid Party, but he didn’t have a chance to investigate as he watched the last remaining Colossus scramble to its feet, appearing much slower and near death, but it was still strong enough to kill him.  That was obvious enough when it started moving toward him, and he looked around for a solution, debating for a moment whether he could use the Fighters near him somehow as minions, but discarded that thought immediately; the only way they could deal enough damage to kill the Colossus was if he used Dominate Spirit, and while he would absolutely do that to save their lives, he didn’t have enough time to cast it.

“Run!  We’ll… hold it off,” Rel’ba’shet forced out between heavy breaths, even as he practically collapsed near Thaden.    

Unfortunately, he knew that wasn’t going to help.  He couldn’t run fast or far enough to escape the massive monster, who would hunt him down with unceasing and single-minded focus.  Shaking his head as he searched for a solution, he tried to see if there were any more Goram anywhere he could throw in its way, but the only things left on the battlefield were himself, the 5 Fighters still with him, and the corpses of the Colossi that had already died.  Ideally, he would love to use Celestial Reanimation on one of them for a powerful minion, but there were two problems with that; first, the spell had a lengthy cast time, which he didn’t have time for, and second, even if he had the time, there was a limit to how high the Level of the corpse could be.  He though he might be able to reanimate the Behemoth Goram if there were still any around, but they had all been extracted and had subsequently disappeared, so he was out of luck.

The Level Compression pushed down on him even further as he watched his doom stumbling toward him, preparing to squash him and the Fighters arranged around him, and he closed his eyes, knowing that this was it.  He had no other way to deal damage, and the Fighters could barely even sit up at that point.

Well, I tried….

A few seconds before he expected to be squished for the final time, he heard someone shout, “NOW!”, which caused him to open his eyes just in time to see a barrage of spells and projectiles slam into the side of the Colossus, appearing to do very little damage, but it was enough to send it stumbling even further to the side.  Thaden looked over toward the walls to see that thousands of Adventurers and combat Classes had jumped down and approached as close that they could with the Level Compression pressing down on them, despite the danger of being so close to the powerful monster. 

The Colossus recovered, ignoring the attacks, and locked back onto Thaden, taking a few more steps in his direction even as it continued to take miniscule amounts of damage from the low-Level defenders.  However, even though each of them were only doing a fraction of what they would normally do because of the Colossus’ high Level, there were thousands of casters and long-range weaponry being sent against it.  As it took the last few steps toward Thaden, he stared in horror as it lifted one more foot to stomp down on him…

…only to freeze approximately 20 feet above his head.  The final Goram Colossus slowly tilted to the side, its Health completely depleted from the incessant barrage of attacks coming from the defenders who had left the safety of the walls, and Thaden shook along with what felt like the rest of the world as the monster impacted the ground, sending out a dramatic cloud of dust and spray of dirt as it obliterated the field that would take a long time to rehabilitate after all the damage that it had taken.

Silence, which felt strange and foreign after the battlefield had been filled with the incessant pounding of giant feet against the ground, reigned for all of 10 seconds as the dust settled, before he was nearly knocked off his feet when the defenders suddenly erupted in a cheer that rivaled some of the heaviest impacts that had deafened him earlier.  Getting fully to his feet and standing straight up, he helped Rel’ba’shet to his feet, as well, before absently clapping the Aelveen on the shoulder.

“Thanks, Rel.  That was… too close.”

He also thanked the other Fighters that had been in the heart of the fight with him, but they simply stared at him as if he was some sort of star-studded celebrity.  Or perhaps if he was some sort of god that had descended from the heavens.  It wasn’t fear, thankfully, more like wonder, awe, and confusion all wrapped up in one messy package, and while he didn’t necessarily like it, he thought it was at least better than them being afraid of him.

Turning to the Adventurers and other combat Classes that had participated in the defense, and had come to his aid at the end, he wasn’t surprised to see the Teglir Branch Leader, Eleria, emerge from the still-cheering crowd, flanked by Flarenia and Lovenia.  He was fairly certain that it had been her voice that had shouted “NOW,” earlier, so he had her to somewhat thank for the rescue.

Eleria and the twins walked toward him, stopping about 10 feet away, which was close enough to be heard over the celebration going on behind them.  “So, I guess I was wrong about you,” the older Netherine began with, while shaking her head.  “I had you pegged for running at the first sign that you couldn’t win, but I was mistaken.  Perhaps you really did earn that Coalition Rank, after all.”

He shrugged, the exhaustion he suddenly felt after the stressful battle hitting him down to the bone. 

“I don’t know how you did it, but you managed to fight off almost the entirety of the monster horde by yourself, with very few casualties in the process.”

“Casualties?” he asked.  “Who died?”

The Coalition leader pointed down the wall.  “We had a few deaths earlier on by those who were a little overzealous in their defense, but they were fortunately able to be Resurrected shortly thereafter.  I’ve heard that there were a few deaths among the residents of the city, but they should be able to be Resurrected, as well.  The damage the city took can be repaired, as well, but the real loss is going to be the members of the Local Legion that participated in the battle.”

“Really?  I noticed they were gone from my Raid Party, but wasn’t sure what happened to them.”

Even though he was tired, he didn’t miss the way Eleria prevented the grin that threatened to emerge on her face.  “One of the Goram Colossi flipped over you, slammed into the standing Local Legion Party as it passed over the wall – who I personally heard were planning on leaving once they thought you were going to lose – and were taken far away as the monster ricocheted off some buildings and disappeared into the distance.  It’s possible that we might be able to resurrect them, if we can find out where they ended up, but let’s just say that it isn’t a priority right now.  It’s our duty to ensure that the city is safe first, which could take hours before we know that there is no longer any danger.  You understand, I’m sure.”

Thaden gave a single laugh, before nodding.

“You know, it’s quite fortunate that the only permanent deaths that came from this entire attack were the same individuals who were investigating you, wouldn’t you say?”

Thaden didn’t say anything in response, as he simply looked at her, as if inviting her to accuse him of something.

She held up her hands as she said, “Not that I’m blaming you or anything, as you’re the hero of the day, and no one could possibly believe that you could be anything but the hero at this point.  We all saw what you did, after all – which was the most impossibly incredible thing that I’ve ever seen.  The description of your abilities by my great-granddaughters do not do you justice, as you’re even more powerful than anyone could’ve guessed, including myself.  I want to officially apologizing for doubting you, and I heartfully extend my help toward anything that you might need in the future.”

The sincerity in her voice felt real, but he was so tired by that point that he couldn’t do anything but nod in confirmation. 

“But enough of that.  Once we confirm that the threat has passed, the Quest that was shared with everyone will have been completed, and you’ll officially be the talk of the city – for good or ill.  I’m sure the Baron will want to meet the one who saved Teglir from destruction, but that can wait.  For now, you look like you’ve been run over by a parade of mountains and are about to fall asleep on your feet.  Flarenia, Lovenia,” she said, addressing her great-grandchildren, “if you would, could you take our hero here back to his room in the Coalition?”

“Absolutely.  He’s our friend, after all,” Flarenia said without any trace of irony. 

Great, that again.  Whatever, it’s too much to worry about now.

As he was led away, Thaden glanced around at the torn up and destroyed battlefield, surprised beyond everything that he’d actually managed to survive.  Not only that, but it seemed like his problem with the Local Legion had “fortunately” been taken care of, though it wasn’t really the way he would’ve deliberately chosen if he had a choice.  At least, he hoped it had been taken care of; he was sure that their deaths would have some sort of consequences, even if he didn’t know enough to guess what those consequences would be.

Thaden barely remembered his trip back through the city to the Coalition building, nor did he remember much of the twins dropping him off at his room.  He did remember seeing his bed, and before he could even think of changing out of his dirty and blood-stained gear, he fell on top of its soft surface and passed out with a relieved smile on his face, happy to have survived yet another absolutely wild day on Plangea.   

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 39

Chapter 39

The Human was insane.  

At least, that was what she thought when he said he was going out in the middle of the fight with only a few Fighters to keep him safe.  Now, though, Bat’la’hera had to admit that he was much stronger than she expected – impossibly so.  Then again, she should’ve gathered that much since she met him back in Purbooth.

He survived the attack on Felith, whereas everyone else in the town had died.

If that wasn’t enough, he was confirmed to be a Platinum+ Rank in the Adventurer’s Coalition.

Then he somehow made it to a city hundreds of miles away in the same day, and supposedly gained 12 Levels on the journey.

That was on top of the 19 more Levels he’d earned the next day with a Party of similarly Leveled Adventurers.

All of that was hard to believe, but what was even more impossible to believe was how he had not only managed to cast spells while drained of Mana, which ended up taking control of a Party of Local Legion 100+ Levels higher than his own Level.

Yet, she’d seen it happen with her own eyes, and experienced the loss of control over not just her mind, but her entire body.  What surprised her somewhat was how he hadn’t tried to hurt them, despite their attempts to kill him, including a stab to the chest that Loc’ra’toda managed to get off before he was controlled by the Human’s spell, and he walked away as if it was nothing more than a minor flesh wound. 

That all led to his accuracy when it came to the impending assault on the city, which was equally impossible because there was no way this many monsters were allowed to escape the Front Lines, and especially not these specific breed of monsters.  Gorams were typically only seen when the Adversary made a push to break a fortification that pushed too far into its territory, and she’d never seen anywhere near the numbers that had swept in to attack Teglir.

She still thought that the Human had something to do with it, despite his claim that he was sent to investigate why it was happening, but she also had absolutely no proof other than his mere presence at the sites where it happened.  Some more interrogation was needed to get the answers she needed, though this time they would be taking precautions with extra psychic resistances and immunities, similar to Darvo – as the Orbrion had been the only one that hadn’t been controlled like the others.  She had been tempted to immediately kill him once they located him after being freed from whatever spell they had been put under as he left, but the fact that he hadn’t taken the opportunity to actually harm them, as well as the sudden warning of the attack, had led to her changing her mind.

She was glad she had, too, after finding him on the wall and learning that he not only had a Competency that was extremely rare, to the point where she’d only heard of a handful of individuals possessing it, not just in the Faction, but through the whole world of Plangea, but had it an incredibly high Level.  The bonuses she gained from simply him being the Raid Party leader made her and the other Legionnaires even more powerful, but that was apparently nothing to what the Human could do.

She had to admit that she had been skeptical of his seemingly suicidal plan to jump down and head into the heart of the enemy, but she had also been curious if he was actually that confident – or simply insane.  What shocked her the most, however, was how – as soon as he touched the ground outside the walls – all of the attacking Gorams suddenly stopped and turned toward him.  It was almost as if they knew that he was a danger to them… or perhaps they suddenly located their objective in attacking the city in the first place.  It was yet another clue in why this was happening to Teglir, as well as why it had happened to Felith, but she couldn’t quite make out the connections between them all yet.

It was a question for later, however, because they had to survive the attack first – and she wasn’t sure they actually would, despite the Human’s initial successes.  She had nearly thought he’d died when he was overrun earlier, but somehow he’d added even more of the Charging Gorams to his control, which included what appeared to be the reanimated forms of those that had been killed earlier by their destructive defenses.  She wasn’t aware that he was also a Necromancer of some sort, though she supposed that reanimating corpses was similar enough to the control spells that he seemed to possess that it made sense.

Then again, he was also a Support Class, as evidenced by the fact that he’d shopped at Vital Support, which only catered to Support Classes – so there was no way he was a Necromancer, which was a Mage Class through and through.  In fact, his Class was such a mystery, as he had healing and buffing spells in addition to his controlling spells, the latter of which should’ve meant he was a Control Class similar to Darvo, but there were too many inconsistencies in her assumptions that she didn’t have any clue anymore.  The Human was an impossibility wrapped in an enigma, and she didn’t like what didn’t immediately make sense to her.  She’d been in the Local Legion for long enough that she thought she’d seen everything possible, but apparently she had been wrong.

Bat watched in reserved shock as the Human recovered from being overrun, before absolutely devastating everything that was heading toward him.  Around her, the defenders on the wall also stared in silence as the monsters no longer even paid attention to the city, as up and down the walls the Adventurers and higher-Level combat Classes stood and watched a single individual, who was only Level 34 in fact, defend himself from thousands of Charging Gorams attacking him every few seconds.  The 6 Fighters, including Zarin, who had shown off his skills earlier by slaughtering the Gorams with his typical ferocity, now simply stood next to the smaller figure amongst them, staying alert for any potential threats… but also appearing bored, of all things.  So too did the Human, as well as the strange large squirrel that appeared to be some sort of companion, as they vacantly stared at the dying Gorams that perished with a single touch against the Human’s controlled monsters.

It was the most bizarre battle she’d ever participated in, and she had been in quite a few strange battles throughout the years.  Never before had she seen a single person so completely dominate the field like this, except for when some of the elite Champions took the field against hordes of monsters on the Front Lines – though it was usually against monsters that were hundreds of Levels lower than them.  This Human was accomplishing this against literally hundreds of thousands of monsters that were a Level higher than his own. 

That complete domination continued as the Charging Goram dwindled in numbers, and the first of the Assault Goram, all of them Level 60, hit the perimeter of his controlled monsters, dying without a fight as soon as they ran into their smaller brethren.

“Alright, how does any of that make sense?  What in the world gives him this kind of power?  He’s a Support, for System’s sake!” Narden complained next to her, witnessing the same thing she was watching.  “He shouldn’t be able to kill any monsters, let alone an entire horde of them!” 

While he was complaining about what the Human was doing, Bat could hear the envy in the Legionnaire’s voice.  As a Support Class himself, the Charee had a plethora of different traits and spells that made him quite versatile and incredibly useful to the Party, but he would struggle to kill even a single one of the Charging Gorams by himself – just like pretty much any Support Class.  They weren’t there to fight the monsters themselves; they were meant to support those who do.

“I don’t know, Narden, but there’s definitely something strange about his entire existence,” she responded, folding her arms across her chest.  “Every moment there’s something new about him that doesn’t make sense, and I’m determined to find out what it’s all about.  He needs to survive before I can do that, and I’m greatly worried that he won’t with what’s coming up.”

She didn’t need to expand upon that statement, as everyone could see the danger heading toward the curious Support Class wiping out thousands of Gorams out on the battlefield like it was nothing. 

“Do you think he knows what those Behemoth Gorams can do?” Loc’ra’toda asked from her other side. 

Bat nodded.  “Most likely, as he seems quite confident.  We’ll find out in a few minutes, at least.”

Over the next few minutes, as thousands of Assault Gorams flung themselves at the Human in the middle of a perimeter of controlled monsters, some of them attempting to leap over the outer ranks of Goram blockers, only to fall far short of making it even halfway before they landed on one of the defenders and somehow dying instantly.  It was incredible to watch, even if it made no sense whatsoever, but the real test was only starting to arrive.

Hundreds of Behemoth Gorams began to converge on the Human’s defenses, arriving after the last few thousand of the Assault Gorams went to their deaths.  When the Behemoths were within 300 feet of the defenders, they came to a stop in synchronicity, before the reddish aura surrounding them began to intensify.  Even from a distance, Bat could feel the energy being condensed and amplified like an itch along her skin.  The Human could obviously feel the same, though when she saw the way he jerked in surprise, she gasped in shock.

“He doesn’t know!” she half-shouted, before she raised her voice.  “Be prepared to counterattack!  Ready defensive spells in case—”

It was too late to do anything to help him, unfortunately, as even as she was speaking, the Behemoth’s released their attacks all within a split-second of each other.  The condensed and amplified energy that each of the large Gorams had been charging was released in a powerful beam of destructive force from the top of their heads that was capable of punching through stone fortifications.  At a foot wide, the Behemoth Gorams typically used their beam attack to make a hole in the defenses that they were about to slam into, like a pilot hole for a hand-drill, and there was very little that mundane or even lightly enchanted stone could do to stop it.  This time, though, it wasn’t directed toward the walls, but was instead targeting a single Human standing with his mouth open in surprise or shock.  If the way they deliberately focused on just the single individual rather than any of the other Fighters near him gave Bat yet another hint that they had come here for him – though the why of it still eluded her.

He’s dead.  Even with a higher maximum Health, he can’t stand up to that many beams, she thought, even as every single long-range attack converged on him, having passed over the forms of the Assault Gorams ahead of them and the defending controlled monsters without touching any of them.  The Human was so frozen in fear that he didn’t even try to dodge or move, and they all hit him within a split-second of each other, with the convergence of energy creating a blinding explosion of force that sent a shockwave that pushed those on the walls back a little, eliciting a series of shocked screams that was only emphasized by the fact that everyone who had been watching was at least slightly blinded from the flare of explosive energy.

Thankfully, Narden was easily able to heal her and everyone around her, clearing up her vision almost instantly, and she turned her attention to the devastated battlefield, saddened that Human had been killed—

Bat almost choked on her tongue as she saw the impossible Human standing there, completely unscathed with just his hair and clothing in slight disarray, looking around himself inside of a 10-foot-wide and 5-foot-deep crater with an annoyed and slightly sad expression on his face.  Somehow, he was still alive, and not only that, he was the only one still on his feet.  The explosion had sent Zarin and the other Fighters flying, tumbling away from the detonation of energy, but they had been standing far enough away that they appeared as if they were already recovering.  The Charging Gorams that the Human Controlled had also been flung away at least 100 feet, but they were already getting up and moving back to where they had been before.  The Assault Gorams that had been nearly at the perimeter of controlled monsters were flung away, though not quite as far; they were already back on their feet and were attempting to get to the Human before the defenses were reestablished.

Bat could see that dozens of them were within the perimeter and wouldn’t be stopped before they reached him.  “Fire!  Prevent them from reaching the center!” she shouted, and the recovering defenders upon the wall extended their longest-range spells to slow down and injure the Assault Gorams that were seconds away from reaching the defenseless Human in the center of the formation.  Zarin was also getting to his feet and was starting to slaughter those nearest him, but he was only one person and the other Fighters were still recovering.

Because the Assault Gorams were a higher Level compared to the Charging Gorams they’d been killing before, the deadly assault on them from the defenders wasn’t quite as deadly, but it still ended up being effective.  They killed a few of them, but the main intent was to slow them down so that the Human’s protectors could get back into place, and that was exactly what they did – and not a single one managed to reach him before his defenses were back in place.

“Ceasefire!  Hold!” she shouted, once she saw that he was going to be fine.

She still didn’t know how he hadn’t been obliterated by the convergence of red energy beams, as it seemed his squirrel companion that had been standing next to him had been; there was no trace of it, which he supposed might be the reason for the sad look on his face.  When she looked again, however, that expression was gone, only to be replaced by a narrowing of his eyes and a slight flaring of his nostrils.

Fortunately for him, the reddish aura around the Behemoth Gorams was gone, as all of the energy that powered their beams had been expended.  Bat had never learned how long it took for them to recover that energy, as either they didn’t live long enough for it to happen, or those fighting them were no longer around to see, but they wouldn’t be firing it again anytime soon.  Instead, they started running again, intent to smear the Human into paste when they reached him.

The controlled monsters recovered remarkably quickly, and despite the recent explosion, were reassembled into position to help eliminate the rest of the Assault Gorams that were still approaching.  Zarin and the rest spread out along the inner perimeter of the controlled monsters, their appearance showing that they had been injured but were now perfectly healthy and ready to defend against any other threats that might present themselves.

It was less than a minute before the first of the much-larger Behemoth Gorams arrived, each of their legs large enough to stomp the defending Charging Gorams into a pancake – and that was exactly what they did.  With one stomp, she watched as one of them flattened the controlled monsters underneath their powerful limbs until they disappeared from sight.  At the same time, the act of touching the defending monsters killed the Behemoth, causing it to tumble forward as its forward momentum wasn’t canceled along with its death, and it crushed at least a dozen more of them before it rolled to a stop. 

A second later, the stomped-on and crushed Charging Gorams popped back up, completely healed as if nothing had happened – just like the one who was controlling them.

Incredible.  Impossible.

Despite being able to crush the defending monsters, the Behemoth Gorams couldn’t get past the perimeter the Human had set up.  If they were able to sent out another destructive beam, they might have had a chance, but since they had already expended all of their energy, they weren’t able to get close to the Human, though a few of them got close enough that Zarin was within a dozen feet of them before they came to a stop.

But that wasn’t the threat that Bat’la’hera had been worrying about.  The wall shook under her feet as the Goram Colossi began closing the distance toward the ongoing battle, their size so intimidating that she could feel the pressure of their Level Compression even from so far away.  For those of a much lower Level than her, typically 100 Levels or so of a gap, the pressure was debilitating, and she could see it take effect on the people around her.  They grunted in pain as they dropped to their knees, attempting to stay upright, while some of the lowest Levels on the walls were already prone and couldn’t move from where they’d collapsed.

Level Compression was always intense, no how powerful one was, as the sheer presence and aura of a higher-Level monster pressed against the world around them, and for those who weren’t capable of standing up to it, the pressure was typically the death knell that signaled their demise.  It wasn’t necessarily the strength, speed, or even some special ability that a high-Level monster brought with it that led to so many Adventurers dying when facing powerful enemies; it was the fact that they were working at a disadvantage from the beginning in having to fight against the pressure of the monster’s simple presence that did them in.

Fortunately, constant exposure to it, as well as high stats, somewhat helped to alleviate some of the effects of Level Compression, though nothing was able to fully get rid of it.  Even for Bat’la’hera, she felt like a great weight had been placed upon her back, pushing down on her entire body, but she was able to ignore it for the most part.  In direct combat and proximity, she would be even more affected, but from this distance the pressure was more than manageable.

The same couldn’t be said for those just about to face the wrath of the Goram Colossi heading toward them.  Zarin was just barely on his feet, hunched over as he felt the pressure pushing down on him, while the other Fighters were already on the ground, unable to withstand the Level Compression.  The controlled monsters appeared entirely unaffected, or they simply couldn’t feel it; whatever the reason, they seemed perfectly fine.

As for the Human that held their fate in his hands, he was also on the ground in the middle of the explosion crater, though he was struggling to push himself upright.  She could see him gritting his teeth, pushing through the pain and pressure bearing down on him, and he had his eyes closed as if to block everything else out around him so he could focus on simply getting to his feet.  Unfortunately for him, it was a losing fight, and as dozens of the Goram Colossi stomped closer in their efforts to kill the Human, he sank down lower and lower, until he was flat on the ground, his face buried in the dirt and unable to move any further.  His body was probably going to feel like it was being crushed by the world falling onto him, though she’d never heard of anyone actually dying from Level Compression; they typically died when the high-Level monster reached them and they couldn’t fight back.

“We need to do something, Bat,” Narden said from next to her, his back hunched over from the pressure, trembling lightly as he strived to keep himself upright.

She nodded, knowing he was right, but the more she looked over the battlefield, the more it became obvious that there was nothing they could do.  It was possible that, if they had the help of every single Adventurer and combat Class on the wall, they might be able to kill one or two of the enormous Colossi.  Unfortunately, with pretty much all but her Local Legion Party incapacitated, as the closer that the monsters got to the city, the more they all appeared similar to the Human as the pressure pushed them to a prone position, they didn’t have even a sliver of a chance.  She could only hope that the Human’s controlled monsters were able to do enough damage to them, though with the Level gap between them, she wasn’t sure how that was even possible.

No, there’s no walking away from this.

A second after she nodded at Narden’s words, she shook her head.  “There’s nothing we can do,” she said softly, just loud enough to be heard over the ground-shaking stomps by the Colossi.  “Begin a strategic retreat.”

“What?  We can’t—”

“We’re not allowed to die here, Narden.  We have a mission, and we need to complete it above all else.  The city of Teglir is lost, and we’re not going to be lost along with it.”  She sent a private signal toward Zarin, who was just barely able to stand upright from the building Level Compression.  The Heliothrope hesitated for a half-second before he started moving toward the wall, the pressure becoming less the closer he moved away from the Human, until he was able to move at a fairly impressive clip. 

Knowing that he would catch up, she turned away, leading Narden, Loc’ra’toda, and Darvo as they stepped over or on the prone bodies in their way, as there wasn’t a lot of open space left to walk without stepping on someone.  He could somewhat feel the disapproval coming from her Party members, but none of them said anything to change her mind, knowing that her word was final when it came to decisions concerning their mission.

She was nearly to the stairs leading downward when she looked back out at the battlefield, seeing that all of the smaller Goram had been eliminated, leaving only the larger Colossi – and the first of them had nearly reached the perimeter of the controlled monsters.  She began to turn away, already knowing that the inevitable would happen, when she saw something that she didn’t understand. 

Running at full speed, the first Goram Colossus was approximately 100 feet away from touching the monsters when it seemed to stumble, flipping onto its head, slamming into approximately 100 of the Charging Gorams under the Human’s control, before it went flying in a tumble over the heads of the rest.  As her mouth opened wide in shock at the absolutely ridiculous circumstances that led to the monster tripping just before it crushed the Human and the remaining Fighter Classes, she saw that Zarin had managed to jump up to the top of the wall and rejoined the Party.  His facial expression was blank, likely blaming her for taking him away from the fight, but her eyes were on the flying Goram Colossus as it was coming straight toward them at incredible speed.

Bat’la’hera could do nothing but stare as the what appeared to be a gigantic corpse slammed into her entire upright Party, sweeping them off the wall without touching a single other person, and as she felt nearly all of the bones in her body shatter upon the impact, she couldn’t believe what was happening.  Smashed up against the head of the Colossus, she was barely cognizant enough to see that her entire Party around her was suffering from the same fate—

—and then the body of the monster slammed into a building she couldn’t see inside the city, which caused it to ricochet high up into the air.  Bat could only stare in helplessness as the ground suddenly fell away from her and the Colossus she was smeared up against, as they sailed over the entire city lengthwise.  Unable to move, and with her Health so low and still dropping from the severe damage that had been done to her body, she could only watch in horror as the body began to fall, desperately trying to extract loot from it before they hit the ground.  Unfortunately, it was too big to disappear quickly even after loot extraction, and so when she hit the ground with incredible force, almost the entire weight of the Colossus drove her—and her Party—into the ground, leaving nothing but a stain upon the fields that spread out all around them, future fertilizer for the crops that would be grown to feed the city.

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 38

Chapter 38

It didn’t take long before Thaden’s army of minions topped 50, and fairly soon after that it hit 100.  Because they were fairly even Level with him, there was no strain on his mind controlling that many, in addition to his Mentality being higher than it was the last time he’d controlled so many monsters, and he thought he could add quite a few hundred more before he had to worry about his mind being able to handle it.  For each new Goram under his control, Thaden added Major Enthrallment Infection, as well as Major Healing Assistant and Celestial Regeneration to ensure they wouldn’t die very quickly.  To improve their chances of staying alive, he also added Lesser Health Reinforcement on not only them, but also himself and everyone in his Raid Party, increasing all of their maximum Health by over 13,000% once he hit 100 minions. 

It was frankly ridiculous how much Health his minions had by that point.

“What the hell, Thaden?  What did you do to increase our Health so much?” Bat’la’hera asked, moving up next to him even as she continued lobbing large, greenish, area-effect spells at the monsters that practically made them melt apart.  He remembered what she’d done to his face, and he could only imagine what she could do to these monsters when she was really trying to kill them.  “That shouldn’t be possible.”

 “I’m just full of impossibilities,” he told her in response, even as he looked up and down the wall, seeing that the defenders were barely holding on.  So far, he thought that one or two of the Charging Gorams had managed to hit the wall, creating tiny cracks in the stone, but it wasn’t enough to concern anyone yet.  None of them were at his section, of course, because he was capturing them all in his Enthrallment spell. 

The Aelveen Mage seemed to either ignore his response or realized that he wasn’t going to elaborate any further than he had, so she told him, “The majority of us can’t keep this going for too much longer; while I can keep it up for a while longer, the rest of the casters in the Raid Party are swiftly running out of Mana.  If you’re going to do something with those monsters, it better be soon.”  She sighed as she looked up and down the wall, as well.  “And as much as I believe you could pull us through this attack, the other sections of the wall aren’t going to last much longer, either.  I can already see those to the east starting to falter, so we don’t have a lot of time left – and these are just the weakest of the monsters heading this way.”

Thaden could see exactly what she was talking about, as to the east a much larger group of Goram managed to make it through the destructive perimeter, and while they were far from busting through the wall, the defenders were now fighting an uphill battle. 

“I can see that.  I think it’s about time to make a move.  Be prepared to have everyone stop their spells and rest up; things are going to be a bit chaotic from here on out,” he warned her.  “I also need a half-dozen Fighter Class volunteers to accompany me out there for protection, just in case.”

“That doesn’t seem like a smart idea,” she said, but she didn’t say no.  In fact, within seconds, she had roped in the Heliothrope Zarin from her own Party, Rel’ba’shet from Thaden’s Party, and 4 others that ranged from Level 50 to 70, quickly joining him near the edge of the wall.  “Go do whatever you’re planning, but as I said before, don’t die,” she continued once everyone was in place.  “On your word, I’ll cancel all of the defenses.”

“Do it in 30 seconds,” he told her, before turning to the Fighters that were going to accompany him.  “Get ready, we’re going to jump down and move toward the line up there,” he pointed at the area where magical energies were basically tearing the incoming monsters apart. 

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Rel’ba’shet asked worriedly.  “You could get hurt.”

Thaden shook his head.  “None of it is a good idea, but it’s my only choice if I’m going to be as effective as I need to be.  Let’s go.”

With a deep breath, he prepared himself for what was to come, before he leaped off the wall, landing 30 feet down with a flex of his knees.  His Physicality was high enough that it didn’t hurt, and even if it did, his Health was now so high and he had Celestial Regeneration active on him that he’d be fine within seconds. 

As soon as he touched the ground outside the city, something unexpected happened.  The rushing monsters outside of his control, everywhere along the northern wall, suddenly screeched to a halt.  The change was so dramatic that it was almost deafening in and of itself to not hear the pounding of feet against the ground, and he wasn’t the only one that was shocked at the sudden cessation of movement coming from the Goram. 

That lasted for all of a few seconds as he looked around, peering past the defensive line of destructive attacks, only to see every single monster suddenly turn toward him.  Uh, oh.

“Either your Class trait luring in all monsters within 3 miles finally kicked in now that you’re away from the wall, or whatever is controlling them finally found what they were looking for,” Sadia murmured next to his ear once she landed next to him.  “Either way, you’re committed now.”

He nodded, even as he started running toward the line he’d pointed out earlier.  All around the battlefield, the defenders on the wall were shocked to find that the Charging Gorams that had been striving to reach the walls were no longer even paying attention to them, as they homed in on the black-robed figure running away from the safety of the stone barrier with a seemingly suicidal wish.

As he got closer to his own minions, he had them surround him and the Fighters accompanying him in a circle of defense, pointing outward with their heads presenting their best protection.  In the meantime, he quickly outlined his plan with his squirrel companion, and she chuckled after agreeing to help with it.  “You’re insane, but it should be fun, at least.”

Thaden stopped at about 50 feet away from the destructive line, not wanting to get any closer, as he waited for the last few seconds to tick down until those keeping the line active took a break.  In the meantime, he started casting a few different spells what he was going to need for his plan to work.

Currently, Thaden didn’t have any ongoing Mana costs other than Major Enthrall, which was up to approximately 400 Mana per second, or about 5% of his Mana pool.  He hadn’t had any reserved spells active, but that was about to change.

First, he cast Celestial Spiritual Enhancement Aura for an additional 15% of his Mana pool, which then increased his spiritual spell effectiveness.  This was followed by using another 40% of his Mana pool on Major Commanding Presence, which increased the Physicality and Magical Resistance of all of his controlled targets, as well as his allies within range.  Then he started casting Celestial Dominate Spirit for another 15% of his Mana pool, focusing on having it targeting his controlled minions, which would take nearly 30 seconds to activate.  It was at this point that he canceled Major Enthrallment Infection on all of his Goram, as he didn’t want to add any more under his control courtesy of that spell.  Right after that, he began casting a spell that he’d only experimented with once back in the Blasted Caves, but he thought it would be much more useful now.

Thaden cast Celestial Reanimation for a final 15% of his Mana pool on the corpses of the Goram that were piling up along the destructive defensive line, which was numbering in the thousands by this point.  He was worried that it would be too much for his mind to handle, but he was hoping that with them being around the same Level and his Mentality being high enough that he’d be able to bear with the strain and succeed in keeping it all together.

When he was still a few seconds from Celestial Reanimation going off, as it had a 15-second cast time, the defensive line suddenly went down.  “What do we do?” Rel’ba’shet asked, tensing up next to him, as the other Fighters did the same.

“Keep them off me for the next 15 seconds.  After that, things should take care of themselves.”

His Aelveen Party member nodded, and he joined the 6-armed Heliothrope and the others as they arranged themselves so that nothing would reach him. 

“I’ll ensure they stay alive,” Sadia told him as she took a defensive stance next to him.  He could only nod as he concentrated on the spells that were about to finish.

Thaden dropped to his knees as the influx of over 1,200 reanimated targets slammed into his mind, even as he witnessed the now unencumbered Charging Gorams flood toward Thaden.  He instructed his Enthralled Gorams to hold their ground, keeping a defensive perimeter around his little group of himself, Sadia, and 6 Fighters, and he saw the first wave of hostile monsters slam into his own minions head-first.  His own Goram were pushed back a little, but the impact also cracked the heads of those that impacted them, and a good two-thirds of the attacking monsters took a little more damage as his Thrall Commander trait reflecting the automatic healing his thralls performed onto the source of the damage.  It wasn’t much, and would add up after a while, but it wasn’t enough to stop the attacking Gorams for long. 

Especially as those behind the hostile Goram that were stopped by his minions used their brethren as stepping stones to run over the top of his defensive perimeter – which was where the Fighters around Thaden came in. 

For the first time, he was able to see a high-Level Fighter with 6 arms at work, as the Heliothrope tore into the Charging Gorams with an efficiency and lethality that was both impressive and somewhat frightening.  His weapons absolutely tore through or completely smashed the hard scales of the incoming tide of monster bodies, flinging blood and body parts everywhere as he looked like a whirlwind of death and destruction.  He easily kept the majority of the Goram from reaching Thaden, while the other Fighters picked up those that attempted to go around Zarin.

Even with the viciousness of the Heliothrope killing everything in his path, there were simply too many monsters to kill them all as soon as they were within range.  All of the fighters were in various stages of being overwhelmed, but even as they took damage, Sadia was there to ensure they all had Celestial Regeneration active or used Major Health Siphon to grab some Health from Thaden’s minions and heal his defenders.  Their Health pools were so high because of Major Health Reinforcement that they would have to take a lot more damage for them to be at real risk, but keeping them healthy and able to fight was nevertheless important.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity as his defenders were slowly being overrun, his Celestial Dominate Spirit finished, and he felt the spell take hold of not just the Goram around him, but also the reanimated ones that he’d temporarily brought back from the dead.  Even as his head felt the strain of around 1,300 minions under his control, which was just about the limit of what he could handle, he recast Major Health Reinforcement on himself, his controlled targets, and the 6 Fighters – which may have been a mistake, as the sudden influx of a much higher Max Health made even Zarin stumble and collapse onto the ground.  Thaden was already on his knees from the strain on his mind, and when his body felt the strain of now having a nearly 18 million% increase to his Health pool, he nearly passed out.

Fortunately, he was able to maintain consciousness even as the first Goram stomped over the collapsed Fighters to slam into him, but he’d already fallen on his face by that point.  All that happened was him being trampled instead of being hit by its durable head, and while it hurt, any damage was quickly healed by the ongoing healing spells he had active. 

“Just hang on, Thaden, I’ll take care of this,” Sadia shouted as she jumped straight up and out of the way of the Charging Goram, who were all congregating around him, trying to stomp him to death.  Thaden couldn’t see anything past the mass of Goram flesh around him to see what was going on, and as he suffered blow after blow that he couldn’t prevent, none of it harmed him for long as he was healed by a plethora of healing spells and effects, including the Major Healing Assistant spell he had on all of his minions. 

Even though he couldn’t actually see anything, he could sense what Sadia was doing.  She spread the Major Healing Assistant spell around to his newly reanimated minions, bringing even more healers into play, while also directing them to swarm toward Thaden, using their leech ability every few seconds to leech approximately 50% of Thaden’s max Health every 4 seconds, which came out to approximately 48 billion Health leeched away from the hostile monsters.

It took weeks (or about 40 seconds in real time) for Thaden’s new minion army to finally clear out the hostile monsters, and he was soon picking himself off the ground, brushing off the dirt and some of the blood he’d spilled from the incessant attacks against him.  “Thanks,” he told Sadia as she moved next to him once the area was clear.  “That was… uncomfortable, to say the least.”

The 6 Fighters around him had also been battered and beaten up as they were trampled by the Gorams trying to reach Thaden, but they had suffered much less than he had.  Even so, they looked around with wild eyes as they surveyed the battlefield, which now had their little group surrounded by a circle of controlled Goram approximately 20 thick in each direction.  The army of hostile monsters had now surrounded them, but they were all being absolutely destroyed by his own controlled targets, until their corpses began to pile up once again.  Fortunately, he could extract loot and get rid of the bodies that way, which helped to prevent ramps of corpses from being formed. 

The strain on his mind was still rough, and he began actively releasing the original ones he’d Enthralled one by one, canceling any of his spells upon them and letting them be quickly killed by having the others leeching their Health away, as he gradually felt his mind get to the point where it didn’t feel like it was going to explode.  By the time he got to that point, he had rid himself of a portion of the reanimated ones, as well, leaving him at right around 1,000 total minions.  It wasn’t a hard limit, but it was a limitation that he didn’t want to exceed any further than he already had, as his mind was currently at a point where it wasn’t actively being too strained to think clearly.

“Uh… what do we do, now?” Rel’ba’shet asked, watching the slaughter happen around him, which was now completely out of his hands.

“Nothing, hopefully.  You did your job, and now we just wait for the rest to come here and kill themselves.”  It wasn’t quite that simple, of course, but the others had done their job spectacularly and could take a break.  Just like the entire force of Adventurers and combat Classes on the walls, who were now just staring out at Thaden as every single monster ignored the city and focused on the single Human standing next to a giant squirrel.

The waves of Charging Gorams seemed to be endless, but he could see them already beginning to thin out within a few minutes as they continuously ran into the perimeter of his minions, keeling over in death as their Health was leeched from them almost instantly, only to disappear shortly thereafter as loot was extracted from them.  Behind them, the higher-Level Assault Gorams were approaching, some of them starting to become eager enough that they were trampling the smaller Charging Gorams, as if whatever was directing them was losing some of that disciplined control. 

Peering past them, Thaden could finally see what they were up against after the smaller Goram were eliminated.  He had no doubt that they would be eliminated, even the Level 60 Assault Goram, but the others might be a little more challenging. 

Behemoth Goram – Medial

Level 105

The double-decker-bus-sized monsters, which he learned were called Behemoth Goram, were obviously larger, but there was something surrounding them that worried him more than their size.  A reddish glow that looked like an aura seemed to emanate from their scales, concentrating on their heads, which were a bit more pointed than the others, looking more like a horn than a conical bullet.

“Any clue what that is?” he asked Sadia, who stared at the Behemoth Goram in the distance, who were slowly closing in on their location. 

She shook her head.  “No.  Nothing good, I would imagine.”

Once the Assault Gorams arrived, he was tempted to try controlling some of them, but he decided against it because it would only increase the strain on his mind.  He could control so many Charging Goram because they were almost the same exact Level as he was; his advantages came with a higher quantity of monsters under his control, after all, and having higher Level ones would only benefit if he didn’t already have 1,000 at his disposal.

 It wasn’t until the 2,000 or so Charging Goram were being killed by his minions that he was able to view the information about the final Goram monsters bringing up the rear, the ones that were the size of multiple jumbo jets stacked up on top of each other. 

Goram Colossus – Maximal

Level 280

Crap.  Even if I wanted to, I don’t think I can control one of those things.  Enthrall certainly won’t work, and there’s a very good chance that I could never get a Dominate Spirit or Befriend Spirit to stick.

The problem with something that high of a Level wasn’t that he couldn’t control it, though that was certainly part of it.  It was that such monsters inevitably took a lot less damage from sources that were far below it in Level.  He’d experienced something similar on Tarth when he had to find a way to kill some extremely high-Level World Bosses; they were so far above him in Level that they only took about 0.0001% of the damage he dished out.  While these weren’t nearly as high of a Level as those World Bosses, the same principle applied here; the damage reduction of higher-Level monsters was one of the main reasons Adventurers typically didn’t fight monsters that were far above them in Level, because even if they were very strong for their Level, they would deal reduced damage to their targets.  In this case, he thought that the leeching his minions did would only deal about 0.001% of the their normal damage, if not even less.  They were dealing so much already that he thought that they would still deal enough to kill one of the Goram Colossuses, but he couldn’t guarantee it.  The problem was that there were dozens of them, and if they all attacked simultaneously, he could be in real trouble.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much that he could do about it now, because he was kind of stuck, surrounded by the enemy that would follow him wherever he went.  He would just have to wait and see what happened.

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Stepping up to the edge of the wall, Thaden strained to make out what was coming toward the city.  Once they were less than a mile away, he could finally make out the individual monsters that were running at full speed, strangely organized so that they were like an unstoppable wave that would hit the walls at the same time.  Unlike what he halfway expected, which was that they might be facing dozens or even hundreds of different monsters all pushed together in an amalgamation of death and destruction, there seemed to only be one kind of monster that was about to attack the city.

The smallest of the incoming monsters were out front ahead of the others, and they were approximately the size of extra-large dogs, such as a Great Dane or a Mastiff; each of them was about 3 feet tall at the shoulder, and seemed to be approximately three times that in length.  What made them different from a dog, however, was how wide they were; at 3 feet wide with thick, powerful legs churning against the dirt beneath them, leaving the farm fields an absolute mess, they looked like giant fleshy missiles with legs shooting across the ground.  As if to emphasize this comparison, their heads were conical-shaped and appeared to be made of some sort of hard bone, chitin, or possibly large scales, similar to the shiny, dark brown scales that covered their bodies.  They ran steadily despite their incredible speed, to the point where they looked like projectiles launched from something in the distance, and they would only stop when they slammed at full-speed into the walls surrounding Teglir.

While he was sure that the extremely sturdy walls would be able to withstand the impact of dozens of these monsters near the same place, he estimated that there were at least 10,000 of them in front of just his section alone that stretched about 100 feet in width, which meant that more than a few dozen would inevitably make it through to the walls.  Or at least in other sections – because Thaden wasn’t planning on letting that happen in his section if he could help it.

Behind what had to be hundreds of thousands of these monsters were larger versions of them, looking for all intents and purposes like living battering rams.  In fact, once they finally got close enough that he could identify them, their name somewhat lived up to that impression.

Charging Goram – Medial

Level 35

The Level 35 Charging Gorams were almost infinitely numerous, and while they were certainly dangerous, they had plenty of Adventurers and other Combat-Class individuals on the walls that they weren’t too much of a threat.  Their larger brethren, who appeared at least twice the size, like a small truck with a lengthy bed, were going to be a bit more of a problem.

Assault Goram – Medial

Level 60

As stated before, the Assault Goram were larger in size, but they were also stockier, had bulkier limbs, and appeared to have thicker scales covering their bodies as well as their heads, which they kept lowered down and toward the walls.  A Level 60 monster, by themselves or even in small groups, wasn’t that big of a deal, as they still had plenty of people on defense that could take care of them, but there wasn’t just a small group of them – there were tens of thousands of them that would arrive almost immediately after the initial wave of Charging Gorams. 

If that wasn’t enough to worry the Adventurers on the wall, there was another delineated wave after the Assault Gorams that weren’t close enough for him to see what they were, but if the Assault Gorams were the size of a small truck, then the next step up were the size of a double-decker bus.  There were thousands of them, as well, forming a wall that reminded him of some videos of tsunamis he’d seen back on Earth, the inevitable tidal wave seeking to swallow the entire city up with their might.  He couldn’t even imagine how much damage even one of those double-decker-bus-sized Gorams hitting the wall would do to the fortification, but it wouldn’t surprise him if it managed to bust a hole straight through it without stopping. 

Finally, as if directing the horde of Gorams from the back, came what was inevitably going to be the city’s downfall if they didn’t manage to stop them.  Gorams the size of 2 jumbo jets placed on top of each other, with the length of 4 jumbo jets placed in a line from nose to tail, towered over the hundreds of thousands of smaller monsters, bringing up the rear at a relatively slow pace compared to how fast the others were.  From the larger visible model, he could see that the head was indeed overlapping and stacked scales tightly bound together to create a stronger whole, and the clawed feet on its beefy legs appeared quite capable of tearing up the ground to propel itself forward with extra speed.

He had no idea of the Level of the two largest Gorams, as they weren’t close enough to see them accurately, but he imagined that the enormous one was at least Level 180, if not higher.  If that was just the one, then Thaden thought that the defenders on the wall could eventually take it down, but he counted at least a dozen of them spread out all along the line of monsters like generals directing their forces before they took their own part in the slaughter to come.

In short, it was a nightmare scenario for the people of Teglir.

The disciplined manner in which the monsters were arranged, along with the nature of the monsters themselves, led Thaden to believe that the System was through playing around.  The attack on Felith made it seem like that had been a knee-jerk reaction, as it had essentially sent in a hit-squad to destroy everything in the vicinity; the attack on Teglir, however, was a highly-coordinated assault with specific intent behind it, which was to break through the defenses of an entire city and obliterate every trace of whatever had drawn its attention.  The first could potentially be excused as some sort of random attack coming from the Adversary, but he couldn’t see anyone looking at the veritable army heading toward the walls and not immediately knowing that it was the Assimilation System that had arranged it, and not the Persistent Adversary.  Everyone knew that the Adversary was wild, uncontrolled, and chaotic in its approach to domination – and this display was far from that; it was entirely too organized to be the work of the evil entity that wanted nothing but the death and destruction of every living thing – or so he, and everyone else, had been told.

Seeing this, however, made him once again question everything he knew about the System and the Adversary.  It wasn’t something he could think about too much at the moment, however, as the battle for Teglir was just about to begin.

“Release!  If you’ve got the range, cast at will!  Thin their numbers!” Bat’la’hera shouted, cutting across the worried murmurs that had been building since their enemy and its numbers became more and more clear as they approached. 

When the front line of the wave of Charging Gorams were within approximately 1,000 feet of the walls, the first of the ranged attacks from the defenders were sent out, blanketing the sky with power-infused physical projectiles such as arrows and bolts launched from handheld bows and crossbows, as well as a plethora of magical spells that ran the gamut from fireballs, boulders, chunks of ice, condensed acid, swarms of sharp metal slivers, and even straight-up blobs of magical energy.  As they arced high into the air, crossing the distance to the first of the battering-ram-like monsters, they were joined by the firing of the permanent weapon emplacements along the Teglir city walls, which fired beams of concentrated, volatile, magical energy that looked like foot-wide bluish lasers crackling with arcing lightning. 

The physical projectiles streaked across the distance, raining down on the Gorams in a deluge of destruction.  Their impact effects had a mixture of deep penetration to explosive detonations, though their results were unfortunately quite varied.  Dozens of Gorams fell as the projectiles managed to penetrate through their tough exterior, hitting something vital or simply causing too much explosive damage for them to survive.  Unfortunately, the majority of those hit simply kept going, either with arrows or bolts sticking out of their scaly hides, or unharmed entirely as they were hit in their heads, where the majority of the projectiles bounced off the bullet-shaped and extremely durable exterior. 

The long-ranged spells that fell among them were much more effective, as dozens more Charging Gorams were practically obliterated by powerful elemental forces that rolled through them, hitting more than just one at a time.  Explosions along with shattering ice and stone accompanied the sound of sizzling from acidic blobs that spread through large impact sites, creating a cacophony of destructive noise that just barely drowned out the rhythmic pounding of hundreds of thousands of Goran feet coming closer to the city. 

But what did even more damage than any of the projectiles and spells were the laser-like weapon emplacements, which strafed across the initial waves in a continuous blast that lasted a full 5 seconds before it shut off, killing hundreds of the Gorams all by themselves.  When they stopped firing, he could practically feel the way the weapon emplacements pulled in the ambient Mana around them to help recharge their stored power, which unfortunately thinned the available ambient Mana for the rest of the defenders.  Well, for everyone but Thaden, who didn’t have to rely on the ambient Mana in order to keep him topped up because he was essentially made of Mana.  That cloth bag over his head that he Local Legion used proved that to be true, so he wasn’t bothered by it at all, while at the same time he heard some grumbling from the spellcasters around him.

“Control, you’re up!  Stop them from getting any closer!”

While the first defenders continued to sporadically fire out into the approaching waves of Charging Gorams, reducing their numbers even further, Thaden began to see the Control Classes all along the wall start to react once the first of the monsters reached approximately 500 feet from the city.  Translucent walls of force sprang up out of nowhere, thick foliage grew at an incredible pace, clouds of noxious-looking gases filled the air, illusionary magic created a wild landscape that was meant to confuse or redirect, and there were even a few areas along the entire line that seemed to slow down, as if the monsters were caught in a large gravity well or were simply slowed down from some sort of time-based spell.  Because it was adjacent to his own abilities as first a Novice Enthraller and later a Thrall Commander, he was also able to detect multiple instances of psychic-based attacks that made some of the Gorams falter and then take a tumble as their minds were temporarily controlled. 

Slamming into the obstacles in their way, some of the charging monsters were killed by the impact against magical force walls, which shattered the barriers while shattering their own bodies at the same time.  Others were slowed and injured from other obstacles they ran into and through, more than a few were pulled to a complete stop as vines or odd-looking tentacles from somewhere latched onto them, while more than a few were redirected into running full-tilt into their fellow monsters, sending them tumbling in a mess of broken limbs and cracked heads as they impacted against each other. 

The combination of death from above and the different effects of the Control Classes was incredibly effective.  Looking up and down the wall, Thaden could see very few of the initial wave of Charging Gorams had made it through the gauntlet of spells and projectiles coming from the defenders, and only one made it close enough to the walls that it was in danger of colliding with the red stone barrier before it was killed by a Netherine Adventurer who jumped down from the wall with an enormous greatsword held in their hands, which sliced entirely through the Goram lengthwise, when he landed on top of it; the Adventurer hit the ground with a dexterous-looking roll, before jumping back onto the top of the wall a second later.  Thaden couldn’t help but observe that it made a huge difference to siege warfare when the defenders had the stats to jump up and down from the walls.

Unfortunately, the success of the first 20 seconds or so of the battle didn’t last.  The press of monsters among the far line of defenses was just too great, the number of targets just too many, for them to keep it up perpetually.  Despite the weapon emplacements recharging within 30 seconds, which helped to eliminate even more of the Charging Gorams before they could get close, the monsters began to break through the barrage of spells and projectiles by 1s and 2s.  Before too long, groups of 5 or 6 managed to get through relatively unscathed along parts of the wall, running full-tilt at the defenses; none managed to get through Thaden’s section as of yet, as they had the benefit of having the Local Legion in their Raid Party, along with Thaden’s contribution of extra stat points for them all, which helped to make a huge difference.

Down the wall, more and more of the Fighters and Scouts were getting involved, either jumping down or using some sort of ability to teleport to the incoming monsters, before killing them fairly easily and returning to the safety atop the stone barrier.  So far, as far as he could tell, none of the Gorams had actually impacted the wall – but it was only a matter of time.

Eventually, even his section of the wall’s greater long-range defenses gave out, and the first of the Goram made it through.  Thaden held his hand up, stopping the Legion Mage who was about to order that it be killed.  “I’ll take this one.  Let it get closer.”

“Don’t kill it!  Thaden is taking control!” she shouted instead, and everyone watched what happened next – even if it wasn’t that impressive yet.

Once it was within range, which required it to be within 180 feet as he used the wide-range effect of Major Enthrall to focus on all hostile targets, Thaden felt his Enthrall spell take effect and he ordered the Charging Goram to slow down to a stop, before turning it around so that it faced the other direction.  At the moment, he didn’t have any other spells running, because he wanted to keep his Mana pool open, and his stats and chance of success for his Enthrall spell against these particular monsters was high enough that there was basically no chance that he’d fail. 

Instead, he cast something he hadn’t used yet, a spell that came from his Novice Enthraller Class.

Major Enthrallment Infection (Single Cast): Infect a single Enthralled target with the ability to periodically spread your Enthrallment to other eligible targets within range; can only Enthrall targets up to 6 Levels higher than caster; each additional Enthrallment requires additional channeled Mana to maintain control.

Infected Enthrallment Success Rate: (25% per 1 Personality and 1 Mentality)/target Level

Infected Enthrallment Range: 30 feet

Infected Enthrallment Activation Rate: Every 5 seconds

Additional Mana Cost Per Infected Enthrallment: 3 Mana per second added to current channeled Enthrall spell

Spell Range: 90 feet

Spell Duration: 10 minutes

Casting Time: 2 seconds

Spell Mana Cost: 400 Mana

Essentially, Major Enthrallment Infection acted as a mobile enthrallment device that would capture and hold every monster it came into its range with under his Enthrall spell without him having to do it himself.  It added another 3 Mana per second to his Major Enthrall spell he had already active, but that was basically nothing at this point; even 100 minions would barely put a dent in his available Mana. 

After the spell was active, he also cast Major Healing Assistant and Celestial Regeneration on his new Charging Goram minion, and then ordered his controlled monster to wait on the edge of his range for more monsters to make it through.  He didn’t have too long to wait, as another Goram made it through the destructive maelstrom of spells holding the line, and Thaden held his hand up for his Raid Party to continue waiting.  His Major Enthrallment Infection worked perfectly, spreading his Enthrall spell to the new arrival, and soon enough it joined his other minion in a growing wall of defenders – especially once he began to cast Celestial External Stimulation on the two of them, which had a chance to increase their Physicality and Celerity based on his Fortuity.  And since his Fortuity was already fairly high, and it increased by 300% while in combat, it was sure to trigger at least once while he channeled it.

Now all he had to do was sit back and let the monsters fall into his web of control.

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 36

Chapter 36

“You knew this was coming.  I still don’t understand what’s going on with you, or even who you really are, but I’ve seen what you can do.  I—we—trust you to do what needs to be done to keep the city safe.”

As he stood up on the high walls of Teglir, along with thousands of other Combat Classes over Level 50 and Adventurers ranging from Level 15 to a few that he saw topping Level 90, Thaden looked off into the distance, trying to catch a glimpse of the monster army that was on its way.  Unfortunately, despite the relatively flat land to the north of the city, he couldn’t see even a small hint of what was approaching.

But he could feel the System energy building to a crescendo.

He didn’t mention what he felt, though, because no one else seemed to sense it.  Or, more accurately, they didn’t sense any System energy building up around them.

Turning toward Flarenia, he nodded at her words, having been subjected to similar affirmations of their belief in him from each member of his Party.  Each and every one of them still seemed to be affected by his Befriend Spirit spell, to the point where it was beginning to become slightly creepy.  It was as if he had permanently brainwashed them so that they couldn’t help but like and believe in him no matter what, which wasn’t what he had intended or even considered could happen after he’d used the spell on them to save their lives.  He appreciated the friendship, as he hadn’t had many friends both in his former life on Earth or even on Tarth, but this was heavily leaning toward the artificial – and he didn’t care for it. 

To think, I actually preferred the twins treating me like crap and second-guessing my every action.

“They’re getting closer, aren’t they?” Blinky asked, staring out past the extensive farm fields surrounding the northern portion of the city.  “I can sense the wave of hostility coming from the Persistent Adversary building up.  I’ve never felt anything like this before.” 

Thaden again nodded, this time absently, as the Grome repeated the same thing that he’d heard said multiple times from a myriad of different sources ever since they climbed the stone stairs leading up to the top of the walls along with thousands of others.  Everyone he heard talking about sensing the army of monsters mentioned it being the Persistent Adversary that was sending the dangerous forces, as if they had no doubt of its origin. 

Thaden, though, knew better.  While it wasn’t the same System energy he’d inadvertently unleashed during his Class Evolution, it was still similar enough that he had no doubt that it still came from the System.  It was like the difference between jelly and jam; both of them – at least in some way – originated from fruit, and though they were prepared differently, they came from the same source.  Energy that came from the Adversary, from what he’d experienced on Tarth, was completely different; using the same analogy, if System energy was jelly or jam, then Adversarial energy was peanut butter.  They complemented each other in a sandwich, but there was absolutely no way anyone would confuse one for the other. 

Yet, that seemed to be the case with the defenders on the wall.  Despite what Thaden clearly could identify as System energy was coming toward them, the only source of that energy he heard was “Adversary”; not a single mention of the System was heard even once.  It was yet another mystery that he intended to solve one day, as he’d noticed quite a few discrepancies between what the Contenders were told about the Assimilation System and the Persistent Adversary on Tarth and what appeared to be a version of the truth.  There was more going on between the two of them than anyone seemed to know, and one day he was going to get to the bottom of it. 

That day wasn’t today, however, as he needed to survive what was coming.  And trying to tell a bunch of people preparing to defending a massive city that they were potentially fighting against the same System that they revered like some sort of god, and not the Persistent Adversary, didn’t seem like it would be a smart thing to do.  At best, they would ignore him; at worst, they might find it appropriate to “deal” with the non-believer among them before he could infect anyone else with his sacrilegious affirmations.

Glancing around at those same people, he could see a veritable sea of different races, all of them showing varying degrees of confidence and nervousness, clutching their weapons with shaky hands, adjusting their armor or magical clothing, or simply affecting a bored expression as they waited for battle to commence.  Where he and his Party were located was right near the middle of the northern wall, which stretched for miles in each direction, the width of the wall itself wide enough to allow up to 10 people to form up one after another from one side to the other.  The knee-high wall in front of them all was the only thing preventing them from falling off, though the drop was only 30 feet and wouldn’t necessarily hurt most of the people up on top if they did fall off.  When he’d first seen the city, the walls had seemed so high and impregnable that he couldn’t imagine much getting through them; now that he was on top, they didn’t seem so impressive – especially given what he knew about what had destroyed Felith.

As Thaden turned back to the land stretching out ahead of the city, he began to hear some murmurs coming from some of those on the wall.  It only took him a moment to make out that the sharpest-eyed of them, likely Scout Classes, were finally able to see something in the distance.  As he squinted against the bright light of the sun beating down on them, he thought he could make out a small blotch of something at the furthest distance he could see, when a sudden message startled him.

Bat’la’hera would like to incorporate your Party into the Raid Party she is leading. 

Current Raid Party Members: 312/400

Accept? Y/N

Whipping his head around, it only took seeing the unique, 6-armed, blue-skinned Heliothrope from the Local Legion approximately 50 feet away from his location on the wall to identify the rest of the Legion around him.  He locked eyes with the Aelveen Mage who was staring at him with daggers in her eyes, and before he could react more than to notice her, she and the rest of her Party were already moving toward him.

Thaden had nowhere to really run to, as the wall was packed like a New York subway during the morning commute, though the people seemed to part around the high-Level Legion Party as they passed through them.   He momentarily thought about jumping off the wall entirely, but he deduced that this was exactly what they were probably hoping he would do; at the moment, he was among the defenders on the wall, and it was unlikely that they would try to kill him with so many witnesses.  Plus, they would be deliberately reducing the city’s defenses by killing him, which wouldn’t go over well with the city or those who ran it.  If he ran, though, he would be seen as running from his responsibilities as a Coalition member of high Rank, and killing him as he ran could be constituted as a just action.

Instead, he just stood there as the Local Legion Party approached. 

“There you are, Thaden.  You left before we could finish our little conversation,” the female Aelveen stated with an even voice as she came to a stop approximately 5 feet away from him.  “That was quite rude of you to leave in such a way,” she continued, as if daring him start throwing around accusations and protests.

Thaden didn’t rise to the bait.  “I happen to believe that our conversation was quite over.  It didn’t end exactly the way I hoped it would, but I did what I had to do to make sure I was here on time to defend the city.  Delaying my departure would only have complicated matters.”

“I see.”  Bat’la’hera smiled, before adding, “It seems as though you were correct about your assumption.”  She deliberately looked away, peering off into the distance where he was sure the first ranks of the monster army could be seen.  “In the interests of our mutual protection, I would advise joining my Raid Party, as it will be much easier to coordinate our defenses – and the defenses of the city.”  She looked back into his eyes, as if daring him to refuse in front of everyone watching their confrontation.

He knew that there was no way he was getting out of it without making everyone suspicious of him; with the Local Legion being the highest-Level Party he could see along the walls, it would be stupid not to join up with them in a Raid Party.  “Before I join, I have one question and potentially one condition.”

She smiled, as if knowing he would do as she asked.  He could only assume she was doing this so that she could easily find him after the battle was over – if they succeeded, of course.  “Sure, go ahead.  Ask away.”

“What is your Emboldened Leadership Competency at?  If it isn’t higher than mine, then it would be best if you make me the Raid Party leader.”

The Aelveen’s smile dropped away instantly at his question.  “You have Emboldened Leadership?  That… isn’t possible.  If you’re telling the truth, show me.”

“Sorry, no can do.  It’s a quirk of my situation that I cannot share any of my screens.  By the way, my Emboldened Leadership Competency is at 1,239; is yours higher?  Or… do you even have it?” he asked, doing his best to keep a smirk off his face.

She stared at him for a few seconds with a blank expression on her face, before her eyes narrowed for a moment.  A second later, he received another message that overrode his previous one. 

Bat’la’hera would like to incorporate your Party into a Raid Party, making you the Raid Party leader. 

Current Raid Party Members: 312/400

Accept? Y/N

Thaden didn’t gloat or even smile, even if he privately felt like celebrating, as he accepted the prompt.  Almost immediately, he felt his awareness of his Party expand to incorporate the majority of the people around him on the wall near him.  It seemed as though the Local Legion hadn’t been particularly concerned on who they invited to the Raid Party, only that they were in direct proximity to Thaden.  They all looked toward him as they received a message that leadership had transferred to him, which gained him more attention that he probably should’ve thought about beforehand, but the damage was already done.

With a thought, he turned off the Silent Voyeur Advancement from the Emboldened Leadership Competency, which he’d had permanently activated to hide Perceived Levels (and therefore any bonuses to stats).  This wasn’t the time to worry about that, however, as he saw Perceived Levels of every Raid Party member pop up on their nametags, showing a slightly higher Level than before.  For instance, when he glanced at Blinky, he could see that his Perceived Level was 12 Levels higher than his original Level.

Blinky {Densartis Faction}

Grome

Level 34 (Perceived Level: 46)

On Tarth, because of the Visible Charisma Advancement, the Perceived Level of everyone around him was a flat 30% higher than their actual Level; since he hadn’t picked that Advancement again, the Perceived Level was a bit more variable.  In general, most appeared to have a Perceived Level that was 30% to 40% higher than their actual Level.

With their bestowal of Perceived Levels, which was mainly used to help with Level requirements for dungeons (at least on Tarth) and reward distribution, also came an increase in the stats of everyone in his Raid Party.  Because of his Rubbing Off and Lucky in Love Advancements, they also received a boost to their Personality and Fortuity in addition to Physicality, Celerity, and Mentality.  The sudden increase of the assembled Raid Party’s stats had a visible effect as everyone but the Local Legion staggered slightly as they suddenly gained 30% to 40% in all of their stats to go along with the Perceived Level increase.  Confusion reigned among the assembled defenders as it seemed like they were under attack, but it didn’t take long for the first one of them to discover the changes.

“My… my stats!  They’ve changed – and to the better!” a Netherine nearby shouted, and soon enough everyone else had checked out their own stats, exclaiming over the difference. 

“What is this?  Is this from that Competency you mentioned?” Blinky asked, having discovered the changes, as well.  “Why didn’t this affect us before.”

“Yes, it’s from my Competency,” he confirmed.  “And it didn’t affect us before because I wasn’t the leader of the Party.”

Flarenia heard his words and ducked her head, likely remembering how he had made becoming their Party leader a condition of his boast about clearing a dungeon by himself.  She was probably just now learning that he had a good reason for it, not because he wanted to be in charge.  He ignored her, though, as he focused his attention on the Local Legion, and specifically Bat’la’hera. 

“Huh.  I guess you really do have Emboldened Leadership.  I have to admit that I had my doubts, but I was wrong,” the Aelveen admitted.  “What would you have us do?” she then asked, standing up straight, prepared to follow his orders.

He waved toward her.  “I might be the Raid Party leader, but I have no desire to actually lead it.  You’re in charge, and I’m giving you all the same permissions, including inviting more members.  Get us up to 400 to share these buffs with more people, and we’ll be good to go.”

Bat’la’hera’s face twitched in surprise, before she began to act on what he’d told her.  Within the next few seconds, they had shot up to a full 400 members, with hundreds more along the outskirts of the main Raid Party lamenting their inability to join them after hearing about the stat increases.  She then started arranging people in specific positions along the wall for her defensive strategy, and his own Party followed her orders immediately – though only after confirming with him that it was alright.  That Befriend Spirit spell is becoming more and more annoying as time goes by.

Thaden, however, didn’t move from his place.  Instead, he waited for the powerful Mage to arrange everyone else before she stopped next to him, staring at him with such intensity that he thought she was trying to bore a hole through his head to get the answers she sought out of him.

He hadn’t moved from his spot, not because he didn’t want to follow her orders, but because he’d finally had a better glimpse of what was coming.  In the far distance, too far to see them accurately, were dozens of large figures that he expected to be monsters that were quite strong, perhaps stronger than he could harm significantly.  It wasn’t those that he focused on the most, however, as arriving before them was definitely the army of monsters that they’d been warned about.  He didn’t have a good count of how many there were, but he was reminded of the Horde Siege Challenge he’d participated in on Tarth, which was basically protecting a town from what seemed like tens of millions of undead.  While he doubted that there were that many coming for the town, there were enough to blanket the ground, obliterating anything within their path, stretching from as far east as he could see to just as far west.

“You should be in the back with the other Support Classes,” the Aelveen Mage told him when she came up next to him. 

Shaking his head, he Thaden said, “My role in this fight is going to be a little bit different from everyone else’s.”  He pointed at the horde of monsters streaming toward the walls in the distance.  “I’m sure I don’t have to ask if you remember what I can do,” he continued, not looking at her, “but I’m actually much more effective if I have a lot of targets that I can control.  That means that I’ll have to be up front so that I can reach as many as possible.”

Bat’la’hera didn’t say anything for a moment.  “Fine.  If that’s your decision, go for it.”  She began to turn away, likely to move to the spot where she would be stationed, but she stopped herself.  “Just don’t get yourself killed.  I still have a lot of questions for you.”

“I’m sure you do.  I also have a lot of answers that you’re not exactly prepared to hear.  I don’t doubt that at least one of us will end up disappointed.”

Her stare washed over him, one of part-malice and part-annoyance, but he ignored it as she whipped around and walked to where she would be taking part in the battle, not looking at him again. 

As he turned back to watch the incoming horde of monsters approaching, he could feel some of the excitement he remembered feeling when he’d been confronted with outrageous odds back on Tarth. 

Sadia appeared next to him, to the surprise of those standing around him, but when she didn’t do anything but sit next to him in her squirrel form, viewing the incoming army, they quickly ignored her presence.

“Ready for some fun?” he asked, grinning at his companion.

Shaking her head, Sadia huffed with a long sigh, “Only you would consider a horde of monsters threatening an entire city ‘fun’.”

“Hey, I have to get my kicks somewhere, don’t I?  Besides, I have some new spells to try out.”  She didn’t say anything in response, but he could tell that she was equally excited to start tearing through the horde coming their way.

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Feeling the control over his minions snap once he cautiously made his way through the only door in the room, up the stairs, and through a busy-looking warehouse half-filled with enormous crates and linen bags that seemed to be filled with some sort of grain.  They didn’t disconnect entirely until he was out on the docks itself, and while he could only hope that his Spirit Lock had continued working its magic, keeping the Local Legion frozen in place while he made his mistake.  Sadia had already disappeared into the CAMP, as she would attract more attention than just himself walking around, but she kept him apprised of what she could detect by monitoring his senses.  So far, as he approached the gate leading into the city, there hadn’t been any sign of them emerging to come after him.

Thankfully, it was easy enough to get through the gate by flashing his badge, and he didn’t have to pay a fee like the last time he’d been through that particular gate.  He hurried as fast as he could through the streets until he made it to Glory’s Passage, and he moved at a jog toward the Coalition building in the distance.  While there wasn’t really anywhere in the city that he thought would be safe against the powerful Local Legion Party, it was probably the only place that where he would have someone almost as high-Level on his side to stop them from simply taking him. 

Eleria wasn’t exactly his best friend, especially after their conversation that morning when he told her that the city was potentially in danger, but she was his only potential ally that was strong enough and had a chance against the Legionnaires.  Not that he expected there to be a large, protracted fight, but he’d rather have some backup rather than have to face them again so soon; they would likely be much better prepared the next time they met.  He didn’t know if there were accessories that would grant immunity or simply much greater resistance to psychic or spiritual spells, but if they existed, then it was almost a guarantee that the Local Legion would be wearing them.

I wouldn’t blame them.

While he didn’t necessarily feel bad about using his Enthrall spell to control them, especially after what they’d put him through and threatened to keep him there indefinitely, he really didn’t want to make it a habit.  In less than 24 hours, he had used his controlling spells on two different Parties, and while the first incident had been to save his fellow Coalition members from death at the thorny branches of an enormous psychic bush, the second incident hadn’t been quite as altruistic.  He could potentially see himself utilizing Enthrall in the future in cases where he simply wasn’t getting his way, which was a dangerous step into a villain arc that he wasn’t comfortable with.

He made it back to the Coalition without being stopped, and while he had more than a few people staring at his still partially wet, blood-stained and damaged black robe with curiosity, it wasn’t that strange to a bunch of Adventurers that risked their lives against deadly monsters on a daily basis.  Thankfully, the robe would gradually repair itself as it absorbed Mana from the environment, so all he needed to do was wash it a bit and it would be as good as new.

Thaden thought his recent brush with death would’ve bothered him more than it did, but then he realized that he’d been within seconds of death so many times on Tarth that it barely fazed him any longer.  A day where he was either stabbed through the heart or been blown up in a giant explosion was just another day in the life of a Fortunate Catastrophe.

Once inside the lobby, he put his back to the wall and caught his breath, calming down for the first time since he’d been captured.  “That was a close one, wasn’t it?” he said to himself, under his breath.

“It certainly was.  Closer than I expected.  I apologize; I didn’t calculate that they would actually try to kill you once they saw you casting spells.”

“You’ve nothing to apologize for, Sadia,” Thaden immediately replied.  “If it wasn’t for you taking charge there at the end, I might not have made it.”

“Well, I couldn’t have you dying when I could do something about it.  Which reminds me, have you had a chance to think about allocating some PICK toward the Growth function of the CAMP?”

He chuckled at her question.  “What is this?  You save my life and then ask for something in return?”

“It’s not for me, idiot.  If the CAMP I’m attached to grows in strength, then you might have been strong enough not to be captured in the first place – and you wouldn’t have had to suffer from being stabbed in the chest and nearly die.”

She made a good point.  It was on his list to consider, but up until that point it hadn’t been as much of a priority as simply gaining Levels to become stronger.  But it was still in the back of his mind.

“I definitely want to, but I think we need to get through this crisis first.”

The word crisis was a bit of an understatement, considering everything that was coming to a head.  On the one hand he had a potential attack on the city that could come at any time by a force of powerful monsters; on the other, he didn’t believe for a second that the Local Legion that had captured him would give him up that easily, especially after he’d taken control of them through his Major Enthrall spell.  They would come for him, maybe not specifically for revenge, but because he was a source of information that they hadn’t wanted to give up.

Now that he was inside the Coalition building, he had to figure out what to do.  Telling Eleria what had happened with the Local Legion, or at least the most pertinent details, came to mind, but that wouldn’t necessarily solve his problems; it would simply alert the Teglir Coalition Branch Leader of yet another problem that Thaden brought with him.  Still, it was something that he should probably do, even if he didn’t want to bother her a second time that day.

That sort of took care of the problem with the Legion, at least ostensibly, but then there was the problem with the pending attack.  The smartest solution was to find his Party and see if they would be willing to go back out with him to another dungeon, where he could stay until the threat had passed.  While it had been unintentional at the time, his foray into the Blasted Caves had led him to miss most of the attack on Felith, though, unfortunately, the rest of his Party had been close enough to arrive at just the wrong time once they exited the dungeon.

Regardless of his former Party of all Netherines who sadly lost their lives along with everyone in Felith, running into a dungeon and out of the vicinity of the city was certainly an option if he didn’t want to have to join the fight.  It was a bit cowardly, meaning that he’d have to abandon the city to whatever was going to attack it, but there were plenty of people who were likely strong enough – if only as part of a large quantity of bodies – to defend the walls.  At least, that was what he told himself to justify running from the fight.

Unfortunately for him, though, he doubted that his Party would be willing to go to another dungeon right then and there – especially Florenia and Lovinia, who had heard his warning about a potential threat to the city.  They’d also heard that he was planning on helping out, and would question why he would want to be elsewhere while there was an immanent attack. 

In other words, he didn’t believe that his Party was going to go along with his attempt at hiding from the attack.  And, if he was being honest with himself, as much as he didn’t want to risk himself, leaving the city to its fate didn’t feel good to him.  Even without the threat of losing his status in the Coalition if he were to flee, the thought of abandoning the people of Teglir to an attack that was, at the heart of it, instigated by Thaden’s Class Evolution, was abhorrent to him.  Even though he knew that it wasn’t exactly his fault, just as what happened at Felith hadn’t been his fault but was instead the System’s fault, he still felt some responsibility. 

He would stay, if only to appease his conscience if he were to learn that the city was destroyed and everyone killed if he ended up leaving them in their time of need.  Not that he expected to be able to do much against the powerful monsters that he expected were coming, but he would be there along with the rest of the defenders.  It was the least he could do, considering his role in it occurring in the first place.

With that decision at least somewhat resolved in his head, he pushed off from the wall and headed toward the Coalition Market, ready to finish the business he’d been engaged in before he’d been snatched off the street by the Local Legion.  After he unloaded the extra items he’d picked up in the Wild Flower Dungeon and found some accessories that would complete his outfit, he would find Eleria and let her know about what had occurred with the Legion, just so that she was aware of the situation.

In the Market, he spoke with the Coalition representatives there and handed over handfuls of Uncommon and Rare weapons and armor that had been duplicates or simply unneeded by his Party, as well as any remaining crafting materials that he hadn’t given to Master Threaver in return for his current ensemble.  Feeling quite a bit “lighter” in terms of space in his internal Inventory, and receiving less coinage in return than he expected, he then consulted the terminals that had the current selections of accessories he was looking for.

It didn’t take long to find that his options were still limited even with his higher Level and available funds, though they weren’t exactly nonexistent like they were the first time he’d looked through the Market’s listings.  Unfortunately, most of what was available were items that were usable by multiple Classes, making them more expensive because they were in high demand, though there were some that were for Support Classes only.  In the end, he ended up receiving 70 Gold for the items he sold, while forking a little over 120 gold to completely gear up with all of his available slots full.

Ruby Amulet of Abundant Health

Rarity: Uncommon

Class Restrictions: All

Level Restriction: 20

+9 Physicality

+18% increase to all healing both given and received

Bronze Armlet of All Defense

Rarity: Uncommon

Class Restrictions: All

Level Restriction: 30

+3 Physicality

+3 Celerity

+3 Mentality

All damage received is reduced by 3%

Silver Ring of the Placid Mind

Rarity: Rare

Class Restrictions: Control, Support

Level Restriction: 22

+9 Mentality

+5 Personality

+9% increase in all spell casting speed

+3% reduction in all spell cooldowns

Focus Stone of the Supportive Healer

Rarity: Rare

Class Restrictions: Support

Level Restriction: 28

+9 Mentality

+6 Celerity

+6% increase in Support spell effectiveness

+3% reduction in all healing spell Mana cost

The most expensive item wasn’t either of the Rare accessories he’d picked up, but was instead the Bronze Armlet of All Defense.  The ability to reduce all damage received by 3% didn’t sound like a lot, but it was still a flat reduction that was able to be used by anyone, and that drove the price up significantly.  Unfortunately, there weren’t any other Armlets that were available for him to wear, as it seemed as though the majority that were in the listings at his current Level were primarily for Fighter or Scout Classes.  He had far overpaid for it, as 50 Gold was basically a fortune to most Adventurers around his own Level, but he had the money, so he figured he might as well use it.

Once he’d picked up his items from an adjacent desk in the Market, he quickly equipped them – and felt relatively complete for the first time since he’d arrived on Plangea.  As Thaden held the dimly glowing, white Focus Stone of the Supportive Healer in his right hand, its smooth-yet-grippy surface ensuring that he would keep ahold of it even in the heat of combat, he finally felt ready to take on the world. 

Feeling more confident, he started walking toward where he hoped to find Wyrdla and have her bring him to Eleria’s office.  While he was fairly certain he could find it himself, he would rather go through official channels rather than barge in unannounced.  He’d rather stay on her good side if he could help it.

Before he was halfway to his destination, Sadia stopped him.

“Wait.  Do you feel that?”

Thaden froze in his tracks, which annoyed some of the Adventurers walking behind him, forcing them to go around his stationary form, but he ignored them.  At first, he thought she was trying to tell him that the Local Legion had located him and was about to strike even in the middle of the Coalition lobby, but he dismissed that immediately based on her tone.  He closed his eyes and while it wasn’t immediate, he felt what his companion had obviously detected while he was distracted by his mission to meet again with the Coalition Branch Leader.

Opening his eyes, he looked toward the north, where he caught sight of a brown-and-green blur racing into the Coalition building, angling toward where he knew the hallways leading to Eleria’s office were located.  He was unable to see exactly the blur was, but he suspected that they were relatively high-Level Scout with an impressive Celerity stat; he didn’t have to wonder too much about why they were running around like that, though, because even as he moved off to the side to get out of the flow of traffic, there was a message on his feed that he was unable to ignore.

Attention residents of Teglir!  A large army of monsters has been spotted to the north, seemingly on a course toward the city.  Anyone with a Combat Class over Level 50 is encouraged to help defend the walls of our beloved city; everyone else is instructed to return to your homes or your place of business, thereby clearing the way for our defenders.

All Adventurers inside Teglir will receive a SPECIAL Quest momentarily….

[Quest Type: SPECIAL

Rank Requirement: Any

Quest Time Limit: Immediately

Quest Difficulty: Mid-Maximal

Minimum Recommended Level: 50

Minimum Recommended Party Size: Any

Quest Description: An army of powerful monsters are arriving within the hour at the northern walls of Teglir; band together with your fellow Adventurers in Raid Parties up to 400 individuals to help defend the city

Minimum Completion Requirements: Save a minimum of 10% of the city’s residents from the approaching monster army  

Minimum Quest Rewards: 5 gold, 1,000.0 PICK, 30 Rank Progress up to Gold

Full Completion Requirements: Successfully repel and destroy the monster army at the walls, preventing any loss of resident life and the destruction of any internal buildings

Full Completion Quest Rewards: 50 gold, 10,000.0 PICK, 150 Rank Progress up to Gold

Quest Failure Penalties: Destruction of the city of Teglir

Current available nearby Adventurer Coalition Members Assigned: 92,277/92,277]

“Well, it looks like we’re out of time,” he murmured to himself after he read the message, noticing that the entire lobby had gone completely silent while everyone apparently looked at the same thing he had.  The silence stretched for about 10 seconds before the lobby erupted into a cacophony of sound that crashed into him, and he winced at the sheer volume of the exclamations of surprise, anger, and fear that came from thousands of mouths. 

“Do you think it would be in poor taste to tell Eleria, ‘I told you so?’” he asked, and he could just imagine Sadia shaking her head at him.  He chuckled a bit darkly, his adrenaline spiking as he realized that he was about to partake in his first siege outside in the real world, as the only time he’d participated in one was inside of a dungeon – where the stakes weren’t quite as high.  He’d been involved in situations where monsters attacked cities from the inside, and he’d protected Defensive Fortifications against swarms of monsters in the Wildlands on Tarth, but this was significantly different. 

Standing still in the middle of the maelstrom of rushing Adventurers, he was about to join them when he saw all 4 members of his Party jogging toward him, serious expressions on their faces, including the ever-effusive Blinky.

Looks like the whole gang’s here.  I guess it’s time to find out just how right I was about the threat facing the city.

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 34

Chapter 34

The moment that Thaden was taken off of Glory’s Passage and brought to an undisclosed location had been a frightening experience, even if it didn’t last all that long.  After the initial unpleasantness where the cloth over his head suddenly drained all of the Mana out of his body, prompting his unconsciousness, he had woken up to find himself being manhandled through the alleyways and minor streets of Teglir, until he was fairly sure he had passed back through the gates leading to the docks.

He had been tempted to try and escape right after he woke up, but Sadia advised him to wait and see who it was and where they had been taking him.  They obviously didn’t want him dead, otherwise he would’ve been killed outright, and they probably expected him to be completely defenseless based on the strange cloth over his head.  Unfortunately for them, after his Mana was somehow drained entirely for a split-second, leading to his unconsciousness, his Mana came back all at once despite being cut-off from the ambient Mana around him.  As one of the Adversarial agents on Tarth had discovered a bit too late, Thaden was essentially made of Mana that he continued to produce even if he was cut off from the world, so he wasn’t really impaired in the least. 

Another reason he didn’t try to escape was that he didn’t know who was around.  If he suddenly tried to control the extremely strong individual holding him, then it was possible that someone would see it and stop him.  The problem was that he didn’t want to cast a wide-area spell like Major Enthrall without being able to designate who he would affect, as he didn’t want to hit 500 bystanders in the busy city.  He also didn’t know the Level of the one who was carrying him, as he couldn’t see their nametag with a bag over his head.

So, he instead pretended to be unconscious as they carried him to the docks, and from there into what sounded like a large building based on the acoustics, before he was brought down a set a stairs.  He didn’t move as he was placed in an uncomfortable, cold metal chair, his limbs secured with a strong, itchy rope, and the cloth bag taken off his head and dropped in his lap.  Pretending to wake up and struggle to free himself didn’t take much acting, as he genuinely wanted to be free, and the rope around his neck was genuinely annoying.

In the end, Thaden honestly wasn’t surprised to see that the Local Legion had been the ones to snatch him off the street; he mentally chastised himself for temporarily forgetting about them, though to be fair, he had his mind on bigger matters – such as an attack on the city.  What did surprise him was that he could see their Levels now, and they were even higher than he had imagined.

Darvo – Densartis Local Legion {Densartis Faction}

Orbrion

Level 142

Zarin – Densartis Local Legion {Densartis Faction}

Heliothrope

Level 144

Bat’la’hera – Densartis Local Legion {Densartis Faction}

Aelveen

Level 145

Loc’ra’toda – Densartis Local Legion {Densartis Faction}

Aelveen

Level 143

Narden – Densartis Local Legion {Densartis Faction}

Charee

Level 144

All of them were more than 100+ Levels higher than him, which meant that they were probably one of the highest-Level Parties in the entire city.  From what he’d learned, getting to even Level 50 was a big deal in most of the towns such as Felith, and anyone over Level 100 was more likely to be on the Front Lines fighting the Adversary, but apparently that didn’t apply to the Local Legion.  He’d seen that the Branch Leader of the Coalition, Eleria, had been 122 when he had just recently visited her, but these individuals were somehow even higher. 

Which told him that, even if someone had seen him being snatched-up, there wasn’t anyone that could match them in terms of strength.  In other words, he was on his own. 

After he refused to answer Bat’la’hera’s questions, Sadia warned him when Darvo began to cast something.  Thaden didn’t react right away, as he wasn’t sure what it was, but he quickly found out a second later as something tried to mess with his mind.

“It’s some sort of mind-control spell.  Not quite like yours, though; it’s only a psychic attack, not a spiritual one.”

Since the source of the spell came from someone more than 50 Levels higher than him, Thaden’s Size Matters Advancement from his Psychic Resiliency Competency kicked in, completely nullifying the spell’s effects even if he could still feel it surrounding him.  At the same time, he could feel a second spell directed toward him from Narden, which was familiar enough to identify as a truth-detecting spell that he’d felt multiple times, including when he’d been in Purbooth where he’d been asked questions.

Apparently, it was also a psychic-based spell as well, though less invasive; regardless, it was also nullified, though neither of the Local Legion members appeared to notice.

Hmm… I’ve got an idea.

When he started to pretend that he’d been affected, Sadia momentarily questioned what he was doing.

“What are you—?  Ah, yeah, that’s probably for the best.  While you’re talking, I’ll start looking for solutions to get out of here.”

He couldn’t do anything but very subtly nod in acknowledgment, as he proceeded to answer the insistent questions with as much truth as possible, though it was crafted in a way to help exonerate him from being the source of the attack on Felith after it became quite obvious early on in the questioning that they suspected him of something.  They were grasping at straws, though, as they didn’t actually know anything and consequently ate up his explanations, even if they didn’t like them. 

“I can see Darvo struggling to keep the mind-control spell active, so he’ll have to drop it soon.  Once he does, I think I’ve done the calculations that will allow you to escape – though we might have a problem.”

He hadn’t been able to respond to her, but they’d been working together long enough that she knew he wanted an explanation.

“First, you need to cast your Celestial Spiritual Enhancement Aura for 15% of your Mana pool, which has a base increase of 50% to your spiritual spell effectiveness, which is increased by 400% because of your bonuses.  This then gives you 250% extra spiritual spell effectiveness, and when you cast Major Subjugation Aura taking up another 40% of your Mana pool, which has a base spiritual will battle success rate increase of 25%, the extra spiritual spell effectiveness plus your other bonuses means that you will increase the success rate by 650%, or 187%.  When that is added to your Advancements and Achievements bonuses, that equals a bonus of 306% to successfully winning a battle of spiritual wills.   

“You’re going to need all of the advantages that you can get.  Even though Major Enthrall will allow you to Enthrall targets up to 6 Levels higher than your own, which means Level 40, and your spell effectiveness bonuses raise this by a total of 450% when you make convert it to a wide-area spell, the fact that you can theoretically Enthrall a target up to Level 220 is balanced by the Level disparity between you and a target that high.  Major Enthrall will give you an extra 550% spiritual will battle success rate, bringing you to nearly 900%, but I’ve noticed that the Assimilation System weighs Level disparity much higher when it comes to successfully casting a spell like Enthrall than even any resistances they might have, so I give you only about a 30% chance of actually succeeding with each cast. 

“But that isn’t the issue that I see.  You can overcome the 30% success by alternating the channeled Major Enthralls you cast, but there is a very good chance that Darvo is either immune or heavily resistant to your spells, similar to that bush Boss you defeated in the Wild Flower Dungeon.  If that’s the case, you’re going to have to use the others that you succeed in Enthralling to restrain him.”  

He understood her concerns immediately, as he was aware of the Level disparity issue despite the increased success rate, and he was also worried about Darvo being immune to just about anything he could do.  As someone who used spells to control people, even if it was just their minds, it was likely that he had high resistances or immunity.  He additionally wondered if she had found any other spells that might give him an edge, but she apparently had that covered – though not necessarily to his satisfaction.

“Unfortunately, after searching through all of your Celestial spells, there are only a couple that are within range of your current Mana pool, other than Celestial Regeneration, which you already knew about.”

Celestial External Stimulation (Channeled): Creates a connection with a single target that not only constantly heals them, but with each instance of healing there is a chance for the target’s Physicality and Celerity stat to temporarily increase. 

Healing Amount: 10% of maximum Health per second

Physicality And Celerity Increase Chance %: Fortuity/225

Physicality And Celerity Increase Magnitude: 10% of target’s base Physicality and Celerity

Physicality And Celerity Duration: 10 minutes after spell is canceled

Range: 180 feet of caster

Casting Time: Instant

Mana Cost: 4,500 per second

Celestial Spirit Lock (Single Cast): Forces a powerful cage of spiritual energy to envelop and restrain the spirit of a singular target; success is determined by comparing the spiritual will of the caster versus the spiritual will of the target, which is calculated by an assessment of Level Disparity, psychic resistances, and Personality; if the caster’s spiritual will is not strong enough, the spell will fail and the target cannot be the focus of Superior Spirit Lock for a cooldown period; if the caster’s will is strong enough, they will be locked in place, unable to move for a pre-determined duration, followed by a cooldown period where they cannot be the focus of Superior Spirit Lock; targets locked down with this effect are unable to move or attack, but any damage they suffer while in this state will break the effect.

Lock Duration: 15 minutes

Lock Cooldown (Success and Failure): 2 minutes

Range: 180 feet from caster

Casting Time: 2 seconds

Mana Cost: 5,400

Celestial External Stimulation was a Support-based, channeled healing spell which had a chance of increasing his Physicality and Celerity stats, but it wouldn’t necessarily help him in the current situation.  Celestial Spirit Lock was a good way to lock down a target without having to spend a channeled spell or reserved Mana pool to keep control of them, but the problem was that it had a long casting time, which would make it unfeasible to constantly cast on the Local Legion members.

Therefore, without any other options, and because he had absolutely no desire to spend the next whoever-knew-how-long stuck in the uncomfortable metal chair while they continued to ask him questions, he decided to go for it.

Thaden was relieved when he felt the spells fade from around him, “freeing” him from the mind-control and truth-detecting spells that were employed against him.  He argued for his release, but he was almost certain that they wouldn’t just let him go, at least until they confirmed a few things; he was proven right when the Mage told him, “We’ll let you go as soon as you prove to no longer be useful.  For now, you’re going to be held here in this safe and secure location.  Regardless of whether or not the System sent you here, we have a job to do, and to prevent you escaping from our clutches again, you’re under our absolute control.”

That’s it; I’m done.  It’s time to go.  He was quite tempted to get back at them, perhaps by making them harm each other, but he restrained those thoughts because it wouldn’t do any good and would only put them at even further odds than they already were.  They technically didn’t hurt him even during the interrogation, and he could tell that they were just doing their jobs – even if the way they went about it was contrary to what he would’ve preferred. 

Still, the thoughts of revenge that he didn’t actually plan on enacting caused him to freeze, before he could feel a slow grin emerge upon his face.  “Am I?  Are you sure of that?”

That’s when he struck.  Activating the normally instant Celestial Spiritual Enhancement Aura took a half-second as his Mana fought against the cloth attempting to suck all of his Mana away, but it eventually activated.  A split-second after that, Major Subjugation Aura also activated, setting up his attempts to Enthrall the Local Legion members keeping him captive.

A half-second later, the first channeled Major Enthrall went off as it targeted everyone within range, and he mentally crossed his fingers.  As the channeled spell washed across them all, he immediately knew that none of them fell under his thrall. 

As disappointing as that was, he had somewhat expected it, and his second Major Enthrall went off shortly thereafter – again with no positive result.  He canceled the first Enthrall and channeled it again, starting to worry for a moment, but he finally managed to catch one of them in his net: the large, 6-armed, blue-skinned Heliothrope, Zarin.

By that point, it had been a few seconds, and while momentarily caught off-guard by his casting, the Local Legion began to react.  “Control him!” Bat’la’hera shouted, looking toward Darvo, even as she flung out her hand toward him and a spray of toxic-looking sludge covered his face.  It burned as it hit his skin, blinding him as his eyes were eaten away by some sort of disgusting acid; it hurt enough that it was a distraction he didn’t need, though he could sense that it wasn’t meant to actually kill him.  He quickly cast Major Healing Assistant on the Heliothrope even as he blindly cast Major Enthrall again, as he didn’t have enough Mana to cast Celestial Regeneration with his Mana pool being smaller, while continuing to keep control of Zarin – who he mentally ordered to move to stand in front of him, blocking any other attacks coming his way.

He felt another mind-control spell attempt to gain a foothold in his mind, but it was again nullified without any harm.  He ignored it as he felt the other Aelveen, Loc’ra’toda, fall under his thrall, who he sent to grab Darvo to keep him busy.  His Enthralled minions couldn’t actually do any damage, but they could perform actions in a defensive manner, which grabbing someone certainly qualified for. 

“He’s controlling them somehow!  Narden, get rid of it!”

Even as he felt the last of the acid sprayed on his face dissipate, Major Healing Assistant kicked in after a short delay, and he felt his Health being restored, along with the skin and eyes that had been lost.  Meanwhile, he felt his control over Zarin disappear after Narden cast a quick spell on Loc’ra’toda, the Support member obviously having a spell that got rid of Thaden’s control.  Unfortunately for Narden, his next Major Enthrall went off, and he was able to add Narden to his forces, preventing his control from being lost again.

“Move!  Out of the way, Zarin!” the Mage shouted, even as a bunch of vines sprouted from nowhere and latched onto each of the Heliothrope’s limbs.  The vines were strong enough that they actually began to pull the large, blue-skinned figure downwards, as if they were going to trap him against the floor.  As soon as he was brought low enough, he could see the angry face of Bat’la’toda staring at him with murder in her eyes.  “That’s enough!  Kill him!”

Loc’ra’toda, having been freed from Enthrall’s control, took a second to recover from the experience, but when he heard that, he leapt into action, pulling out two knives as he disappeared from sight.  Thaden could sense him moving quickly toward him, so fast that he was a blur, but he hadn’t stopped casting.  Major Enthrall caught the Aelveen again just as he appeared in front of Thaden, stabbing toward his chest.  The spell couldn’t prevent what was already in process, and he moaned in pain as the weapons slid through his robe as if it wasn’t event there, before stabbing deep into his lungs and nicking his heart.

Crap.  That could kill me. 

Blinded by pain, he was only tangentially cognizant of Sadia suddenly appearing near him.  “I’ve got this, Thaden,” she said, and he could feel the knives retracted from his chest.  Checking his Health, he noticed that it was down to under 100, as the strike had been a kill shot, and it was only the sudden Enthrallment of the Aelveen that made him miss a full strike on Thaden’s heart. 

Fortunately, he was healed a moment later by Zarin and Major Healing Assistant, and suddenly he was back to full Health.  When he could look around again, he saw and felt the continually casting Major Enthrall spell – courtesy of Sadia taking over while he had been incapacitated – finally grab ahold of the Mage before she could cast any deadly, leaving only Darvo free. 

“Yep, he’s immune.  Zarin, if you would,” the giant squirrel said, even as the Control Class member of the Local Legion started backing up.  The vines fell away from the Heliothrope as he stalked toward Darvo, who cast a spell toward Zarin that created a strange aura around the 6-armed Legionnaire, but it didn’t seem to do anything.

“No, what are you doing?!  Stop!”

Now that he was better, Thaden took the opportunity to have Bat’la’hera approach him and grab the cloth off his lap, and even as she staggered in place, nearly collapsing into unconsciousness, his thrall managed to hold on and follow Zarin as the Heliothrope grabbed the mind-controlling Orbrion, keeping him from escaping.  Additional spells were flung out by the Control Class, but nothing stuck as they couldn’t compete with his Enthrallment of the Local Legion, and soon enough even that stopped as the Mage placed the Mana-sucking cloth bag over his head. 

Sadia had already instructed Loc’ra’toda to untie the cords keeping Thaden bound to the metal chair, and less than a minute later, he was able to stand up, freed from his confinement.  He stretched, feeling a little stiff from the position he had been forced to maintain, and looked around at his new minions.  He wasn’t necessarily planning on doing anything with them, but they were technically his to do with for the moment.

Though that moment might not be that long.  Already, he could feel something coming from everyone under his control but Zarin, as they seemed to be fighting back against his control – something that he hadn’t encountered until that point.  Either Zarin was unable to fight back, or didn’t have the ability to altogether, but he could sense that the others were eventually going to break free.  He sensed that even casting Enthrall again or switching it to either Dominate Spirit or Befriend Spirit wouldn’t have a significant effect.  They were going to eventually break free, no matter what he did.

Looking toward the exit, he made a decision.

“Dropping Major Subjugation Aura,” he told her.  He needed his Mana pool back, and 40% being reserved for the Subjugation Aura spell was taking a huge chunk of it away.  He didn’t need it for this next part, anyway. 

Using Celestial Spirit Lock, he cast it with a wide-area effect on all of the Local Legion, and he felt it take hold on all of those that he already had control of.  With his bonuses, the normal 15 minutes that they would be locked-down was increased to just over 82 minutes in an ideal situation.  He could only hope that they would be frozen in place for at least 10 minutes so that he could get far enough away from them that they couldn’t recapture him. 

The only one the spell didn’t activate on was Darvo, further cementing the fact that he had some sort of immunity to it, but as he was unconscious under the cloth bag, he wasn’t too worried about him.

“Come on, Sadia.  Let’s go.”

Enthralled Healer Cover Sneak Peek!

Here is the cover for my newest series, the 2nd Healer arc, which is titled Enthralled Healer! I'll probably be putting it up for pre-order once I finish the story, which I expect will publish toward the end of February.

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Bat’la’hera nodded toward the metal framework of a chair they had created shortly before, and Zarin quickly and efficiently placed the unconscious Human on the structure, quickly using his surprisingly deft set of 6 hands to tie him down around his ankles, knees, waist, upper chest, elbows, wrists, and neck.  The steel cord he used was thin but virtually unbreakable to anyone with less than 2,000 Physicality, which their captive was extremely unlikely to possess given that he was a Support Class.  At most, she thought that he might have 100 in the stat, depending on his specific Class and equipment bonuses, but it couldn’t possibly be too much more than that.

Narden closed the door behind him as he gave her a look that informed her that no one had seen the sudden capture of the Human, or at least there didn’t seem to be any particular outcry at the apprehension.  He joined the others that had retreated along the benches of the stone-walled basement that they had commandeered from a local warehouse on the Teglir city docks.  The dimly lit room was well-enough hidden from casual inspection that she suspected that it was used to store less-than-legal goods, but they weren’t there to investigate such infractions; in return for keeping its presence quiet, the owner of the warehouse graciously let them use it for whatever purpose they wished.

Hopefully, this won’t take too long.  Once we get the information we need from him, we won’t have any reason to stay.

Everyone was silent as she stared at the covered head of the Human, who was quite different from what she remembered just a few days ago.  She could barely reconcile the Level 3 individual that had fled from them rather than stay in the town of Purbooth after he was asked to stick around in case they had more questions – and that was before they learned that he was a very high-Ranking member of the Adventurer’s Coalition.  She looked at the nametag and glanced at Narden a second time, to confirm that this was, indeed, their quarry, who only nodded in response.

Thaden {Densartis Faction}

Human

Level 34

First off, his previous non-Faction status had changed, and he now belonged to the Densartis Faction – which wasn’t really a surprise, as he wouldn’t be let into the city without that designation – but there was a strange feel to it when she looked at the label on his nametag.  She wasn’t sure what it meant, as she’d never felt before, but it was almost like it was a label in name only – as if it didn’t mean anything.

Secondly, and most importantly, Thaden had somehow gained 31 Levels since she’d seen him in Purbooth.  That was only a week ago, wasn’t it?  No, I’m getting my timelines all messed up from all the travel; it was only two days since Purbooth, and 3 days since Felith was destroyed.  How?

Gaining more than a single Level in a day wasn’t impossible, especially at lower Levels, but she’d never heard of anyone gaining more than 8 Levels in such a short period of time, and that was only because they had participated in a fight against an extremely high Level monster when they were still under Level 5.  But for someone to gain just over 30 Levels in a matter of 2 days?  Something just didn’t add up, and it made it even more imperative that she talk to this Human so that she could get to the bottom of it.  Not just to find out about Felith, but to discover how this person was both a high-Ranking member of the Coalition and could jump in Level so quickly that it had to be some sort of mistake. 

Walking toward the bound captive, she grabbed the top of the Mana Negation Hood that had covered his head, feeling the tingling of its effects through her fingertips.  She ignored the sensation even as she felt her Mana temporarily bottom out from simply touching it; while in contact with the Hood, her Mana was drained and any ambient Mana was prevented from entering her body, essentially cutting off her Mana regeneration.  The Hood was a special and important tool given to the members of the Local Legion as a way they could investigate and bring to justice those who flaunted the Aroxis Empire’s laws, as very few people could fight back while completely drained of Mana.  Fortunately, the recipe of its creation was a secret even to the members of the Local Legion, which made its widespread use very limited, as it could theoretically be used for nefarious purposes, and its use wasn’t subjective, meaning that even those that used it would experience the same effects as those on whom it was used.   

Expecting the drain, as she’d handled the Mana Negation Hood plenty of times as a member of the Local Legion, Bat was able to fight off the effects.  Unconsciousness was the hardest side-effect to fight off, as having her Mana drained instantly had a profound effect on the body, but through practice and focus she was fully capable of handling it.  That, and she dropped the Hood into the Human’s lap a second after handling it, so she immediately felt Mana rush back into her as her regeneration kicked back in, which firmed-up her unsteady legs almost instantly.

The removal of the Mana Negation Hood showed the drooping head of the Human, who certainly appeared almost identical as what she remembered in Purbooth, though he had recently acquired some equipment from the shop known as Vital Support, a largely black ensemble that had a much better aesthetic compared to his peasant-like outfit from before.  From Narden’s investigation, she knew that it had to have cost at least a few hundred Gold to suddenly acquire the new equipment, which was suspicious for someone who was only Level 3 a couple of days before, and he certainly hadn’t had anything like it when they observed him arriving the night before in the company of a Party – who had all been Level 21, while the Human had been Level 15.  She didn’t have any information on what Level the members of his Party were now, but for him to have gained an additional 19 Levels, it was possible that they had also gained quite a few. 

They weren’t important, though, or at least not yet; they would only be investigated as potential accomplices if it turned out that the Human had something to do with the destruction of Felith.

As she knew it would, removing the Hood from the head of the Human also removed the secondary effect that was keeping him unconscious, and he immediately began to stir.  For those with higher Levels and stats, keeping them under the Hood’s influence was a bit sketchy at best, as it tended to wear off after a short time, but even if their captive had been a higher Level, they had moved quickly enough that there would’ve been no chance for him to wake up.

She saw him stiffen as he came to, immediately straining at his restraints, but with no visible result – not that she expected him to be able to bust out.  Even Zarin, which his impressive musculature and high Physicality stat, could easily break those cords, though she was convinced that he could do it if given enough time.  The Human, on the other hand, had not even a sliver of chance.

“We meet again, Human.”  Bat began walking around their bound captive as she spoke, and she could only smile as his head whipped up and looked at her with more than a bit of fear clouding his eyes.  “You gave us a good chase, but you had to understand that we would eventually find you.”

“What—,” he began to ask, but he coughed a few times, the cord around his neck likely slightly too tight and was affecting his throat.  Fortunately, he appeared to have enough Physicality that it wasn’t actually harming him.  “What did you do?  Where am I?  Why am I here?”

“Unfortunately for you, you’re in no position to ask questions.  Instead, you’re here to answer them.”

He didn’t say anything in response and instead closed his mouth as if he wasn’t going to speak any further.  

“First question: Why did you run?  You knew we wanted you to stick around to answer any other questions, but it appears as though you fled as soon as you could.”

When he didn’t respond after a few seconds, she glanced at Darvo, and the Control Class member of their Local Legion Party wordlessly began casting his spell.  As she saw a glow surround the captive Human, there was a brief moment when the temporary mind-control didn’t appear to take, but then the spell finally took effect.  This wasn’t something Darvo cast very often on people, as it was technically illegal in the Empire, but there were specific times when it was approved: To save someone’s life or during a necessary interrogation important to an investigation.

“Let me ask you again.  Why did you run?”

There was no hesitation as the Human answered.  “Because there was a chance that you would interrupt my mission.”

Now, that was a surprise.  “What mission?”

“I’m sorry; please clarify your question.”

I forgot, he’s one of those types – even under mind-control, it seems.  “What mission were you on that we would supposedly ‘interrupt’?”

“To investigate the reports of sudden infusions of System energy leading to catastrophic consequences.  I can sense when and where these infusions may occur, and I was on a timetable that I couldn’t allow you to mess with.”

This was not anything like she expected, and she glanced at Narden to see if he was telling the truth.  She only got a nod in return, which wasn’t surprising given that he was under Darvo’s control.  “Catastrophic consequences?  Do you mean the attack by the Scorching Quizards who destroyed Felith?”

“Yes.”

“And you knew there would be a ‘infusion of System energy’ there?”

“Not entirely; like I said, I seem to have the ability to sense when and where they may occur, though it isn’t always accurate.”

She tapped her finger against her chin in thought.  “Was that why you were in Felith in the first place?”

“No.  That was simply where I was sent.”

“The Coalition sent you?”

“No.”

When there was no further explanation, she pushed down her frustration.  “Who sent you?”

“The Assimilation System.”

Again, that wasn’t the answer she was expecting.  Another glance at Narden confirmed that he was telling the truth, or at least so he believed.

“The System sent you?  I find that hard to believe.”

“Yes.”

Resolving to get back to that later, she returned to the reason they had needed to talk to the Human in the first place.  “What else can you tell us about what happened at Felith that you didn’t tell us before?”

“I told you everything I knew before, other than the presence of an infusion of System energy inside the town the day before it was destroyed.”

Not what I wanted to hear.  “And you have no idea where the Scorching Quizards came from?”

“Nothing definite; only suspicions.”

Needing clarification, she asked, “What suspicions regarding the origin of the Scorching Quizards do you have?”

“That they came from someone or something perverting the System energy that I detected, which formed them out of sight of the town and dispersed just as quickly once they were done.”

“Insanity.  Nothing, not even the Persistent Adversary, can take control of the System’s energy and do something like that.  Your suspicions are false,” she stated, unwavering in her conviction and belief in the System over all.  “Any other suspicions relating to this incident?”

“No.”

We’re no closer to an answer than we were before.  Annoyed, she asked, “Are you really a Platinum+ Ranked Adventurer’s Coalition member?”

“Yes.”

“How did you accomplish that?  You were only Level 3 when we saw you; that shouldn’t be possible for someone so low-Level.”

As had been the case since Darvo started mind-controlling him, there was no hesitation in his answer.  “I wasn’t always such a low Level.  The process in the which the System transferred me here had a steep price, which was to remove my Level progress and extra stats, all of my Achievements, and even some memories.  Unfortunately, it was necessary to complete my mission.”

For the first time in centuries, Bat’la’hera was so shocked that she couldn’t help her mouth from opening in surprise, and she was speechless for nearly 30 seconds – which felt like a lifetime.  Snapping her mouth shut, she didn’t even look at Narden to confirm the Human was telling the truth, as she was convinced that he would’ve said something if he detected any falsehood.

“Who were you and what Level were you before.”

Shaking his head, which was tough to do with how he was restrained, the Human delivered an unsatisfying answer.  “I don’t know.  Those are some of the memories that were removed.”

“Where were you before coming here?”

Again, he professed not to know as his memories were removed.  She hadn’t been aware that the Assimilation System could do something like that, but it was powerful enough that she didn’t doubt that it could if it felt as if it was necessary.

For the first time, Loc’ra’toda spoke up, having been quiet through the entire interrogation with the others.  “How… how strong are you, really?  You didn’t mention that your spells were removed along with your Levels and stats.”

Bat had missed that.  “Very strong,” the Human replied in a matter-of-fact voice. 

As much as I want to investigate that statement, this is getting us nowhere.  He might have a mission, but so do we.  “So, if you have no any other further information about what happened in Felith, what do you suggest we do to discover the culprit behind it?”

“You never asked me why I came to Teglir,” he answered, of course with no further explanation.

It was at that moment that she began to put some things together.  “You said that you couldn’t allow us to delay you in Purbooth, which was why you fled.  Was this where you needed to get to so quickly?”

“Yes.”

“And is it because you suspect that there will be a—wait, are you talking about the pulse of System energy we felt last night?”  She couldn’t believe she had forgotten about it.  They had dismissed it after sensing it, as it had seemed strange but not harmful, but if the Human was telling the truth….

“Exactly.”

“So, according to you, the acute presence of System energy will produce catastrophic consequences, such as what happened in Felith?”

For the first time, he hesitated before answering.  “No, not exactly.”

“No?  What do you mean by that?  Do you think you are mistaken?”

“I’m not mistaken.  It’s just that the infusion of System energy here was much greater than what occurred in Felith.  Therefore, the consequences will likely be substantially more intense.”

When the Human said that last word, she felt a jolt of alarm shoot through her entire body.  Pushing aside her concerns, she had to compose herself for a moment before she asked, “That is still to be seen.  Regardless of whether these ‘catstrophic consequences’ occur here, are you any closer to discovering who or what is behind what happened in Felith?”

“Not yet.  I need more information as well as to observe more instances of this phenomenon to come to a viable conclusion.”

Before she could ask anything else, Loc spoke up again.  “How long do you suspect it will be before these consequences could potentially appear?”

Turning his head toward Loc, the Human said, “I don’t know.  Could be in the next minute, or it could be a week from now.  As I said, I need more information, as these are the first instances that I have observed.”

“Are you saying that there are more attacks like this happening elsewhere?” Bat asked, taking the reins back in the interrogation.

He hesitated again, visibly searching for the answer in his mind.  “Perhaps?  I suspect there are others because of why I was sent here, but if I had once known that to be the case, I don’t have those memories any longer.”

“I see.  Do you have any other information that may be pertinent to our investigation?”

“I don’t believe so.”

“Very well.”  She made a signal with her hand toward Darvo, who immediately canceled his mind-control spell, showing a little exhaustion from keeping it active for that long.  Almost instantly, the glow around the Human disappeared.

Blinking more than a few times as he shook his head, their captive seemed to come back to himself.  “What did you do?  Were you controlling my mind somehow?” he asked, clearly angry by the furious expression on his face.

“I apologize for your treatment, but it was necessary to get the information we needed.”

He scoffed, which caused him to cough again.  “And now you’re going to let me go, right?  You can’t keep me here!”

While they had obtained some of the information they needed, this Human was a treasure trove of secrets.  She still wanted to ask him more in-depth questions about how he was able to Level-up so quickly, as well as some clearer definitions of just how strong he was, which meant keeping him safe and secure a little longer – or at least until they could confirm that he wasn’t directly involved in the attack at Felith, as there was still no absolute proof that he wasn’t the source of the System energy infusions. 

“We’ll let you go as soon as you prove to no longer be useful.  For now, you’re going to be held here in this safe and secure location.  Regardless of whether or not the System sent you here, we have a job to do, and to prevent you escaping from our clutches again, you’re under our absolute control.”

Rather than protest further, the Human’s facial features froze, before a slow smile spread across his mouth.  “Am I?  Are you sure of that?”

Bat’la’hera shivered for a split-second before the impossible happened.

Their captive, who should’ve been completely drained of Mana, somehow cast a spell.

Plans for Jan 25-30

Only 1 chapter today, as the next one is longer than I expected it to be! Next week, I'm expecting to finish the book by Friday, and I don't have any other plans but to write :)

As a reminder, once I finish writing it, I'll be releasing chapters for my $2 and $5 Patrons leading up to its publication on Kindle, which will likely be toward the end of February.

Plans for next week:

Sunday-Friday: Writing Healer Arc 2 Book 1

Have a great weekend!

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 32

Chapter 32

An additional 300 points or so in his Celerity stat, which practically tripled what he had before he’d gone through his last round of messages, made a huge difference in how fast Thaden could move.  Of course, he couldn’t simply run down Glory’s Passage with abandon, where he might run into people at incredible speeds, but his additional speed and surefootedness certainly helped him to move through the crowds filling the thoroughfare without having to slow down one bit.  He was easily able to move at what would’ve been his top running speed if he was still back on Earth, and despite the speed, there was no chance that he was going to run into anyone because he was in full control. 

Because of his speed, it felt like he’d barely started running before he made it to the area where he remembered the shop he’d been thinking of was located.  Sure enough, as he slowed down and looked around, Vital Support was right where he thought it was.  He wasted no time in entering it, feeling same strange ward that apparently prevented theft, but he ignored the sensation as he began looking at the items for sale.  While there appeared to be a few things that had likely sold since the last time he’d been there, for the most part everything he remembered seeing before was still in stock.  He did a quick check around to see if he was missing anything, either new or overlooked before because it hadn’t been on his radar due to its Level Restriction, before he moved over to a display that held what he was probably going to end up getting.

As he looked over the display and did a count of what was available, seeing that it wasn’t a completely full set of equipment.  There were no accessories, which would include a ring, necklace, and armlet, but was something for all of his other “equipment slots”: robe, boots, gloves, belt, cape, headpiece, and mask.  He didn’t see any type of focus stone that he could hold in his hand, either, so he figured he would have to look in some of the accessory shops to round out his repertoire – or simply go back to the Coalition Market and spend a little more there to find everything in the same place.  He needed to unload a bunch of stuff from his Inventory, anyway, so he decided to simply make it easier on himself and head there after his purchases at Vital Support.

He quickly touched each item to confirm that they were the same as the last time he’d been in the shop, and he nodded in satisfaction with each one he looked at.

Black Manaweave Robe of Concentration

Rarity: Rare

Class Restrictions: Support

Level Restriction: 30

Physical Damage Resistance: 4

Magical Damage Resistance: 12

+15 Mentality

+5 Celerity

+3% Reduction in Support spell Mana cost

Dark Grey Infused Hide Boots of Swiftness

Rarity: Rare

Class Restrictions: Support

Level Restriction: 30

Physical Damage Resistance: 5

Magical Damage Resistance: 8

+5 Mentality

+15 Celerity

+18% Increase in Support spell casting speed

Black Manaweave Gloves of Manipulation

Rarity: Rare

Class Restrictions: Support

Level Restriction: 30

Physical Damage Resistance: 2

Magical Damage Resistance: 9

+20 Mentality

+9% increase in Support spell effectiveness

Gold-threaded Manaweave Belt of Healing

Rarity: Rare

Class Restrictions: Support

Level Restriction: 30

Physical Damage Resistance: 1

Magical Damage Resistance: 2

+10 Mentality

+10 Celerity

+30% increase to healing from spells and effects

Grey-striped Black Manaweave Cape of Protection

Rarity: Rare

Class Restrictions: Support

Level Restriction: 30

Physical Damage Resistance: 1

Magical Damage Resistance: 3

+5 Physicality

+5 Celerity

+5 Mentality

+3% Reduction in all damage taken

Black Manaweave Beret of Enduring

Rarity: Rare

Class Restrictions: Support

Level Restriction: 30

Physical Damage Resistance: 1

Magical Damage Resistance: 4

+15 Mentality

+5 Celerity

+18% increase in Support spell duration

Dark-grey Manaweave Mask of Sight

Rarity: Rare

Class Restrictions: Support

Level Restriction: 30

Physical Damage Resistance: 0

Magical Damage Resistance: 1

+10 Mentality

+18% increase in Support spell range

The effects on each item was different, ranging from spell effectiveness to range of his Support spells, but the most important one to him was the Mana cost reduction on the Black Manaweave Robe of Concentration.  He would’ve like to see it with a higher reduction, as it was only at 3%, but if he was to transfer the CAMP to it, he could boost that to a total of 18% once the effects were quintupled.  Nearly a 20% in Mana cost reduction for his Support spells would make a huge difference in what he could cast when it came to his Celestial-strength spells from Fortunate Catastrophe. 

As for the overall aesthetic of the set of equipment, it was almost entirely full of a black or dark-grey cloth that was apparently called Manaweave, and it gave whole look a very sleek and dangerous vibe, which was quite a bit of a departure from what he was used to seeing.  Usually, healing and Support-based gear was bright and flashy, as if it could somehow portray the purity and selflessness of someone in a Support Class; to have dark-grey and black as the main colors of the ensemble was a welcome change – and he thought it was just perfect for someone with a Thrall Commander Class.

“I see you are admiring the Manaweave set,” came a voice from behind him, and he wasn’t surprised to see the same older, hunched-over Netherine that had spoke to him the first time he’d been in the shop.  What did surprise him was how strong the crafter was, who he could now see was Level 103.

Thaden nodded, before turning back to the equipment he was planning on buying.  “I am.  From the prices posted, it looks like all 7 of these would set me back 280 Gold; is there any room to negotiate?” he asked, knowing that he still had some accessories and a focus stone to buy after these purchases.

“No; these prices are firm, as they are based on the materials used in their construction as well as my labor.  Do you know which effects you are looking for the most, as well as which color you prefer?  These are our technically our display models, giving you an idea of what is possible to add to each custom piece.”

“Oh.  That sounds much better, to be honest.  How long would it take for custom work?”

He could see the Netherine run back to the front counter, look at something in a book laid out on the countertop, before running back to him.  Without his increased stats, he probably wouldn’t have seen him move at all, as the older Netherine’s Celerity was obviously quite high.  “I’m currently booked for the next four weeks, but if I have any cancellations, I can possibly slide you in a little earlier.”

Four weeks!  I can’t wait that long.  “I can’t wait that long, unfortunately.  I’ll just take these,” Thaden said, waving at the equipment on display. 

“Are you sure?  The effects are quite varied and not as cohesive as they could be.”

He nodded. 

“Very well.  Unfortunately, as these are my display stock and I will have to replace these in order to have something to show, they will require an additional charge.  However,” he held up his hand to stop Thaden’s protest, “I’m willing to take some crafting materials in trade to offset some, or even all, of the cost.  Do you have anything that I might be interested in?”

Thaden smiled, glad that he hadn’t stopped off at the Coalition Market to simply offload all of the extra stuff in his Inventory before coming to the Vital Support shop.  “I’m not sure what you might want, but I have a fairly full Inventory of stuff that I can show you.”

The older Netherine, whose nametag actually read Master Threaver, took him over to the counter and had him start laying out whatever he thought the crafter might be interested.  Almost immediately, Master Threaver looked excited about the Beezard Thoraxes, Flower Petals, and even the glass vials of Beezard Honey (the acidic goo that the Spitters expelled) that he put on the counter – but he was especially enthusiastic about the quantity of what Thaden had available.  He wasn’t interested in any of the weapons or equipment that he’d picked up, so Thaden knew he’d be offloading it at the Market later, but he was more than willing to make a deal for all of other crafting materials. 

“If you don’t mind me asking, how did you acquire all of these materials?  From their quality, I would suspect that they came from monsters around 10 to 15 Levels higher than your own.”

There was miraculously no one else shopping inside the shop at this time of day, so Thaden bent over the counter and told the old crafter, “Let’s just say that I have a particular set of skills that makes me a nightmare for higher-Level dungeons.  In fact, just yesterday I was only Level 15,” he added with a wink.  He figured that word would get out about him at some point, as he made no pains to disguise his original Level when he arrived and what it was now – plus his Party members would also likely be showing off their rapid rise in Level, so there was very little point in trying to hide it. 

“Really?  My Accurate Negotiation ability tells me you’re telling the truth, but I find that hard to believe.” 

“It’s true, though I don’t necessarily want to advertise that fact.  Here, let me show you what I got off the Level 70 Boss,” he said, wanting to show off a little.  Thaden then brought out each piece he’d acquired from the massive bush Boss, each of which had a Level Restriction of Level 55.

“Amazing!  These give me a few ideas for my own work… but I can also see why you’re content with my display models.  If you’re telling the truth about how fast you can rise in Levels, then you’ll only need them for a short time before you can wear these.”  Master Threaver was silent for a moment as Thaden put away the items he was showing off.  “Tell you what, I’ll take these crafting materials in trade along with, say, 15 Gold, and they’re all yours.”

“Take the deal.  Those materials aren’t worth nearly that much.  You must have impressed him.”

Thaden pretended to think about it for a few seconds, before he nodded and pulled out 15 Gold from his Inventory.  Handing it over, his coinage along with all of the materials on the counter disappeared into the crafter’s own Inventory, and within the next minute he was wearing his new purchases.  It felt good wearing proper equipment again, and he wasted no time transferring Sadia’s CAMP from the Explosive Healing Ring to his new Robe so that he could take advantage of the Mana cost reduction for Support spells.

“What is that?” the crafter asked, having seen Thaden manipulating the Mimicry Plate during the transfer.

“Ah, that’s a bit of secret, but seeing that we’re friends, I’ll give you a little hint.  It’s a special item imprinted to me that enhances one of the items I wear.”  He didn’t really want to explain any more than that.

“I’ve heard of things like that existing, but I’ve never seen one.  How effective is the enhancement?” Master Threaver asked, curiously.  Thaden was a little wary of saying anything, but he didn’t sense any malice or greed in the old crafter.  It would also be the first time he’d told anyone about the Plate, but he felt like he could trust the Netherine.

“It, uh, quintuples the effects of any piece of equipment.”

Master Threaver took a step back and clutched at his chest, his mouth wide in shock.  “What?  How?  That shouldn’t be possible—”  The crafter suddenly froze as Thaden felt a pulse of energy coming from the CAMP on his Robe, before Master Threaver’s knees hit the floor and he pitched over toward his face.  Thankfully, Thaden was quick enough to catch him before the old Netherine could faceplant.

“Whoa, did he just have a heart attack?  Is that even possible for those with a high enough Physicality?”

“It shouldn’t be possible.  I wonder if it has anything to do with the Condensed Adaptable Mimicry Plate?” 

Regardless of how it happened, it appeared as if Master Threaver was dying.  Thankfully, Sadia helped him out by rapidly searching through his spell list and found that he had finally brought his Mana pool high enough to cast at least one of healing spells.

Celestial Regeneration (Single Cast): Grants a target continuous healing energy that replenishes Health for a limited time.

Healing Rate: 66% of maximum Health every 5 seconds; heals 198% [99%] of maximum Health after duration expires

Duration: 90 seconds

Number of Targets: 1

Range: 180 feet

Casting Time: Instant

Mana Cost: 5400 

There was a delay between him casting it and it taking effect, especially with his Delayed Satisfaction Advancement, but thankfully the old crafter didn’t die within the next 10 seconds.  As a result, his Celestial Regeneration spell – and old standby that he had missed having access to – was able to work, healing nearly 800% of the Netherine’s maximum Health every 5 seconds due to Thaden’s bonuses.

Even that didn’t completely cure him of what was happening, but Thaden could tell that his spell was making a difference.  It was almost as if the crafter was on the verge of death and his healing was gradually dragging him back; his Health was full, but that didn’t seem to make a difference in what was affecting him.  Over the next minute, however, Master Threaver recovered more and more, until he could move again normally.  Thaden could see that he would be fine after another few minutes.

“What… happened?  Why do I… why do I feel like I almost died?  Why are you holding me?  And how is your healing spell so powerful?”

Thaden brought the old Netherine back to his feet before he answered.  “You collapsed for some reason, and I was barely able to heal you in time to save you from death.  What do you remember?”

Master Threaver shook his head a few times, as if trying to clear it, before he answered.  “I remember concluding our deal at the counter and then bringing you over to your new purchases… but the rest is blank until I woke up with you holding me.”

That’s… interesting.  Perhaps Sadia is correct about the Plate doing this.  I guess this means I should never mention it again.  “That’s concerning.  How are you feeling now?”

Taking a deep breath, the crafter said, “Much better.  I don’t know what happened, but I thank you for saving my life.  If there is anything I can do for you, please let me know.  If you want a discount or even your money back—”

“It was my pleasure to help you,” Thaden replied.  “Don’t worry about it; I was just doing what us Supports should be doing, right?”  He really didn’t need to take advantage of a situation that he likely caused in the first place by mentioning the CAMP.  That was extremely weird; yet something else to talk to Sadia about later, if she even knows anything.

The old crafter bowed low, which didn’t look comfortable given his normal hunched-over form, but fortunately he didn’t hold it for long.  “Thank you.  I will remember your kindness.”

Growing a little uncomfortable with the situation, Thaden quickly extracted himself and left the shop, still thinking about what happened.  At the same time, he learned that he now had enough Mana to cast at least one of his older Support spells; once he had time to stop and look through the rest of them, he was eager to see what kinds of capabilities he’d just gotten back. 

Both ecstatic over his recent purchases and confused over what happened with the CAMP and his mention of it to someone else, Thaden left the shop and made his way back down Glory’s Passage on a mission to unload the rest of his extra Inventory in the Market, where he would then pick up some accessories to complete his ensemble.

Now that his original panic at getting some equipment in time before a possible attack on the city came was largely alleviated, Thaden took his time walking back to the Coalition building.  With a more leisurely pace, he was able to think about what that attack might look like – and what he might be able to do about it.  While he could control monsters that were higher Level than him, possibly even ones that were over Level 100 by that point, he wasn’t sure if he could handle something like the Scorching Quizards that were mentioned having been what destroyed Felith.  If they were Level 200 or higher, the Level disparity and any resistances they had to his control would make it difficult to do anything to them.  Unfortunately, he was also aware that his main method of dealing damage on Tarth, Celestial Wild Health Leech, was still out of his grasp, as it required a little over 30,000 Mana to cast – and he didn’t really have any viable targets to control nearby.

He would rather not test controlling other people, as the jury was still out on the long-term effects of those he controlled, not to mention the image doing so would present to those who saw him basically enslaving others.  There had to be another solution, though he probably wouldn’t know what it was until he saw what they were up against.

He was just beginning to cautiously look through his spell list, looking for some older ones that he could now cast, when he heard something scrape across the ground behind him and Sadia shouted into his mind.

“Look out—!”

Unfortunately, even with his increase in Celerity, it wasn’t enough for him to react in time as he felt some sort of dark cloth slip over his head like a pillowcase – and he fell to the ground a second later, obliviously unconscious. 

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Thaden stretched with a big yawn as he woke up feeling relaxed and physically recovered, although he was quite hungry – and then his mind began to panic as it remembered what had happened during his Class Evolution.  His eyes snapped open as he sat up, finding Sadia sitting next to the bed staring at him.

“Sadia!  You should’ve woken me up!  Who knows how much time we have?!” he practically shouted as he threw himself out of the bed, momentarily tripping as he tried to accustom himself to the recent changes in his stats.  He fell to a knee for a half-second before picking himself up, already heading for the door.

His squirrel companion was next to him in a flash.  “I tried, but I don’t think anything but this building collapsing on you would’ve woken you up,” she explained.  “Besides, you probably wouldn’t have been functional without the coma-like sleep you’d just enjoyed.”

Thaden stopped with his hand on the doorknob.  “I was out that deeply?”  He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been that far gone that someone trying to wake him up had failed.

“Yes, but at least you seem better now.”

He had to agree with her there.  Mentally feeling his body, he couldn’t detect a trace of the exhaustion that he’d suffered after his experience with the Class Evolution.  He was hungry, as he hadn’t had a chance to eat anything the night before, but that could be easily solved by something from his Inventory.  Which reminded him that he needed to unload a bunch of stuff he’d picked up in the dungeon, though fortunately it wasn’t a pressing need; the recent Level-ups had led to a much larger personal Inventory space than before – perhaps twice as large, or even larger.  He couldn’t spend a long time looking at it, however, because there were more pressing matters.

“What time is it?  Has there been any sign of… you know?” he asked, even as he passed through the doorway leading to the outside hallway.  Sadia started following him before she dematerialized and entered the CAMP, as she was still a strange sight to those in the Coalition, not to mention the city. 

“It’s about an hour after dawn, and I don’t believe there’s been anything yet.  It’s not like I can go out and start asking questions, though, so I could be mistaken.”

She made a good point, and he apologized for his unconsciously demanding tone.  “You’re right.  There’s more important things to consider, anyway.”  Thaden practically raced through the hallway, beginning his trek through the maze of living quarters that filled the majority of the Coalition building, eventually reaching the ground floor and the lobby.  “I need to warn those in power of the potential threat that’s coming.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?  What if they don’t believe you or blame you for it?”

Thaden didn’t stop moving as he made his way to Coalition desk he was looking for.  “It’s probably not the smartest thing to do, especially considering that it’s at least partially my fault for calling the System’s attention to me here in the city, but I’m not going to let everyone here die because I didn’t do everything I could to warn them.  Felith’s destruction is enough on my conscience that I don’t want to add one more thing.”

“It might not even be necessary.  The walls are reinforced enough to be able to repel strong monsters, and the general Level of the Guards here are probably high enough to handle something like the Scorching Quizards that demolished Felith.” 

“That might be so, but it would ease my conscience to warn someone in charge, nonetheless.  That’s literally the least I could do in this situation, and if it doesn’t turn out to be necessary, then I’ll still feel like I’ve done what was needed.”

Thaden was distracted slightly as he made his way through the crowded lobby, as something seemed to have changed with his perception of the various Adventurers he passed.  Whereas he’d previously had difficulty telling the Levels of anyone that was much higher-Level than he was, now he couldn’t see anyone that showed question marks on their nametags.  He even saw a few Level 80s, though there were only a few that were that high, but it showed that he wasn’t just limited to the 10-Level or so limit that he’d struggled with before when looking at other people.

He did his best to ignore the influx of information flooding into his eyeballs, as he finally arrived at the New Arrivals desk – and saw a familiar face. 

Cutting through the line, to the shock and anger of the dozen or so people waiting to check in, he interrupted the familiar Netherine, Wyrdla, as she was explaining something to the Aelveen across from her.  “Sorry to butt in, but I really need to speak with Eleria,” he said quickly, overtalking the complaint that started to emerge from the Aelveen’s mouth.  “It’s an extreme emergency.”

The Coalition representative was momentarily taken aback, before she quickly nodded and then apologized to the member she was talking to.  “Hold just a moment, please; I’ll have Jogun finish the process with you.”  With that, she flipped up a portion of the counter and beckoned him forward, even as she eyed another Coalition rep sitting at a desk about a dozen feet behind the counters.  Jogun looked confused for a moment before he eyed Thaden, and after visibly blanching, he immediately ran to the counter and was already helping the Aelveen new arrival before Thaden and Wyrdla had gone 30 feet.

Instead of a leisurely walk through the bowels of Coalition bureaucracy, Wyrdla ran, looking back at him a few times in surprise that he was able to keep up with her.  Even though his recent Celerity increases were substantial and he hadn’t had much practice accustoming himself to the changes, he’d had enough experience with various stages of Celerity bonuses on Tarth that it was easy enough to adjust.

It took only 15 seconds before they arrived at a familiar door, and even though Wyrdla quickly knocked, she didn’t wait for a response before she entered with him right on her heels.  “I apologize for the interruption—” she began to say, but Thaden pushed past her to deflect any punishment that might be coming her way.

The first thing he saw when he could take in the large office of the Teglir Branch Coalition Leader was that Eleria wasn’t alone.  What did surprise him, but probably shouldn’t have, was that Flarenia and Lovinia were the other ones in the room.  Seeing them pulled him up short, but it only lasted a second before he collected himself.

“Thank you, Wyrdla, I’ll take it from here.  You may go,” the Coalition Leader said, and not more than a second later, the Representative was closing the door behind him.  “And now, what, pray tell, can I help you with, Thaden?  As you can see, I was already a bit occupied this morning.” 

If she was annoyed that Thaden had found out that she had a personal connection to the twins, she didn’t show it.  For their part, Flarenia and Lovinia appeared somewhat embarrassed or perhaps guilty, but he ignored their reactions to his appearance as he focused on Eleria and why he’d barged into her office in the first place.

“Did any of you detect the presence of System energy in the area last night?” he asked, rather than blurting out something that would immediately make him sound like a crazy person. 

“You would’ve had to have been dead not to have felt that, Thaden.  I already spent the entirety of the night trying to figure out what it meant, but all the experts on the System in the city tell me that it means nothing.”

Shaking his head, he crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned up against the wall, suddenly tired and slightly overwhelmed from the responsibility of having to tell her something she probably wasn’t going to want to hear.  Even though it was his choice to do this, that didn’t mean he didn’t feel the weight of the entire thing on his back.  “Unfortunately, that’s not entirely true.  We most likely have a serious problem.”

“With all due respect for your Rank, I am more inclined to believe the experts in this situation more than a young Human that only arrived in the area recently.  Even if you are obviously very powerful, more so than I expected, and have gained a flood of Levels in the last day, that doesn’t mean you know what you’re talking about.”

Before Thaden could respond, Flarenia – of all people – spoke up on his behalf.  “I believe him, Great Grandmother.  I’m sure he knows what he’s talking about.”

For the first time, he actually looked at their Levels, and he wasn’t surprised to see that they had both reached Level 35; it was higher than his own, of course, as he’d spent some of his PICK on increasing the Level of his other Class, but he was expecting it to be higher.  He knew that they should’ve received the 30% bonus to rewards, but it was possible that they either didn’t get some of the Achievements or didn’t get any of the 300% increases from his bonus trait.  Regardless, 19 Levels in one day was likely a record on Plangea, though there was unfortunately no Achievement for it.

Eleria’s gaze left Thaden’s and focused on her great granddaughters.  “Oh?  You would take his side over those more experienced in these matters?  You just met him yesterday; how is it possible that you trust his word over those that I am sure have much more knowledge than him?”

Lovinia answered for the twins.  “Because he’s our friend.”

The hair on the back of his neck rose as he heard her say “friend,” as he remembered the creepy feeling he’d experienced when he saw the Class of the same name during his Evolution.  Lovinia also said it with such conviction that it made him uneasy, as if such a thing was so obvious that she felt like it was ridiculous that she had to even say it out loud.

“I guess now we know it wasn’t just a temporary condition.”

While it was probably good to know that, at the moment it was the least of his concerns. 

“Your friend, huh?  I’m glad that you’ve made a friend outside of just the two of you, but this is something that simple friendship doesn’t exactly cover.”

Rather than wait for the twins to say something to make it even more awkward for him, Thaden scrambled back control of the conversation.  “Believe it or not, but I actually do know what I’m talking about.  Have you heard what recently became of the town of Felith?” he asked, and he finally saw her react as her eyes widened in a clear sign of recognition.  Not only that, but he also caught a tightening of her jaw, and while that didn’t mean much to him, Sadia was a different matter.

“She knows something.  Did you see the way her eyes flicked to the side after you said that, as well as the tightening of her jaw?  I’m betting she heard something about you being involved with Felith.  And I’ll give you five guesses as to where they heard that.”

He didn’t need more than a pair of guesses, because there were only two ways the Coalition Leader would know about that.  The first way was unlikely, because it involved the System itself somehow informing her of who he was and how he was involved in the destruction of Felith.  He highly doubted that the System would start telling people in high positions to start looking out for him, as it certainly wasn’t its way of dealing with problems.  It tended to take a more direct – and violently disruptive – approach.

Which only left one way Eleria could know about it, which was if the Local Legion he’d met back in Purbooth had somehow tracked him down and asked the Coalition Leader about him.  Or it was possible that they sent word to look out for him to the different branches of the Coalition, but from what he understood about the relationship between the Coalition and the Local Legion, he didn’t think this was the case.

“Ah, I see that you’ve heard what happened.  Or at least the version that the Local Legion wanted you to know.  I assume that they were here looking for me to ask questions?”

Eleria was silent for a few seconds, her teeth grinding together, before she answered.  “Yes,” she admitted.  “They told me that they were looking for you to ask you some questions about what happened in Felith.”   

“What happened in Felith?  Isn’t that a town to the south?” Flarenia asked, clearly confused at the whole conversation.

Thaden turned to the twins and gave them a quick explanation.  “It was destroyed and everyone inside the town slaughtered by powerful monsters that shouldn’t have been anywhere near there.”

“That’s… horrible.  But why do they think you have anything to do with it?”

He smiled.  “Because I was there.”

“So they were right,” Eleria stated.  “You have more information than you told them before, don’t you?”

Nodding, Thaden admitted, “I do.  I assume that they didn’t tell you why the monsters attacked, did they?”

The Coalition Leader hesitated for a second before answering, “No.  I had the impression that they didn’t know.”

Again nodding, as if this was what he expected, he began to explain.  “I’m sure you’ve wondered why a Platinum+ Ranked member of the Coalition is in the area, haven’t you?  Well, all I can tell you is that I am very sensitive to changes in energy, including the System’s energy, and it was in Felith that a large surge of System energy was detected.  Not more than a day later, the town was destroyed, and I 100% believe that the two are correlated.  And now with the surge of System energy here, I suspect that the city is about to face something equally devastating.”

While Eleria didn’t seem completely convinced, she did appear to seriously think over what he said.  “That still doesn’t explain what caused these surges of energy, nor how these strong monsters appeared where they shouldn’t have, nor why you didn’t tell all of this to Bat’la’hera and the Local Legion.”

Bat’la’hera?  That was the leader of that group in Purbooth, wasn’t it?  “While I don’t know precisely how these surges are happening, I have suspicions as to their source.  As for why I didn’t tell the Local Legion, it’s because of those aforementioned suspicions that I believe a rogue element is causing these things to happen, and I can’t trust the Local Legion.  For the monsters appearing, your guess is as good as mine.”

Everything he said was mostly true, in case she was testing him again, even if it wasn’t entirely accurate.  Most obviously, he was technically the rogue element, and even if he was the impetus behind the energy surges, he didn’t know exactly why or how they were happening. 

“I… see.  Any you believe that the System energy surge last night will lead to… what?  A bunch of strong monsters attacking the city?  A few Scorching Quizards will barely be a threat to the walls, as we’re much better defended here than a town like Felith was.”

“That’s honestly what I’m hoping, Eleria.  That whatever comes as a result of the energy surge is easily handled by the defenses here.”  He held up a hand to forestall a comment.  “However, I can tell you that the System energy surge here was far greater in magnitude than the one in Felith.  As a result, I can’t guarantee that only a few Scorching Quizards are going to show up.  It could be much, much worse and this is simply just a warning to be prepared.”  He paused for a moment as she took what he said in.  Shrugging his shoulders dramatically, he added, “Or I could be completely mistaken and you’re right – nothing is going to happen because of this.  But wouldn’t you rather waste a little time and some resources rather than take that chance?”

The Coalition Leader stared at Thaden for nearly a minute while he kept her gaze without blinking.  At the same time, out of the corner of his eye he could see the twins struggling to contain their questions, but the heavy feeling in the office made them stay quiet. 

Finally, Eleria sharply nodded a single time.  “Very well.  I will make some inquiries, advise the Baron of these developments, send out some specially picked Scout Classes, and start to make some quiet preparations if something does happen.  I don’t want to panic the entire city for no reason.”

“Fair enough.  I’m just here for the warning; the defense is going to be up to you.”

Now it was her turn to smile.  “Oh, no, it will be your responsibility, as well.  Or have you forgotten that you’re a Platinum+ Rank?  The Coalition requires your personal contribution to the defense, or your Rank will be nullified and your membership stripped from you entirely.”

Uh-oh.  Is that true? 

“I’m sorry, Thaden… I didn’t think of that.  On Plangea, for Coalition members that are Gold and higher, they must contribute to the defense of any nearby town or city if it is under attack by monsters.  The requirement doesn’t apply if it is an attack by another Faction’s members, but in this case I believe it will strip your Rank and membership from you if you run.  If you had made it back to Felith when the Scorching Quizards were still there, you would’ve been forced to attack them if you didn’t want to lose it all.”  

She answered him even though she couldn’t hear him, but he was glad to know that rule now.  What it meant was that he couldn’t run unless he wanted to lose his Rank and membership with the Coalition.  It wouldn’t be the end of the world, of course, but his status as a Platinum+ Rank Coalition member had opened more doors than not, and having access to the Coalition was important to him. 

“I’ll be there, Eleria.  I’m just stating that I have no intention of being in charge of anything.  You won’t have to worry about me stepping on your toes.”

“I’m glad we have a mutual understanding,” she replied.  “I’ll try to keep you informed of what is going on.”  Thaden knew a dismissal when he heard it, and so he nodded and turned away from the trio of Netherines in the office.  He caught a glimpse of the twins moving to get up to follow him, but they stopped when a look from their great grandmother kept them pinned in place.

Closing the door behind him after he exited, he took a deep breath.  “You were right; I’m not sure that was the best idea.  Especially now that I know that I’m going to be roped into defending the city if something does show up,” he murmured under his breath. 

“But does your conscience feel better for doing it?”

He didn’t have to think about it.  “Yes; yes, it does.”

If he was going to be forced to defend the city, even if that wasn’t his original intention behind telling the Coalition Leader, then Thaden was going to need some gear.  He wasn’t sure how long it would be until such an attack occurred, but he was sure that he didn’t have any time to waste.  Memories of the shop called Vital Support flashed through his mind as he made his way through the lobby in his effort to get outside onto Glory’s Passage.  He figured he could get most of what he needed there, and then check the Coalition Market for anything he wasn’t able to find in person.

Unfortunately for Thaden, he was so preoccupied by his mission to buy some gear that he didn’t notice some particularly discerning eyes on him as he left the safety of the Coalition building.

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 30

(As a heads-up, this is the final chapter for my $5 Patrons until the book is finished, when I will begin periodically releasing all of them leading up to its release on Kindle)

Chapter 30

“—aden!  Are you alright?!”

He was glad he was laying down on the bed like he usually tried to do when checking his messages, because Thaden was in so much pain that it made his previous experience with opening his messages feel like a tap on the shoulder.  Even as what felt like fire spread throughout his entire body and his mind, he was acutely aware of the feeling of System energy permeating the area around him, thick in the air to the point where it practically overwhelmed what senses weren’t already busy with his pain.  The overstimulation was too much for him and he felt it when his thoughts shut down temporarily.

“Thaden!  What just happened?”

Sadia’s voice brought him back to awareness of his environment, and he gradually felt the pain recede through his body.  At the same time, he felt the System energy dissipate until he couldn’t even sense it anymore, and after another minute or so, he was finally able to swallow a few times, finding his throat dry, before responding to his squirrel companion.

“I… I think… I’m okay… now,” he said, finding it difficult to breathe for a few moments.  Clearing his throat, he added, “I don’t know what exactly happened, but I was certainly not expecting that.  Can you pick it up from my memories, or do I need to…?”

“I can’t see anything in your memoires; it’s essentially blank,” she quickly responded, shaking her head.  “From my perspective, I could tell that you began to open your Class Evolution choices, but then you froze for a half-second before an enormous burst of energy flooded the room, and you started screaming before passing out.  Only when the energy dispersed did you finally wake up.”

I was screaming?  That must be why my throat was so dry.

Still recovering as he stared at the ceiling, he began to explain what had happened with his Evolution why reflecting on how often this sort of thing seemed to happen to him.  He had hoped to have been done with these incredibly painful episodes when he accidentally did something that caused the System to create errors, but apparently they were destined to follow him.  First was what happened when he touched the Codexical Access Point back in Felith, and now—

“Oh, no,” he said, interrupting his recounting of the Evolution process.  He remembered hoping that the System energy he’d felt before his list of Classes populating for him wasn’t enough to call attention to him, but what he felt during the process had only been a smidge of what had actually been flooding the entire room – and possibly more than that.  “Do you think—”

“Probably,” Sadia said, already knowing what he was going to ask.  “That was a lot of System energy, and it would shock me if the System didn’t respond.  You probably have some time, though, and you need to recover from your ordeal.”

She was right.  As much as he wanted to flee the city right then and there, he was in no shape to do so.  Despite his Health being full, he felt wrung out and exhausted, as if he’d been run ragged from exercising for days without sleep. 

Since he couldn’t move much at the moment, he continued his description of the Evolution process, including descriptions of the strangely broken or corrupted Classes on his list.

“There’s no record of that ever happening before, as I’m sure you can guess,” his companion replied as she cocked her head to the side in thought.  “I have no idea what was happening with those that had all detrimental effects, but I that ‘Friend’ Class is intriguing.  It’s almost like something was trying to reach out to you using the Evolution process, but it didn’t exactly translate well.”

Thaden was perfectly fine with not understanding it, because just looking at that Class’s description had creeped him out. 

“As for that Unique Class, I’m glad you didn’t even attempt to look at it, because I’m pretty sure that was probably an attempt of the System trying to get rid of you.”

“Are you sure?”

He could see her shaking her head out of the corner of his eye.  “No, not really.  But with my connection to the Assimilation System, it certainly sounds to me like something it would do.”

“Yeah, that’s about what I was thinking, too, so I stayed away from it.  In the end, after perusing all of my options, I finally settled on Thrall Commander.”

Thaden didn’t have to describe what it did, because Sadia was able to see it in his Character Report, and could pull up the description there. 

“It’s a good choice – and I agree that it is more useful to you than the Minion Multiplier Class you mentioned.  But it looks like you still have more to do, don’t you?”

He nodded, and even that movement felt like it was going to make him pass out.  Rather than move again, he began slowly feeding his remaining PICK into his new Thrall Commander Class, until he eventually fed enough to get it to Level 22.

Level up!  You are now a Level 22 Thrall Commander!

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

Physicality +2

Celerity +2

Mentality +5

Personality +6

Fortuity +1

The amount of stats he received for a Level-up in his new Class was about double what he’d gotten as a Novice Enthraller, though not nearly as impressive as his Fortunate Catastrophe Class, of course.  Still, it was a good way to bring up all of his stats without any negative hits to his Personality, and it even miraculously had a single point boost in Fortuity.  He could only assume that this was because one of his bonus traits relied on the stat to take effect, and while it would still be useful, if he wanted to greatly increase his Fortuity, he could simply Level-up Fortunate Catastrophe.

Thaden pumped even more of his PICK reserve into Thrall Commander.

Level up!  You are now a Level 23 Thrall Commander!

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

Physicality +2

Celerity +2

Mentality +5

Personality +6

Fortuity +1

Level up!  You are now a Level 24 Thrall Commander!

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

Mentality +5

Personality +6

(2) Spell selection choices

Once he reached Level 24, Thaden finally received the opportunity to gain some new spells from his new Class.  Now that he didn’t really have to worry too much about having enough Mana, at least for anything new, there wasn’t any reason to pick up anything less than the Major strength versions of the spells. 

Major Commanding Presence (Reserved): The Thrall Commander’s sheer presence on the battlefield boosts the spirits of not only those under their thrall, but their closest allies as well.  Based on the caster’s Personality stat, Commanding Presence exudes an aura that raises the Physicality and magical resistance of controlled targets and other members of the Thrall Commander’s Party, making them stronger and more durable; does not affect caster.

Physicality Increase: +1 per 10 Personality

Magical Resistance Increase: +1 per 15 Personality

Range: 120 feet

Casting Time: Instant

Mana Cost (Reserved): 40% of Mana pool

Major Healing Assistant (Single Cast): The use of Healing Assistant designates a controlled target as an auxiliary healer, allowing them to share their spiritual energy to periodically heal a single target within a short range; targets of Major Healing Assistant cannot heal themselves.

Healing Amount: +9% of healing target’s maximum Health

Healing Range: 15 feet

Healing Cooldown: 5 seconds

Spell Range: 120 feet

Spell Duration: 5 minutes

Casting Time: 2 seconds

Mana Cost: 450

Thaden was immediately pleased with his new spells, and was even happier with his choice of Class.  The first spell, Major Commanding Presence, would greatly increase not only the Physicality and Magical Resistance of his minions based on his own Personality, but his entire Party, as well.  With his Personality a little over 1,000 at the moment, that meant a Physicality boost of around 100 and an increase in Magical Resistance by around 67 – which was nothing to scoff at.  When he factored in his basic spell effectiveness bonuses, given that this was a wide-area spell, he was looking at a 400% increase – which meant a boost of around 500 Physicality and 335 Magical Resistance.

That was overpowered.  For anything threatening that was the same Level as his Party or his controlled targets, they wouldn’t necessarily be invulnerable, but they would be much harder to hurt.  With the extra Magical Resistance, they might even be more resistant to being mind-controlled, which had been a major factor against the Boss in the Wild Flower Dungeon.  He briefly worried that his controlled targets would then be resistant enough to throw off his own control, but the understanding he received after deep diving into the spell and his own Magical Resistance was that it wouldn’t affect any of his spells, since the extra Resistance came from what he was doing. 

The second spell was even more insane, if that was even possible.  A Single Cast spell, Major Healing Assistant allowed him to designate a controlled target as an auxiliary healer of sorts, which was able to periodically heal another target within range.  In other words, he could create little mini healers that could automatically heal others every 5 seconds for 9% of the healing target’s maximum Health.  With his ability to cast this over a wide range, he could essentially make all of his controlled targets extra healers, which would be able to maintain themselves without his direct healing intervention. 

But that wasn’t all.

Because Major Healing Assistant was a Support spell, it was affected by Delayed Satisfaction.  At a delay of 3 extra seconds, the spell would increase in effectiveness by 900%, and with his extra bonuses, that rose up to 1,050%, so the original 9% of the healing target’s maximum Health rose to approximately 104% – which was effectively a full heal every 5 seconds.  Thaden wasn’t sure if the Ready To Go Advancement also affected the spell, which reduced all spell cooldowns by 50%, but if it did, then that meant these Healing Assistants would be full-healing anything within range every 2.5 seconds.

Pleased with his new acquisitions, Thaden kept going with his reserved PICK.   

Level up!  You are now a Level 25 Thrall Commander!

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

Physicality +2

Celerity +2

Mentality +5

Personality +6

Fortuity +1

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

Level up!  You are now a Level 34 Thrall Commander!

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

Physicality +2

Celerity +2

Mentality +5

Personality +6

Fortuity +1

Unfortunately, despite his hope that he would have access to even more spells at Level 27, Level 30, or Level 33, all he received were more spells selection choices without anything new.  He had a hunch that his next opportunity at Level 36 would bear fruit, though that didn’t help him at the moment since he was now out of PICK to spend. 

When it was all done, he finally looked at the results on his full Character Report – and was almost shocked how different it looked from just a few days before. 

Thaden {Densartis Faction}

Primary Class – Fortunate Catastrophe

Primary Class Level – 18

Secondary Class – Thrall Commander

Secondary Class Level – 34

Progressive Internal Combat Knowledge (PICK) – 83.5/5,200

Adventurer Coalition Rank: Platinum+ 705/810 RP

Health – 5,400/5,400

Mana – 6,110/6,110

Physicality – 540

Celerity – 423

Mentality – 611

Personality – 1,077

Fortuity – 848

Spells: (127 to select)

Primary Support Spells:

Celestial Resurrection (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Mana Rejuvenation (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Health Transformation (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Mana Transformation (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Lifelink (Reserved) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Mass Healing (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Regeneration (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Mass Regeneration (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Cure Physical Affliction (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Cure Mental Affliction (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Health Reduction (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Health Augmentation (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Absorb Health (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Aura of Life (Reserved) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Wild Health Leach (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Healing Burst (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Overheal (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Support Sprite (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Health Treatment (Single Cast) – 3 Access Slots

Celestial Cleansing Aura (Reserved) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Denial of Healing (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Recharge (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Full Heal (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Healing Transference (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Equality (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Shower of Life (Reserved) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Resuscitation (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Reanimation (Reserved) – 5 Access Slots

Celestial Repeat (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial External Stimulation (Channeled) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Health Renewal (Single Cast) – 3 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Regeneration (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Healing Burst (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Full Heal (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Mass Healing (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Mana Rejuvenation (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Recharge (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Recovery State (Reserved) – 5 Access Slots

Celestial Price of Healing (Single Cast) – 3 Access Slots

Celestial Vitality Infusion (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Health Relinquishment (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Chaotic Battlefield Absorption (Reserved) – 10 Access Slots

Celestial Disastrous Recovery (Channeled) – 7 Access Slots

Defensive Spells:

Celestial Protective Guards (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Death Ward (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Negation Zone (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Dampeners (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Protective Barrier (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Damage Shield (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Sacrifice (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Wardlink (Reserved) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Stacking Buffers (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Affliction Shelter (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Defensive Sprite (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Lockdown (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Secure Bulwark (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Defensive Denial (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Mirrored Vigil (Reserved) – 3 Access Slots

Celestial Safe Harbor (Reserved) – 4 Access Slots

Celestial Focused Cover (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Guardian Totem (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Aura of the Sentinel (Reserved) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Incarnation of Protection (Single Cast) – 3 Access Slots

Celestial Indomitable Aegis (Single Cast) – 5 Access Slots

Celestial Repose (Channeled) – 4 Access Slots

Celestial Internal Automation (Single Cast) – 3 Access Slots

Celestial Social Pariah (Single Cast) – 3 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Protective Guards (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Protective Barrier (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Damage Shield (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Stacking Buffers (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Dampeners (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Death Ward (Single Cast) – 3 Access Slots

Celestial Guarded State (Reserved) – 5 Access Slots

Celestial Unstable Fortification (Single Cast) – 3 Access Slots

Celestial Vitality Diffusion (Reserved) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Protection Relinquishment (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Borrowed Bastion (Single Cast) – 10 Access Slots

Celestial Catastrophic Bracing (Reserved) – 7 Access Slots

Spiritual Spells:

Celestial Pacification Aura (Reserved) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Spirit Lock (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Dispel Spiritual Influence (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Aura of Confusion (Reserved) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Aura of Rage (Reserved) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Aura of Fear (Reserved) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Aura of Silence (Reserved) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Aura of Sleep (Reserved) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Dominate Spirit (Single Cast) – 5 Access Slots

Celestial Spirit Drain (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Befriend Spirit (Reserved) – 3 Access Slots

Celestial Repast (Reserved) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Spiritual Reclamation (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Spiritual Enhancement Aura (Reserved) – 4 Access Slots

Celestial Zone of Spiritual Misfortune (Channeled) – 4 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Aura of Confusion (Reserved) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Aura of Silence (Reserved) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Aura of Sleep (Reserved) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Aura of Fear (Reserved) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Fortuitous Aura of Rage (Reserved) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Auric State (Reserved) – 5 Access Slots

Celestial Karmic Imbalance (Single Cast) – 3 Access Slots

Celestial Vitality Of Spirit (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Celestial Spiritual Relinquishment (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Celestial Spiritual Guardians (Channeled) – 10 Access Slots

Celestial Devastating Fortitude (Single Cast) – 7 Access Slots

Secondary Support Spells:

Major Health Siphon (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Major Minion Regeneration (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Major Health Reinforcement (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Major Life Cooperation (Reserved) – 1 Access Slot

Major Explosive Recuperation (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Major Healing Assistant (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

Secondary Spiritual Spells:

Major Enthrall (Channeled) – 1 Access Slot

Major Subjugation Aura (Reserved) – 1 Access Slot

Major Sacrificial Backlash Aura (Reserved) – 1 Access Slot

Major Spiritual Absorption (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Major Enthrallment Infection (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Major Willful Concealment (Channeled) – 2 Access Slots

Major Enthralling Call (Channeled) – 2 Access Slots

Major Commanding Presence (Reserved) – 2 Access Slots

Access Slots: 290

Competencies:

Support Spellcasting Competency (Level 32,002, 11%)

·         Ready to Go

·         Extracurricular Toys

·         Afterglow

·         Strongest Healing

·         Faster Healing

·         Group Healing

·         Delayed Satisfaction

Defensive Spellcasting Competency (Level 34,228, 78%)

·         Hardest Protection

·         Thickest Protection

·         Faster Protection

·         Double Team

Spiritual Spellcasting Competency (Level 2,231, 84%)

·         Ultimate Spiritual Domination

·         Haunted Nemesis

·         Karmic Balance

·         Spiritual Connection

·         Sadistic Group Play

Natural Regeneration Competency (Level 459, 8%)

·         Goes Both Ways

·         Firmest Regeneration

Emboldened Leadership Competency (Level 1,239, 82%)

·         Silent Voyeur

·         Rubbing Off

·         Lucky in Love

·         Indecent Proposal

·         Compatible Chemistry

Psychic Resiliency Competency (Level 2,095, 33%)

·         Hardened Heart

·         Size Matters

·         Psychic Edging

·         Emotional Baggage

·         Missed Connection

Mana Assassin Competency (N/A)

Mana Management Competency (N/A)

Achievements:

Why Aren’t You A Control Class? I

Why Aren’t You A Control Class? II

Why Aren’t You A Control Class? III (WF)

Why Aren’t You A Control Class? IV (WF)

Why Aren’t You A Control Class? V (WF)

Dungeon Clearance I

Dungeon Clearance II

Lone Wolf I

Lone Wolf II

Lone Wolf III

Punching Up I

Punching Up II

Punching Up III

Punching Up IV

Punching Up V

Obey Me I

Obey Me II

Bonus Traits:

All single-target spells can now target anyone (From Fortunate Catastrophe)

You can now choose to have all single-target spells affect all allies, all hostile targets, or all targets within 180 feet of your location with a 100% increase in effectiveness (From Fortunate Catastrophe)

All existing wide-area spells and effects now have their effectiveness and range increased by 300% (From Fortunate Catastrophe)

All spells have their effectiveness increased by 50% (From Fortunate Catastrophe)

Fortuity is increased by 300% while in combat and for 30 seconds after combat is concluded (From Fortunate Catastrophe)

Fortuity will now have a visible, tangible effect when facing hostile targets 90+ Levels higher than the Fortunate Catastrophe (From Fortunate Catastrophe)

Allies within 900 feet of the Fortunate Catastrophe receive a 50% boost to their own Fortuity, but take 50% more damage (From Fortunate Catastrophe)

All hostile targets within 3 miles are drawn to the Fortunate Catastrophe and will ignore any allied targets not engaged in direct contact with those hostile targets (From Fortunate Catastrophe)

Any allied deaths within 3 miles of the Fortunate Catastrophe cumulatively increase the Fortunate Catastrophe’s Fortuity by 30% (From Fortunate Catastrophe)

All rewards are increased by 30%, including from Quests completed and Achievements earned; however, there is a Fortuity/1,000 % chance that rewards will be increased by 300%

Each spell cast by the Fortunate Catastrophe has a Fortuity/5,000 % chance to double in effectiveness; when a spell is doubled in effectiveness, the chance will trigger again, thereby quadrupling the original spell’s effectiveness; this process can be triggered up to 9 times in a row (From Fortunate Catastrophe)

All controlled targets will instantly recover 10% of all damage taken as a Support-based healing effect (From Thrall Commander)

There is a Fortuity/50 % chance that all automatic healing is reflected as magical damage upon the source of the original damage (From Thrall Commander)

+39% success increase to any spell or ability where Personality reflects the outcome (From Why Aren’t You A Control Class? V)

+39% to damage inflicted to all hostile targets of higher Level than Party (From Punching Up V)

Equipment:

Explosive Healing Ring (+CAMP)

Rarity: Uncommon

Class Restrictions: Support

Level Restriction: 1

+2 (+10) Mentality

+9% (+45%) increase in Support spell casting speed

Looking at his Character Report, there were a few things he needed to address as soon as he could.  First, he needed to look through all of his Celestial spells from Fortunate Catastrophe to see which ones he could actually cast now that his Mana pool had recently topped over 6,000.  He was hoping that a there would be a few Defensive spells that he might be able to apply, or if not, then perhaps expand his repertoire of Support spells to heal himself and his Party members without having to rely on controlled targets.  Second, he was eager to see what he could do with his new Level and Major strength spells that originally came from Novice Enthraller, as well as the pair he’d gained at Level 24 of Thrall Commander.  There were a few spells that he hadn’t even used yet that he’d gained before his Class Evolution, such as Major Life Cooperation, which constantly evened-out the Health of his controlled targets, Major Willful Concealment, which hid his and his minions’ spiritual presence so that they could potentially pass through an area without being detected, and Major Enthrallment Infection, which was a way to have his controlled targets gradually break down the spiritual will of nearby enemies until they eventually became enthralled. 

Third, when looking at his equipment, he was still feeling inordinately naked when it came to anything useful.  While a bit of that problem would take care of itself when he reached Level 55 and could wear the items that had dropped from the recent dungeon’s Boss, his finances were liquid enough that he could go shopping for some decent gear that he could wear until that point. 

Finally, regarding his equipment, Thaden needed to start devoting some of the PICK he’d been earning toward his Condensed Adaptable Mimicry Plate.  It was a “growth” item, which meant that it used PICK to grow and become stronger, though he wasn’t exactly sure how that growth would occur since it wasn’t a normal piece of equipment.  He would have to ask Sadia if she had any idea how it would work, if she even knew.  He hadn’t said anything before now because he’d needed all of the PICK he’d been earning to keep himself alive and get stronger; now that he was in fairly good position as far as spells and stats, to the point where he didn’t think he would be outright killed by a normal random monster he encountered, he could start seeing what it would take to making Sadia’s figurative home “grow”. 

Unfortunately, none of that was going to occur at the moment, because almost as soon as he closed his Character Report, his body and mind succumbed to the exhaustion he’d been fending off, sending him into the oblivion of a good night’s rest.

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Thaden was thankful that he didn’t have to deal with Assimilators to choose his evolved Class, as they had always unnerved him a bit.  He still remembered having to deal with the creepy alien-like beings back on Tarth, including their first meeting when he had been Level 21.  The only difference from when he was gaining his first evolved Class and now – other than not having to deal with Assimilators acting as Class Representatives – was that he was a Novice Enthraller instead of an Assistant Healer.

He brought up his options—or at least he tried.  The world seemed to freeze around him as there was a lengthy delay, and he began to become worried when he felt a large buildup of System energy surrounding him.  Fortunately, he didn’t think the energy was accompanied by the feeling of its direct attention – which could’ve been bad, as the last thing he wanted was for the System to send something toward Teglir in order to kill him, destroying everything in its path to ensure the deed was done.  Of course, it might still happen if it noticed what was happening with the buildup of energy, but he sincerely hoped it didn’t.

The energy eventually came to a crescendo, pressing down on him with a force that was nearly physical in nature, before it suddenly dispersed.  Once it did, he was finally met with what he was hoping to see – though his Class evolution choices were much different than he expected.   

Please select your new Support Class from the list of following evolutions:

Hypn0tizer (Comwon)

W!cke6 3nsl@ver (UncoMmon)

Hea1th Siphoner (U&common)

Spirit Illusionist (Uncommon)

Mons%er TaMer (Unc8mmon)

Adept Enthraller (Rare)

D@rk Ent#rall3r (RarE)

Hidd3n Enthrller (Rae)

L^cky Enthra#er (raRe)

Explo$ive En1hraller ($are)

Group Performance Director (Rare)

Spiritual Savant (Rare)

Naturebane (Rare)

Spirit Harvester (Epic)

Minion Multiplier (Epic)

Thrall Commander (Epic)

FrienD (L3gendary)

Ex!st3nt!@l An0maLy (Un!que)

Evolutions not selected may or may not be available during your next Class evolution

Thaden was immediately confused as saw his options, which were quite a few more than the 4 he’d had to choose from when he reached Level 21 on Tarth.  Back then, he’d only been an Assistant Healer, and his choices had been Healer, Experienced Healer, Deathbane, and Lifewarden – the last of which he’d ended up eventually picking as it was an Epic Rarity Class.  He wasn’t sure why he now had 18 Classes to choose from, because he didn’t think he’d ever had that many options back on Tarth; he could only assume that it had to do with the build-up of System energy right before the list was populated. 

He thought that, perhaps, everyone on Plangea had more options than what was available on a developmental world – even if his own was slightly ridiculous.  He didn’t even think so ask before he started the process, and now that he was locked into it, he had trouble breaking away and asking Sadia if she knew any information about the larger selection.  In fact, he was pretty sure that the world had somewhat froze around him, as it didn’t seem like time was still operating correctly outside of his little world filled with Class Evolution choices.  He wasn’t too worried, though, as the same thing had happened to him before on Tarth.

Regardless of whether she had anything to say on the matter, what concerned him the most about the choices was the fact that many of the Classes seemed… wrong.  Even the names and rarities associated with them felt broken, as if there was some sort of error—

Thinking of errors, the memory of gaining his Secondary Class flashed through his mind, and he deduced that this had something to do with the way Novice Enthraller had essentially been forced through the ERRORs that he’d produced in the Codexical Access Point by touching it.  He could only assume that, not only wasn’t he supposed to gain a second combat Class, but that his evolution of it had once again caused an issue that involved the System directly.  He didn’t get any background System messages with a bunch of ERRORs this time, though that could be because he was basically stuck in the Class Evolution menu without being able to exit or see anything else.  Regardless, it didn’t really matter for the moment how or why it had happened; what mattered was that he chose his evolution so that he could discover the fallout this might have caused.

Investigating the different Classes, once he dug into a few that seemed like they were broken, his assumptions were confirmed as he looked at some of their descriptions.

Hypn0tizer (Comwon): A comwon evolut!on to th3 Novice Enthral1er Class, a Hypn0tizer focuses on 9istracting threatening t@rgets with menta7 trickery. 

·         Can learn spells at Weak strength

·         Automatically downgrades 2 previously learned spells at random to their weaker strength upon evolution

·         All spells automatically affect all targets within 90 feet, including self and allies

·         All spells cast within the Party have a 50% to backlash upon the caster, causing damage equal to 90% of the caster’s max Health

·         Obtains (1) additional Access Slot

While there wasn’t anything obviously wrong other than the random numbers and symbols in the description of the Hypn0tizer Class, once he looked at the further traits underneath the description, he began to see some issues.  First, this Class, while Common in rarity, should’ve had access to more than just Weak strength spells.  Second, it would downgrade 2 spells at random to a weaker strength – which was just ridiculous.  Third, apparently all spells that this Class cast would affect all targets within 90 feet, including themselves and their allies, which meant that the distracting “mental trickery” it used would be detrimental to their Party.  And fourth, and probably the worst thing he’d ever seen before, was that there was a 50% chance that a spell would cause a backlash, doing 90% of the caster’s max Health.  This wasn’t limited to just the Hypn0tizer, but for their entire Party, as well.

Needless to say, there was absolutely no way he would choose something like this for an Evolution, as it was not just bad, it was completely broken.  As he investigated these broken Classes further, their detrimental traits only became worse.  W!cke6 3nsl@ver apparently tried to permanently enslave targets, but there was an 80% chance that he would become permanently enslaved by whoever he targeted.  Not that he wanted a Class that seemed to be based around enslaving others, especially as it only worked on sapient species (i.e. people), but its broken nature made it a no-go from the beginning.

Hea1th Siphoner seemed like it might have been a good option at one point, as it doubled-down on the effects of his Health Siphon spell, but there was high probability that casting spells would instead siphon Health from himself and feed it into another target, and all limits to how much he could siphon away were lifted.  Mons%er TaMer appeared to originally be a downgrade of Novice Enthraller, allowing him to only target monsters instead of any target, but the broken Class now slowly turned the Class holder into a monster based on the monsters it had “tamed”, losing any sense of being of a sapient being.

There were 4 upgraded Enthraller Classes, including D@rk Ent#all3r, Hidd3n Enthr*ller, L^cky Enthra#er, and Explo$ive En1hraller, which all had severe drawbacks based on the targets of his spells, which ranged from taking damage, acquiring a negative Fortuity stat, or even a 50/50 chance of exploding – for both himself or the monster. 

There was a Unique Class that was actually named instead of being a bunch of ???s, which he thought was probably because he already had a Unique Class in Fortunate Catastrophe.  Ex!st3nti!@l An0maLy, which he thought was actually Existential Anomaly, was a very concerning Class name, and he didn’t actually look at the description because he was worried about being locked into choosing it – which had inadvertently happened to him back on Tarth.  He thought that it was probably related to the fact that the System didn’t believe he should even exist, and as an anomaly he should be destroyed – as it had tried multiple times already. 

But the strangest of the broken Classes was a Legendary rarity one called FrienD.

FrienD (L3gendary): FrienD frienDly frienD frienDly frienD FrienD frienDly frienD FrienD frienDly frienD FrienD frienDly frienD FrienD frienDly frienD FrienD frienDly frienD.

·         FrienD

·         FrienD frienD

·         FrienD frienD 95% frienD

·         FrienD frienD

·         FrienD (1) frienD

There was something seriously wrong with whatever that Class was, and it freaked him out even looking at it.

Once he disregarded all of the clearly broken Classes, he was still left with 8 Classes that seemed normal enough, so he started going through them one-by-one.  The first one was the Spirit Illusionist Class, which was a downgrade of his current Class rarity with it being Uncommon, but he still looked at it to gauge what it was about.

Spirit Illusionist (Uncommon): An uncommon evolution for the Novice Enthraller, the Adequate Illusionist uses their expertise in manipulating the spirits of their targets into believing what they sees or don’t see.  They can also infuse Mana into their spells to give actual substance to their illusions, though it is limited to how much control they have over their targets. 

·         Can learn spells at Weak, Minor, Lesser, or Major strength

·         Has access to a greater selection of new Spiritual spells focused on manipulating the thoughts of multiple targets

·         Obtains (2) additional Access Slots

The Spirit Illusionist appeared to be a step up from the Hypn0tist Class, if that Class hadn’t been completely broken – or perhaps corrupted might be a better word to use.  Either way, one look was all he needed to see to know that it was a clearly inferior Class compared to even Novice Enthraller.  Unless none of the other Classes were usable, he wasn’t planning on considering this for an Evolution.

Next up with Adept Enthraller, which seemed to be a straight-up evolution of the Novice Enthraller Class with nothing too fancy included in it.

Adept Enthraller (Rare): While the Adept Enthraller Class is an overall stronger evolution of Novice Enthraller, it also begins to apply its enthralling spells upon a wider variety of targets, leaning upon its greater ability to bypass certain resistances.  The Adept Enthraller can also integrate their enthralled minions into the Party with duration-based spells rather than draining their Mana pool with channeled spells, which can lead to a better use of their Support and healing spells.   

·         Can learn spells at Weak, Minor, or Lesser, or Major strength

·         Automatically upgrades 4 previously learned spells at random to their next strength upon evolution

·         Has access to greater flexibility in Enthralling spells, allowing for larger numbers of controlled targets

·         Obtains (3) additional Access Slots

Looking over the details, it seemed as though the benefit of taking this Class was a wider variety of Enthrall spells, such as ones that were Single Cast with a duration to them rather than always being channeled spells.  Thaden wasn’t sure if that would matter all that much to him, though, as he didn’t have to worry about running out of Mana while keeping such spells active, though greater flexibility was always welcome.

It was on the list of acceptable Evolutions, but he was just barely getting started.

Group Performance Director (Rare): Specializing in large groups of targets, the Group Performance Director takes the evolution of Novice Enthraller and expands its wide-range capabilities.  By enthralling multiple targets simultaneously, the Group Performance Director has bonuses to the defensive capabilities, the maximum Health, and even the speed of their controlled minions, allowing for a better strategic and supportive defense of the Party.  These benefits come with the drawback of poorer control over single targets.   

·         Can learn spells at Weak, Minor, or Lesser, or Major strength

·         Automatically upgrades 4 previously learned spells at random to their next strength upon evolution

·         Has access to more wide-ranging Enthralling spells

·         Groups of 5+ controlled targets automatically gain +30% to current Physical Damage Resistance, +30% to maximum Health, and +30% to Celerity

·         Single controlled targets receive -30% to current Physical Damage Resistance, -30% to maximum Health, and -30% to Celerity

·         Obtains (3) additional Access Slots

The Group Performance Director Class was tempting to choose, as it seemed to become stronger with the more minions he had under his control.   The drawback of having only a single controlled target wasn’t that big of a concern, given that he typically controlled many different minions simultaneously, and it also seemed like there would be even more spells that he could unlock that would take advantage of having multiple minions.  In his opinion, it was definitely a step up from Adept Enthraller – though only barely.

Next up was Spiritual Savant – which was yet another Rare Class, though after looking at its details, he thought it should’ve been a higher rarity.

Spiritual Savant (Rare): The Spiritual Savant applies all that is learned from its time as a Novice Enthraller and focused almost entirely on its Spiritual spells to the detriment of its others.  By specializing on the spirit, the Spiritual Savant has learned how to heal the spirit, which then translates to an equal or greater healing to the body.  To go along with expanding its Spiritual Spellcasting capabilities, the Spiritual Savant also has better control and success when casting spells upon a variety of targets.   

·         Can learn spells at Weak, Minor, or Lesser, or Major strength

·         Automatically upgrades all previously learned Spiritual spells at random to their next strength upon evolution

·         All Support spells gained from Novice Enthraller are removed

·         Spiritual spells have a 50% success increase against all targets

·         Expanded healing capabilities through new Spiritual spells

·         Obtains (3) additional Access Slots

From what he could tell, the Spiritual Savant got rid of all the Support spells he’d gained from Novice Enthraller, such as Minion Regeneration and Siphon Health, and double-downed on Spiritual Spellcasting by allowing him to heal the “spirit” and therefor healing the body.  It was actually a powerful Class evolution, or at least it would be for anyone else, because it would allow someone to be able to focus on just one type of spell rather than having to diversify.  Having seen many types of Support Class equipment out there, it had sometimes been difficult to piece together a proper assortment of items that would benefit all of his spells. 

That was why he thought it should’ve been a higher rarity, because he thought it was stronger than the rarity suggested – though it was probably only his experience that made him think so.  He wasn’t sure if anyone else would see the potential in the Class from first glance, though he could be wrong.

Moving on, the next Class was called Naturesbane, and he only glanced briefly at it.  Why?  Because it turned out to be almost identical to Adept Enthraller, though with the additional trait of allowing his Party and minions to take less damage from plant or nature-based sources, while also boosting damage against those same sources.  He wasn’t sure how useful it would be, as he had rarely fought any nature-based monsters on Tarth, but he figured that he had unlocked access to the Class because of his performance in the Wild Flower Dungeon.

Moving on to the Epic rarity Classes, he first looked at Spirit Harvester – and was almost immediately reminded of the Soul Harvester Adversary monster he’d seen on Tarth, which turned him off from selecting it almost immediately.

Spirit Harvester (Epic):  An epic evolution of Novice Enthraller, the Spirit Harvester harvests and then consumes the spirits of any controlled targets when they perish under its control.  These consumed spirits can then be used to apply temporary bonuses to themselves or another target; alternatively, a greater number of consumed spirits that are held onto will boost the success of further Spiritual spells.

·         Can learn spells at Weak, Minor, Lesser, or Major strength

·         Automatically upgrades all previously learned spells to their next strength upon evolution

·         Has access to additional powerful Spiritual spells

·         Spirits are consumed and held in a new, internal stasis pocket separate from Inventory

·         Obtains (4) additional Access Slots

Sucking up spirits from slain minions was very unappealing to him, as he got the impression that he would be collecting them in an internal pocket like the souls of the dead, or such as some creepy grim reaper.  While he already possessed some Spiritual spells that could give him benefits from those he killed, they seemed entirely different from what this Class apparently did.  He was probably being a little biased and not considering the possibilities of what this Class had to offer, but he was more than fine with that.  He still had plenty of other options…

…such as the Minion Multiplier Class.

Minion Multiplier (Epic):  Minions are expendable, and this epic evolution of Novice Enthraller knows that more than most.  The Minion Multiplier not only fully utilizes every minion under their control to the best of their abilities, but they can also use some specialized spells to multiply the number of those minions – though at a detriment to their fighting prowess.  However, greater numbers can make up for a lot, and the Minion Multiplier is an expert in ensuring that there is always one more defender in between themselves and danger.  

·         Can learn spells at Weak, Minor, Lesser, or Major strength

·         Automatically upgrades all previously learned Spiritual spells to their next strength upon evolution

·         Has access to additional powerful Spiritual spells, including those that can temporarily multiply the number of controlled targets

·         Multiplied targets have a base -30% to all stats

·         Obtains (4) additional Access Slots

This is more like it!  There didn’t seem to be any real downsides to the Class, though the lack of the Support spells he’d acquired from Novice Enthraller upgrading to Major strength was a little bit of letdown.  Thankfully, he had plenty of spell selections to make up for that, so it wasn’t that big of a deal.

But the major benefit of the Class was a big deal.  Being able to multiply his controlled targets, his Minions, was incredible.  Even if they took a hit to their overall stats, meaning that they would be 30% weaker than they would be otherwise, that didn’t really matter in the long run.  With spells such as Health Reinforcement raising their maximum Health, as well as his own, and Dominate Spirit active, the more minions he had access to, the better.  He also got the impression, when he focused on the details of the Class, that multiplying his controlled minions wouldn’t strain him like it would if he simply enthralled more; what that meant was that if he enthralled a Level 100 monster that strained his mind, he could multiply it – or copy it, whatever it wanted to be called – and while his multiples would obviously be weaker, he wouldn’t suffer from the same strain as if he had enthralled 2 of the Level 100 monster.

In other words, it was a win-win situation, as he didn’t see any downsides to taking the Class.  He had enough other spells that could keep his multiplied minions alive even with their lower defenses, and if he Dominated them, it didn’t matter if they were practically useless in the physical department, because they would leech Health that was dependent upon his own maximum Health. 

Before he chose the Class, though, he still had one more to peruse.  He didn’t hold out much hope of it being better than Minion Multiplier, however, because Thrall Commander just didn’t feel like it would be an upgrade from being able to multiply his minions.

Thrall Commander (Epic):  Most see minions as no more than fodder under the control of a Novice Enthraller, but the epic evolution of the Class, Thrall Commander, sees them as something else entirely.  To the Commander, those under its thrall are an army, a force to be reckoned with.  Why?  Because the Thrall Commander can infuse those under its control with the ability to absorb a portion of the damage they receive as Health, healing them continuously while defending the Commander with their lives.  In addition, there is very small chance that any healing done in this way is reflected as magical damage back upon the source, though that chance is unfortunately very rare.     

·         Can learn spells at Weak, Minor, Lesser, or Major strength

·         Automatically upgrades all previously learned spells to their next strength upon evolution

·         All controlled targets will instantly recover 10% of all damage taken as a Support-based healing effect

·         There is a Fortuity/50 % that all automatic healing is reflected as magical damage upon the source of the original damage

·         Obtains (4) additional Access Slots

Thaden was wrong.  After reading through the details of Thrall Commander, he suddenly had another viable choice for his Class.  One of the major selling points for the Commander Class was that his controlled minions would automatically heal 10% of the damage taken by other monsters; that wasn’t that big of a deal by itself, because he could heal them much faster, but when he considered that the trait also said that it was a Support-based healing effect, he was fairly certain that his Advancement, Delayed Satisfaction, would affect it.  While the healing wouldn’t be instant and would be delayed by 3 seconds, that 10% healing would instead be increased by 900%!

But what made the Class even greater was the Fortuity/50 % chance to reflect that automatic healing back onto the source of the damage.  With his current Fortuity, there was approximately a 15% chance that it would occur, which was probably much more often than anyone else that had this Class before him.  His Fortuity would also only continue to increase as his Fortunate Catastrophe Class rose in Level, making this chance even more likely.  In other words, it was yet another way to deal damage that didn’t rely on something like Dominate Spirit or Befriend Spirit, which sometimes took too long to initiate on the fly.  With this being automatic, he didn’t have to do anything but use Enthrall on a bunch of minions, which also meant that he wouldn’t have to take up a portion of his Mana pool on those other spells and could then use other Reserved spells that he hadn’t been able to use in conjunction with Enthrall. 

Grrr… This is a hard decision.  Multiplied minions versus automatic healing and a chance at damage reflection.  He spent what felt like an hour going back and forth, effectively shutting down any of the other options, as none of them were as appealing as these two evolved Classes.

Eventually, though, he had to make a decision.  In the end, it all came down to one thing: Fortuity.  The Thrall Commander aligned too much with his Fortunate Catastrophe Class and its use of Fortuity to be a coincidence, especially when he considered one of his other Class’s bonus traits:

Fortuity is increased by 300% while in combat and for 30 seconds after combat is concluded

What that essentially meant was that the original 15% chance that the damage reflection would trigger was effectively boosted to 60% while he was in combat.  Being able to deal damage for essentially free was too good to pass up, and with that chance only increasing in the future as he gained more Fortuity, he eventually decided that there wasn’t really any other choice.

With only a brief hesitation after he made his decision, Thaden picked Thrall Commander for his Class Evolution – and he was immediately struck by a blinding pain as his body and mind caught back up to the frozen world around him.

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 28

Chapter 28

As he somewhat expected, the rush of messages and the influx of energy flowing into him was incredibly discomforting, but it was far from the worse that he’d ever experienced – it didn’t even knock him out!  He took that as a win; for a few seconds, as his body adjusted to the changes, he somewhat wished that he had succumbed to unconsciousness, but that feeling passed quickly enough that it didn’t bother him too much.  By the time he had almost fully recovered, he was already going through the messages as his body accustomed itself to what appeared to be some additional stat points.

At first, as he was going through the “monster slain” messages, everything looked fairly normal.

You have slain a Beezard Drone – Medial – Level 38!

You have received 7.6 PICK!

PICK reward altered based on Level disparity!

You have received 30.4 PICK!

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

You have received 39.5 PICK!

Each of the Beezards and Floral Scourges averaged around 40 to 45 PICK depending on what kind they were and their respective Levels, which didn’t sound like a lot – but there were a veritable flood of them that he’d killed.  What surprised him, however, was that one of his Fortunate Catastrophe bonus traits finally triggered quite a few times, which increased his rewards by 300%. 

All rewards are increased by 30%, including from Quests completed and Achievements earned; however, there is a Fortuity/1,000 % chance that rewards will be increased by 300%

As a result of his Fortuity having bumped up recently, the chance for it to occur had increased significantly – especially since he’d spent essentially 8 hours killing monsters.

You have slain a Floral Scourge – Medial – Level 42!

You have received 8.4 PICK!

PICK reward altered based on Level disparity!

You have received 33.6 PICK!

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

You have received 134.4 PICK!

In total, he counted this increase happening 17 times, which he thought was impressive considering that it was approximately a 0.4% chance of it happening.  Then again, when he actually counted how many monsters he’d killed, which somehow reached over 3,000, it was even more impressive that it had occurred approximately 0.5% of the time.  Unfortunately, it didn’t happen when the Boss was killed, but he’d still received quite a bit for its death, nonetheless.

You have slain a Vampiric Lavender Menace (Boss) – Medial – Level 70!

You have received 140.0 PICK!

PICK reward altered based on Level disparity!

You have received 560.0 PICK!

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

You have received 728.0 PICK!

The PICK he received from killing so many monsters was massive, at least compared to whatever he’d received thus far on Plangea.  He estimated that it was around 130,000 PICK from those alone, but that was just the start.  After the “monster slain” messages, he was hit with a number of significant Competency increases, which made sense because he was fighting monsters much higher than his own Level.

Spiritual Spellcasting Competency has increased to Level 1,613!

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

Spiritual Spellcasting Competency has increased to Level 2,187!

You may now select an Advancement for your Spiritual Spellcasting Competency!

Spiritual Spellcasting Competency has increased to Level 2,188!

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

Spiritual Spellcasting Competency has increased to Level 2,231!

Support Spellcasting Competency has increased to Level 31,524!

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

Support Spellcasting Competency has increased to Level 32,002!

Natural Regeneration Competency has increased to Level 457!

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

Natural Regeneration Competency has increased to Level 459!

Psychic Resiliency Competency has increased to Level 2,029!

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

Psychic Resiliency Competency has increased to Level 2,095!

He wasn’t too surprised that his Spiritual Spellcasting Competency had increase the most, as he had been using those spells almost constantly throughout the entire dungeon.  He had pending a new Advancement that he could choose, which he would get to eventually, but there was still more to look at in his messages.

The loot extracted from so many monsters came next, and it was an impressive haul.  He’d already seen it all of it in his Inventory, so none of it was surprise, but it was also written proof that his Party had been honest in how they had given up all claim to the equipment that had dropped.  He resolved to start unloading everything that he wouldn’t be using later, which was mainly the items he’d received from the Boss, at the Coalition Market, as he didn’t have the patience to go out and find buyers for it all in the city.  Based on what little he’d seen of the Market, he thought that he could probably get another 500 to 600 gold for all of the items, as there was a lot; even if most of it was Common and Uncommon Rarity, someone would likely want to use it.  Once he sold it, he thought he might be sitting somewhere around 1,000 gold – which should help to outfit him until he could start wearing the Boss’s drops at Level 55.

After the extracted loot, he got to the fun stuff: Achievements.

Congratulations for slaying a monster 18 or more Levels above your own while in a Party of 2 or more!

Achievement received: Punching Up I

Bonus reward: 60.0 PICK, +10 Strength

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

Bonus Reward: 78.0 PICK, +13 Strength

Congratulations for slaying a monster 27 or more Levels above your own while in a Party of 2 or more!

Achievement received: Punching Up II

Bonus reward: 600.0 PICK, +30 Strength, +18 Celerity

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

Bonus reward: 780.0 PICK, +39 Strength, +23 Celerity

Congratulations for successfully controlling a fully sapient target of equal or lower Level!

Achievement received: Obey Me I

Bonus reward: 10.0 PICK, +3 Personality

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

Bonus reward: 13.0 PICK, +4 Personality

Congratulations for successfully controlling a fully sapient target up to 9 Levels higher than your own!

Achievement received: Obey Me II

Bonus reward: 90.0 PICK, +20 Personality

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

Bonus reward: 117.0 PICK, +26 Personality

Congratulations for slaying a monster 36 or more Levels above your own while in a Party of 2 or more!

Achievement received: Punching Up III

Bonus reward: 1,800.0 PICK, +60 Strength, +30 Celerity

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

Bonus reward: 2,340.0 PICK, +78 Strength, +39 Celerity

Congratulations for slaying a monster 45 or more Levels above your own while in a Party of 2 or more!

Achievement received: Punching Up IV

Bonus reward: 3,600.0 PICK, All stats +30

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

Bonus reward: 14,400.0 PICK, All stats +120

Congratulations for slaying a monster 54 or more Levels above your own while in a Party of 2 or more!

Achievement received: Punching Up V

Bonus reward: 9,000.0 PICK, +30% to damage inflicted to all hostile targets of higher Level than Party

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

Bonus reward: 11,700.0 PICK, +39% to damage inflicted to all hostile targets of higher Level than Party

Congratulations for clearing your first Medial difficulty dungeon!

Achievement received: Dungeon Clearance II

Bonus reward: 100.0 PICK

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

Bonus reward: 130.0 PICK

Thaden was originally excited as he perused the Achievements he’d earned, and was surprised to see that he’d earned a bunch of new ones that dealt with killing monsters far above his Party’s Level.  Amazingly, his special 300% reward increase from his Fortunate Catastrophe Class activated on Punching Up V, which ended up boosting the bonus to all of his stats from +30 to +120!  It was these Achievements, but especially the one that boosted all of his stats, that had led to the incredibly uncomfortable changes in his body when he opened his messages.  He also received another hefty chunk of PICK from all of the Achievements, even the small amount he got from Dungeon Clearance II, which was almost pathetic compared to his others.

However, his elation was dimmed somewhat when he saw a pair of new Achievements that had nothing to do with killing monsters or completing a Medial difficulty dungeon.  Obey Me I and Obey Me II dealt with controlling a fully sapient target of varying Levels, and it made him somewhat sick to even imagine why the System had made such a horrible thing an Achievement.  Sure, it was something that likely happened more than was probably healthy for the people of the world, and he was sure that there were those with Psychic abilities that heavily abused their spells when they used them on unsuspecting people, but to actually celebrate doing so as an Achievement?  Doing so could only lead to those with such abilities to push even further, taking advantage of others without resistances, just so that they could obtain even more Achievements.

While Thaden had no desire to go down that path, as he had other methods to get ahead without making a conscious choice to control other people, he could see the appeal obtaining these Achievements would engender in those less scrupulous than he was – and the fact that neither of his Achievements were World Firsts told him that there were others out there that had gone that route.  It was possible that some of them had been forced into such a circumstance similar to what had happened to his Party in the dungeon, but he realistically thought that the likelihood of there being such a circumstance was fairly low.  

Regardless of having gained those Achievements, he was still happy with his progress and the results of the dungeon – especially all of the PICK he’d earned!  Sadia helped him assess it all, and when it was all tallied up, he’d obtained 165,577.5 PICK from everything.  When he calculated how much PICK it required to get his Novice Enthraller Class to Level 21, where he would then be able to evolve his Class, it would only take 30,000 of what he’d accumulated.  Some more calculations told him that another 102,700 would get him to Level 34 in whatever his newly evolved Class was, leaving him a little over 30,000 to increase his Fortunate Catastrophe Class for the additional stats.  If he’d done his math right, he should be able to push it to Level 18; there was no further incentive to get it to Level 21 or higher, as it wouldn’t evolve anytime soon, but he could always use the stat bumps, even if his Personality took a little bit of a hit.

Strangely, even though he had a lot of extra PICK in reserve, just waiting to be spent, he didn’t feel the normal strain that he’d expected.  Many time on Tarth, Thaden had “accidentally” saved up too much PICK waiting for him from his messages, and it had felt like he was about to explode; here, though, there was nothing like that.  He still felt full of PICK, of course, but it didn’t feel like he was about to burst.  Now that he was thinking about it, he realized that none of his Party members seemed to have been suffering from an overload of PICK, either, and they certainly had quite a bit extra after they reached Level 21.

“There’s no limit like there was on Tarth, as the extra PICK that your body cannot contain is held in reserve throughout the environment rather than forcing it to stuff inside your fragile form,” Sadia explained when he mentioned it.  “It was done that way on Tarth to keep everyone on a relatively even Level and so that some extraordinary people—” she continued, staring pointedly at Thaden, “—don’t rush ahead and do things like start Developmental Phases before they should.  That isn’t necessary here, so it’s not something you have to worry about.”

It made sense in a way, especially as he slowly learned more and more about the System and how it operated. 

As Thaden wanted some extra time to consider his newly evolved Class, he started with bumping his Fortunate Catastrophe Class up in Level, monitoring his PICK expenditures and seeing that he was fairly accurate on how much it was costing him.

Level up!  You are now a Level 10 Fortunate Catastrophe!

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

Physicality +10

Celerity +10

Mentality +10

Personality -30

Fortuity +50

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

Level up!  You are now a Level 18 Fortunate Catastrophe!

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

Physicality +10

Celerity +10

Mentality +10

(1) Spell selection choice

In total, he received another +90 to Physicality, Celerity, and Mentality, as well as a massive +300 to Fortuity for the 9 Levels he’d gained in Fortunate Catastrophe.  He also had an additional 3 spell selection choices, which didn’t do much for him at the moment, but the -180 to Personality was a significant hit to the stat.  The amount of Personality he’d gained from his Achievements mostly offset the losses, but he was hoping to have a net positive when he Leveled-up his Novice Enthraller Class.

Before he did that, he briefly considered taking care of his pending Advancement in Spiritual Spellcasting, but he decided to hold off on that until he knew what kind of evolved Class he would get.  Without anything else holding him back, he went ahead and starting pouring PICK into Novice Enthraller.

Level up!  You are now a Level 16 Novice Enthraller!

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

Physicality +1

Celerity +1

Mentality +2

Personality +3

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

Level up!  You are now a Level 21 Novice Enthraller!

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

Mentality +2

Personality +3

(1) Spell selection choice

There was no new spell at Level 18 when he reached it, though he did obtain another spell selection choice; when he reached Level 21, however, there were 2 new spells available that he picked up immediately. 

Lesser Enthralling Call (Channeled): Battle the spiritual will of a group of targets and temporarily control them through magical enthrallment; enthralled targets can only be used to passively defend or activate non-damaging abilities; Lesser Enthralling Call can only affect targets up to 1 Level higher than caster.

Spiritual Will Battle Success Rate: (15% per 1 Personality and 1 Mentality)/target Level

Number of Targets: Up to 10

Range: 90 feet

Casting Time: Instant

Mana Cost: 60 Mana per attempt; 10 Mana per second (while channeled)

The first spell, Lesser Enthralling Call, was like a poor man’s version of what Thaden could already do with Lesser Enthrall when accompanied by his bonus trait that allowed him to hit multiple targets.  He wasn’t sure if there was even any reason to use it, but he picked it up anyway because he had the available selection choices.

Lesser Damage Transfer (Reserved): Transfer a portion of all damage done to members of your Party to your controlled targets, divided equally among each of them within range of Lesser Damage Transfer; damage cannot be self-inflicted; higher strengths of Lesser Damage Transfer will increase the total amount of damage that is transferred.

Damage Transfer Rate: 30%

Range: 120 feet

Casting Time: 5 seconds

Mana Cost: 60% of Mana pool

The second spell, Lesser Damage Transfer, was much more useful.  It transferred damage done to him or his Party onto his controlled minions, and with his spell effectiveness bonuses, he was fairly certain that he could transfer most, if not all, of any damage done to his Party as long as he kept the spell active; he wasn’t positive his healing bonuses would count for the transfer, but if it did, then it was more than capable of handling all of the damage.  It was a bit expensive, but he thought that it would be more than worth it.

Finally, after he was done looking at the new spells, he received one additional message.

Congratulations for reaching the pinnacle of your current Class!

Please find a safe place and select your desired Class Evolution!

There was a brief pause after he read the text… and then a list of evolved Classes popped up, and he got to work looking through them all. 

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 27

Chapter 27

“Are you sure our target is here?” Bat’la’hera asked shortly, looking at the busy gate leading into the city of Teglir.  She was in a terrible mood after the last day filled with confusion and more than a few excuses.

Narden was equally frustrated, as he blamed himself for the unfortunate detours that they had taken without any clear result.  “Not 100%, but I’m detecting at least a hint of his energy signature.”

Bat shook her head, knowing that it wasn’t Narden’s fault for losing the trail, as their quarry was apparently quite adept at avoiding pursuit – something that she wouldn’t have thought was possible for someone only Level 3.  The incongruity of his Level and his adept ability to flee from them only made her anticipation of getting her hands on the Human grow even stronger. 

She had originally figured that they would catch up to their target within hours, despite the fact that he had a headstart on his escape.  Tracking him along the road had been laughably easy, as even Zarin – who wasn’t very adept at following even physical signs of passage – was able to determine where the Human had gone.  Following him when he left the road and entered the forest had also been easy enough that Bat and Loc could detect his Mana signature through the trees, and the tracks that he left behind were also easy enough to notice. 

That was when their pursuit of their target became… odd.  First, the Human’s footprints had suddenly disappeared, only to be replaced by much larger paws, which Loc identified as a large wolf’s.  Either he had somehow transformed into a wolf, which wasn’t necessarily impossible but highly improbable, or he’d tamed one to use as a mount.  Either possibility seemed unlikely, but given that Narden had been able to track his energy signature still, it was obvious that something had happened.

The second odd occurrence was the appearance of extra tracks that seemed to come from a large group of monsters – Forest Beavers, if Loc was to be believed – that either fled before the wolf or were following it.  Based on the placement of tracks, it was eventually determined that the wolf came after the Beavers had passed, which meant that it was chasing them – which made absolutely no sense, whatsoever.  Evidence of various confrontations with other monsters appeared throughout the forest, though it was impossible to tell exactly what happened; all that Narden had been able to determine was that the fights were over quickly, even when there seemed to be a large number of participants.

None of it had made sense, but at the time Bat hadn’t let it bother her – because she was sure they would be getting their answers from the source in no time at all.  Unfortunately, when they eventually reached the Fane River, that was when they ran into a problem.

At first, it had been obvious from the extensive energy residue in the area – which all of them could detect – that something significant had occurred, but it took them a few minutes of investigating before Loc noticed that there were absolutely no monsters in the river for as far as he could detect.  It was almost as if they had all been directed somewhere else – or they had been killed; the latter wasn’t possible, as unless the Human they were hunting had met up with some other people – which they’d had no evidence of up to that point – then there was no way a Level 3 could kill more than a handful of the aquatic monsters, and certainly not the Tentacled Stranglers that she remembered typically infested the depths of the waterway. 

With no obvious explanation, they had looked for signs of where he had gone, and Narden thought he saw evidence that their quarry had made it to the other side.  Getting to the other side, themselves, was quite easy as Bat was able to lift them over with her spells, and they spent the next few hours following one trail after another that turned out to be nothing.  Unfortunately, the saturation of energy near the river crossing had been so concentrated that it bled into the nearby area, making following him any further nearly impossible.  When they eventually decided that they were chasing shadows, especially since it was getting dark, they resolved to check out the first place that seemed likely to be the Human’s destination: Fanebridge.

Needless to say, they found no evidence of him ever being there, both from a lack of his energy signature being anywhere near the area, and from no one they questioned in the riverside town having seen him.  In the morning they traveled in the opposite direction, heading toward Teglin, only to be distracted by fading energy signatures found along the river, leading them to believe that their target had actually gone that way.  Unfortunately, after the forest opened up along the river’s path, there was basically no sign of any energy signatures to follow; instead of backtracking, they decided to continue on until they got to Teglir in the hopes that they would find some more information about him in the city.

And now that they had arrived, Narden seemed as if he had actually found a sign of the Human.  Bat wasn’t sure how he was able to detect his energy signature in between the millions of individuals inside the city, but he claimed that it was unique enough that it stood out.

“Well then, let’s go see if we can sniff him out,” she said. 

Entering the city from the northern gate, Narden looked around, including back behind them, shaking his head.  “He’s definitely been through this gate, but I can’t tell if he was coming or going.”

They managed to get into the city with no major issues, with only the guards at the gate taking particular interest in their being Local Legion members, and they started walking down Glory’s Passage, the massive thoroughfare that the city was well-known for throughout the Aroxis Empire.  Bat had seen it on a few occasions in the past, but she barely looked at its majesty as she followed their Charee Party member as he quickly led them to enormous building at the end of the Passage. 

Adventurer’s Coalition; of course it would be there that he went.

They received countless looks as they walked through the opening into the Coalition building, some of the hostile, while most of them appeared simply confused by their presence.  Without wasting any time, Bat went up to the nearest counter, cut through the line of Adventurers waiting there, and demanded to see the Coalition Branch Leader of the Netherine behind the barrier.

“I’m sorry, the Coalition Leader is unavailable—”

“It’s fine, Wyrdla, I’ll take it from here,” a voice cut off the Coalition member before she could say anything else.  Bat looked up and recognized the speaker immediately, despite it being years since they’d last met. 

“Eleria.  I wasn’t aware that they transferred you here.”

The mature Netherine snorted in amusement, before beckoning Bat and her Party to follow her.  “There’s obviously a lot that you aren’t aware of, Bat’la’hera.  Come with me, and you can tell me about why you decided to cause such a stir by coming to my city.”

Her city?  She still thinks too highly of herself, that much is obvious.

It only took a few minutes for them to reach what appeared to be Eleria’s private office, but to Bat, it felt like hours since she was impatient to start asking questions. 

After taking a seat, the Coalition Branch Leader sat across from Bat and stared at her for a few seconds in silence, before asking, “So, what brings you to Teglir?”

“Why do I get the feeling that you already know what I’m going to ask about?  Or more specifically, who I’m going to ask about?”

“Oh?  I’m sure you’re mistaken,” the elder Netherine answered in an even tone, not displaying any sign of knowing what the Local Legion was doing there one way or another.  “Why don’t you tell me, and perhaps I can help?”

Glancing at Narden, she didn’t need his facial expression to know that Eleria was hiding something.  “Fine.  If we’re going to play it that way, then let’s play.”  She took a deep breath before continuing.  “I’m looking for a Human that goes by the name of Thaden.  Level 3, perhaps Level 4 or even Level 5 if he managed to Level-up on his journey here.”

“And what makes this ‘Thaden’ who’s a Human, a race that is virtually nonexistent in the Aroxis Empire, so special that the Local Legion is looking for him.  A Level 3, or 4, or even 5, shouldn’t be a threat to anyone.”

Bat smiled.  “Supposedly, this weak Human is a Platinum+ Rank.  I don’t know for sure, but I heard it from Coalition sources that say that it is true.

The look of surprise wasn’t done well, but the effort was still undertaken by Eleria to feign the shock of hearing someone at such a low Level was a Platinum+ Ranked Coalition member.  “What?!  That’s highly improbable!  Are you sure your information is correct?”

Bat noticed the Coalition Leader didn’t say that it was “impossible,” just “improbable”.  She must be figuring that we’re testing her for lies.  So far, she hasn’t told one outright.

“Oh, yes, the information we were given is quite accurate.  Based on how he was able to evade us, it might even be true.”  As Eleria said, that’s highly improbable, but not impossible.

“I see.  That’s quite the revelation.  If it was true, then they must be a very important member of the Coalition.  Perhaps even important enough that it behooves me to ask: Why you are looking for this Thaden individual?  Do you mean them harm?”

She shook her head.  “Not necessarily.  We are seeking him for more information about the destruction of the town of Felith.  Did you hear about the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the deaths of every town member and the obliteration of the town’s structures?  We suspect that the Human, Thaden, may have more information about its demise… or might possibly be involved.”

“Oh, my!” the Coalition Leader said with genuine surprise that made Bat believe that she either hadn’t heard of Felith’s destruction or that Thaden had been involved.  It was obvious to everyone in the room, even those with less-than-stellar Mentality like Zarin, that Eleria was aware of the Human’s existence – and might even be actively hiding his location.  “That’s a serious accusation.  Do you have proof that he was involved.”

She grit her teeth.  “No,” she practically spat out, as she knew it would be a mistake to deliberately lie to the other woman.  “Only a hunch at this point.”

“Well, in that case, I’m not sure that I can help you.”

Frustrated, Bat locked eyes with the Coalition Leader, who didn’t back down from the stare.  “Surely you can at least us meet with him to ask some questions.  It is important that we fulfill our mission to locate and eliminate whatever destroyed Felith, and we are 100% sure that Thaden has the information needed to complete our directive.”

Eleria froze for a few seconds, and her expression appeared conflicted.  She eventually sighed and began manipulating something in front of her.  “Fine.  I’m searching for an Adventurer named Thaden or any Humans currently inside the city.”  It didn’t take long for her to close out whatever she was looking at, before continuing.  “Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear as if there are any Adventurers named Thaden or any Human Adventurers inside the city at this time.  I hope that satisfies you, because I don’t believe I can help you any further.”

As much as what she was told was disappointing, Bat still nodded in response.  “Thank you for searching for him.  I appreciate your assistance in this matter.”

It wasn’t too long after exchanging goodbyes that they found themselves along Glory’s Passage once again.

“I believe she did actually search for him,” Narden said after a few seconds of them looking over the passersby along the wide thoroughfare.

“I know.  I’m fairly sure she knows who he is, perhaps even met with him, but she didn’t know anything about him and Felith.  That’s making her doubt him, as she is probably also suspicious of his Badge Rank.”

“Who wouldn’t be?” Loc asked, and she had to admit that was true.

Darvo, who had been largely silent up to that point, cleared his throat.  “So, if he’s not in the city, where did he go?”

Bat didn’t have to glance at Narden to know that he thought the same thing as she did.  “He might not be here now, but he was here within the last 24 hours.  And I bet he’s going to be back.  And when he returns, we’ll be able to find him then.”

                   *

As soon as they exited the dungeon, ending up in the same small cave that had held the entrance—which no longer existed now that it had been cleared—Thaden heard relieved exhalations from his Party members.  Glancing at them, he was somehow unsurprised to see that each of them were already rapidly increasing their Levels until they stopped at Level 21.  Creepily identical smiles lit their faces as the sudden increase in their Level, which was likely the highest bump all in one go that any of them had seen up to that point.

“This is amazing!” Blinky practically shouted to break the charged silence.  “I’ve made more progress today than I have in the last few years!”

The others nodded, agreeing with the Grome.  Seeing that they had all reached the Level needed to evolve their Class, Thaden suddenly had a thought.  “Are you all ready to evolve?”  When they all nodded again, he asked them a few questions.  “A couple of quick questions, if you would.  First, where exactly do you go to evolve your Class?”  He asked the question because, on Tarth, that responsibility had been assigned to the Class Representatives inside the Adventurer’s Coalition.  The Class Representatives in the developmental world were Assimilators, which seemed to be the System’s personal servants or employees or partners (he never really found out what relationship they had), but he hadn’t seen any Assimilators since he'd arrived on Plangea.

And he was personally happy with that, as the last one he’d met tried to kill him.

“You don’t know—?” Flarenia asked, shock clear in her voice before Blinky cut her off with a raised hand.  Miraculously, that worked.

“After what we all witnessed in that dungeon, I think we can cut Thaden some slack,” the diminutive Adventurer said with a serious tone to his voice.  “Even if it’s strange, it’s obvious that our new friend here is, well, special.”  The way he said it nearly had Thaden refuting that term, as to him it meant something entirely different, but he realized that Blinky probably wouldn’t get the context of his complaint.

“Very well,” the Fledgling Flameweaver said after a few seconds, which was again quite surprising to hear from one of the Netherines.  Turning back to Thaden, she answered his original question.  “Evolving your Class is quite simple.  For combat Classes, once you reach the appropriate Level, you simply need to be inside any city or town across all of Plangea, and you will be prompted to choose an available Class Evolution.  You can delay the selection until you’re in a safe place, which is recommended, so that you can spend an adequate amount of time considering your choices.  For your Secondary Profession Class, there is a separate process that involves demonstrating your skills in your chosen Profession, but they are all different depending on your Class.”

That’s a relief to hear.  “Sounds easy enough, I guess.  Second question: Are there any Evolution Assignments that need to be completed in order to evolve?”  There were Evolution Assignments on Tarth, which had been a pain because they had forced him to do things he hadn’t wanted to do; he hoped that there weren’t any on Plangea.

At the question, they all looked at him like he’d been dropped on his head.  “No, there’s nothing like that,” Rel’ba’shet eventually responded.  Again, Thaden was relieved. 

Glancing at Sadia, who was looking at him in exasperation, he realized that she probably knew all of this and would’ve told him if he’d asked.  Oops.  

“Thanks.  I assume that you all want to head back now?”      

The question was probably unneeded, as the Party mutually decided to head back to Teglir immediately.  Thaden still hadn’t checked his own messages, as he was waiting until he was back at the Coalition, but he was also eager to look at what he could evolve his Novice Enthraller into.  Before they left the area, Sadia returned to the CAMP, as walking around with a giant squirrel was still probably a bad idea until people were used to seeing such a sight – or she could defend herself properly.

When they eventually left the underground tunnel system, Thaden was momentarily surprised to see that it was already dark outside.  It was only when he remembered how long they had been in the dungeon practically walking around in circles that it made sense to him.

Thankfully, their trip back was uneventful, as even late in the evening, there were still Adventurers coming and going from the Spawning Reserve, as the “fun” never really stopped.  As a result, there were no random monster attacks, as anything that might’ve homed-in on Thaden was killed by the multitude of people all around the Reserve before they could even make their presence known to the Party.

Getting into the city required nothing more than to flash his Adventurer’s Badge at the Gate Guard, and with his new Faction Label, if not the actual connection to the Faction, he wasn’t pulled aside by anyone.  That’s something I still need to talk to Sadia about – at some point.  Receiving answers about Factions and how they seemed to influence or control its members, similar to the System’s abuse of power, was important – but looking at his messages and Leveling himself up was more of a priority to him at the moment.

Walking down Glory’s Passage, Thaden had a strange feeling he was being watched, but he ignored it as just people looking at a Human that they had either never seen or heard of before.  Or it could be because his Party was exuberant, all smiles as they led the way toward the Coalition building, each of them eager to peruse their Class Evolution options as soon as possible.  For Thaden, he was excited about that, as well, but he was also looking forward to seeing Eleria’s reaction to seeing her family members rising in Level so quickly.

He wasn’t sure if he’d actually see it, as it would probably be in private, but he could still imagine it.

Other than that strange feeling of being watched, nothing else prevented them from reaching the Coalition, and even that sensation faded once they were inside.  “Shall we all meet up again tomorrow morning?” he asked his Party once they were inside and appeared ready to break apart to go their separate ways.  “We still have some Quests to finish, I believe.”

“Absolutely!” Lovinia gushed, her excitement over the results of the dungeon and safely getting back to the city really showing itself in her actions.  She wasn’t alone, either, as his entire Party was acting similar; Rel’ba’shet and the twins had been even friendlier than they were before, which was a great sign – and also confusing.

It wasn’t until he returned to his room, collapsed on his bed, and kicked off his boots that Sadia returned to her normal form – and provided him with some potential answers as to what was happening.

“Thaden, do you know the difference between Psychic and Spiritual spells?”

After a few seconds of thought, he shook his head.

“Well, they’re very similar, but the main difference is that Psychic spells only affect the mind of a target, while Spiritual spells affect the entire spirit of the target – which also covers the mind, as well.  Normally, when someone casts a Psychic spell that affects something’s mind, whether it is something simple as confusing to full-on mind control, the victim is usually aware of the intrusion afterwards and won’t react too kindly to whatever was done to them.

“On the other hand, when someone like you casts a Spiritual spell on a target, you affect their entire spirit, or their entire being.  It’s very similar to Psychic spells in how you can affect their mind, but Psychic spells are only a small part of what Spiritual spells can accomplish.  As I said, instead of only affecting their mind, you affect them as a whole.  While this might not seem like this is a big difference, it’s bigger than you think – especially when you cast something like Befriend Spirit.

“I wasn’t exactly aware of it before, as you’ve only really used Spiritual spells on monsters that typically died shortly thereafter, or who were mindless enough not to show any aftereffects, but I believe that what you did to your Party members lingered.  You fundamentally changed their entire being into believing that they’re your friend, and that belief was only solidified when you didn’t take advantage of them or even ordered them around.  And since you cast that spell in order to save their lives, that further strengthened that ‘friendship,’ as artificial as it was at first.”

Thaden was speechless for a few seconds.  “What are you saying?  That I essentially forced them to be my friends permanently?”

“Maybe?  I don’t really know, honestly.  I have no concrete evidence from the System itself, as if it either doesn’t know or is unwilling to share that information.  It could be permanent… or it might fade over time.”

While Thaden wasn’t going to lament his use of the spell, as it was beneficial to be friends with his Party, he couldn’t help but think this situation was like some sort of love potion or love spell being used on someone, removing their free will.  From all that he’d experience on Tarth with the System essentially convincing everyone to believe that it was infallible and perfect, he didn’t like it.  If he could get rid of it without damaging his relationship with his Party, he would; at the moment, though, he wasn’t going to try and do anything as drastic as that, because he wasn’t sure what would happen.

I wonder if it this whole thing would’ve been worse if I used Dominate Spirit on them.  He shivered at the thought, and resolved never to use that spell on any person.  Befriending someone was much more preferable than dominating someone’s spirit, especially as that sounded more like slavery than anything else.  Of course, it was slightly hypocritical considering that he was more than willing to use the spell on monsters, but he wasn’t going to concern himself with the psychological ramifications of trying to justify that it was alright because they didn’t count. 

Instead, he just ignored it altogether.  In fact, he ignored pretty much everything else as he finally felt safe enough to check the messages that had piled up during his stay in the Wild Flower dungeon. 

With a deep breath, as he was expecting a sudden surge of energy to flow into him, he opened them up.

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 26

Chapter 26

“Why, by the divine System’s greatness, do I feel like I’ve run 100 miles, had my entire body squeezed and pummeled, and my head pounded on by a hammer?”

Thaden watched and listened as Flarenia groaned in pain and exhaustion, holding her head in her hands as she struggled to sit up from where she’d collapsed.  Lovinia did the same right next to her, panting heavily as if she’d just run a marathon.

The moment Thaden had canceled his Celestial Befriend Spirit spell, Rel’ba’shet had fallen to his knees as if he was a puppet that had its strings cut, while Blinky had suddenly appeared to everyone as he staggered to the side, though he was miraculously able to keep his feet under him.  The twins had already been on the ground after exhausting all of their Mana and mental strength killing the Boss, so they didn’t collapse – but they did stop struggling to get to their feet after his control was removed, hinting that they probably would’ve face-planted onto the dirt if they had been standing. 

All of them, regardless of their current position, had the same confused expression on their faces.  Thaden glanced at Sadia, who stared back at him with wide eyes.

Rather than admit anything, he cautiously asked, “What do you remember?”

“My head is pounding so much that I’m having trouble even thinking, let alone remember anything,” the Fledgling Flameweaver said with another groan, and Lovinia seemed to be in the same boat with her discomfort.

“I… think we were traveling through the trees,” Blinky said abruptly, his eyes scrunched in thought.  “I recall feeling strangely happy for a moment, which was odd enough that I remember it, but then it’s just… blank.  I just ended up here somehow without my knowledge.  By the way, where are we?”

Thaden waved toward the still-burning remains of the Boss.  “You helped me kill the Boss.  Are you sure that none of you remember what happened?”

Rel’ba’shet shook his head even as he got to his feet from where he’d collapsed to his knees.  Lovinia did the same, though she winced as she did so, as it clearly hurt her head to do that.  Flarenia didn’t respond, but from her previous question, he gathered that she didn’t remember either.  It reminded Thaden too much of what frequently happened on Tarth, where the System forcibly wiped Contenders’ memories, that he felt uncomfortable with the situation.  He didn’t think it was the System that did this, though, but perhaps a combination of the Vampiric Lavender Menace’s influence and his own spells controlling them.  Or it might even just be the Boss’s influence, since they seemed to have forgotten everything from when he first felt the psychic attack. 

This is one hell of a dilemma.  Do I pretend that it was solely the Boss that took control of them and prevented their memories, or do I tell them what I did? 

His first instinct was to pass everything off as the doing of the Vampiric bush, as they could easily go on with things as they were without anyone but him being the wiser.  Telling them he’d taken control of them would only cause conflict, and while he didn’t think they would try to kill him for doing that to them, he was fairly certain that the twins, at least, would report what happened to them – and likely label Thaden as a dangerous individual who could take control of people.  It was a simple solution to keep his mouth shut, put the whole incident behind them, and get on with his plans.

Unfortunately, Thaden had also seen too many movies and read too many books where seemingly fully-buried memories seemed to surface at the wrong time, and the last thing he needed was for them to be in a dungeon somewhere and one of them suddenly had their missing memories come back.  The fallout and anger from that would be even worse than if he told them now, as he would be in trouble for not only controlling them but lying about it afterwards like some sort of shady villain.

Because this didn’t seem like it was the System deliberately intervening and wiping those memories completely, which would almost guarantee that they would stay gone, he wasn’t sure if he could rely on at least one of them eventually remembering everything.  He could always find another Party once they returned to Teglir and hope that not being around him would lead to nothing triggering those memories from coming back, but there was still the risk that he’d eventually be found out.  He’d essentially violated them by doing what he’d done; while he felt bad about it and had only done it to save all their lives, such a violation wasn’t easily ignored and word would certainly get around.  While he eventually hoped to be able to handle himself solo again, the last thing he wanted was some sort of stigma following him as if he was some sort of sexual predator or someone that simply couldn’t be trusted.

He wasn’t sure if it was fortunate or not when he saw Flarenia suddenly stop groaning, and with her hands still pushing against her head as if to keep her brain inside, she looked at Thaden with wide eyes.  He could practically see the memories flowing past her mental vision as her eyes moved back and forth like she was in REM sleep.  Oh, crap, she remembers.  I’m guessing that it’s only a matter of time before the others do, too.

Bracing himself for the fury that was sure to erupt from the hot-headed Netherine, Thaden was completely unprepared when she suddenly seemed to relax, a relieved smile on her face as continued looking at him.  What the…?

“I remember now,” she began to speak, her voice low at first before picking up in volume.  “This freaking bush was controlling my mind!  All I could think of was walking right into its embrace, as it promised me a very alluring, peaceful sleep – even if I knew that such a thing would will me.  But it was so strong!  I had no defense against it, and I—we—would’ve died if it hadn’t been for you, Thaden.  Whatever you did, you freed us from its power and let us fight on our own terms.  So, thank you.  Thank you for what you did.”

That was the last thing that he expected to hear – especially from Flarenia.  He had hoped that Blinky, who seemed not to let anything get him too down, would forgive him for what he’d done, but for the Mage to not only seem to forgive him, but thank him, he wasn’t sure how to respond.

At her words, the other members of his Party shook their heads and had their own private revelation of memories, which ended up with them thanking him as well.  Lovinia gave a smaller smile toward Thaden than Flarenia still had on her face; Rel’ba’shet only nodded in thanks without a smile, but he could see the relief of survival written all over his face; Blinky, on the other hand, was exuberantly hopping up and down with a massive teeth-filled grin lighting up his features.

As much as he could hear a voice in the back of his head telling him to drop it, he couldn’t let it go like this.  They obviously remembered what had happened, but he didn’t think they actually knew what he’d done. 

“I’m very thankful that we all survived, but I want to make sure that you know what I did to you to break you out of the Boss’s influence.  I… controlled you, which I regret having to do, but it was either that or let you die – and I couldn’t have that.”  He nearly pleaded for their forgiveness, but he thought it would sound disingenuous; he knew that if he had to do it over, he would do the same thing again – and would do it again in the future if it was necessary.

Thaden’s Party members looked at each other in some sort of silent communication, before Lovinia shook her head.  “I don’t remember being ordered to do something I wouldn’t have done already,” she declared.  “And it appears as if the others don’t remember any orders, either.”

“But—” he began, before he cut himself off.  Wait a second.  I don’t actually remember giving them any orders, as they automatically acted on their own – so there was no need to direct them anywhere.  Does that make a difference?  “Huh.  I guess you’re right.  I only cast that spell to break you away from the Boss’s influence and so that you could actually fight back.”

He could only assume that it made a huge difference to them that he hadn’t actually ordered them around.  Perhaps actually experiencing the all-encompassing mind control from the bush had convinced them that what he’d done was significantly better, and it had been done from entirely good intentions.  Still, the way they seemed to immediately accept the fact that he’d controlled them with a spell, even if he hadn’t actually ordered them around, was a bit concerning.  He glanced at Sadia, and she seemed to agree with him, as she stared back with a concerned expression on her squirrely face.  Is this an effect of the Befriend Spirit spell?  Or is it something else?

“Thank you,” he eventually told them after a few seconds of thought, even if he wasn’t exactly sure what he was thanking them for.  Thank you for not hating me?  Thank you for being so reasonable?  Thank you for not trying to get revenge?  Whatever it was, he found that he meant it.  While he wasn’t necessarily a huge fan of the stuck-up attitudes of the twins, he had to admit that they were a powerful combo – and seeing that they could smile was a good sign for their future working relationship.

Still, the way they seemed much friendlier and accepting of the situation was something that Thaden would have to explore further in the future.  The last thing he wanted was for his spell having a permanent effect on anyone he used it upon, as it made him slightly uncomfortable knowing that he could somehow convince someone to “be his friend” at a figurative snap of his fingers.  While it could undoubtedly be useful, he didn’t want to mind-control any people; that was too much like what the Assimilation System seemed to do to be comfortable for him.   

“Give us a minute or so to recover, and we’ll get out of here,” Flarenia said after a slightly awkward silence.  “Blinky, would you please extract the loot from that pathetic pile of kindling over there?” she spat out the request, which was full of vitriol, but Thaden could tell that it wasn’t directed toward the Grome.  It was also the first time that she had spoken somewhat civilly to any of them, which he thought was a good sign, despite the lingering concerns in the back of his mind.

Blinky quickly moved toward the still-smoldering remains of the enormous bush and extracted the loot, which Thaden didn’t even look at.  He’d been deliberately keeping himself from looking at his messages the entire time he’d been in the dungeon so as not to be distracted, especially with all of the kill notifications and loot extractions that had occurred; he’d needed to stay sharp to control all of his minions, and distractions could be deadly in a dungeon.  He decided to wait until they were fully out of the dungeon before he actually looked, as he didn’t want to spend any more time in there than was necessary.

Once he was done, and the Netherine twins had visibly recovered from their spellcasting ordeal, they all started to head toward the glowing doorway leading into one of the large trees that Thaden had noticed earlier.  Thaden took the lead as he stepped through the doorway, and he suddenly found himself inside the hollowed-out trunk of a tree seemingly much bigger than the one he’d walked into.  Beams of sunlight from holes in the trunk higher up illuminated what appeared to be a 50-foot-wide, circular space with smoothly carved walls, as well as solid wooden floor that was polished to a shine.

Opposite of where he’d walked in, another glowing doorway sat waiting for them to exit the dungeon, but there was time for them to do that later.  First, they had some rewards to pick up from the space, which was filled with treasures. 

Previously, when he had cleared the Blasted Caves Dungeon with his Party of Netherines from Felith, there had only been a beaten-up chest that was only partially full of some silver coins, as well as the Explosive Healing Ring that he was currently wearing.  That was basically to be expected, though, as while it had been a “Swarm” dungeon, it had been a fairly weak and low-Level. 

The Wild Flower Dungeon, was a much higher-Level dungeon, and it had been “Strained,” as well – which meant that it was full of Adversarial energy that was attempting to make it stronger.  Apparently, that translated to higher rewards, because the treasure room was stocked.  First, there was a well-made wooden and steel chest in the center of the space, which appeared to be filled with gold and silver coins.  He didn’t bother to look at how much it was as Blinky touched it and the amount was divided up among everyone, but he suspected that most of his immediate money concerns had been taken care of. 

Secondly, there were not just 1 or 2 armor stands filled with wearable equipment, but 4 of them, though how good these items were had yet to be determined.  In addition to the chest of coins and the armor stands, a single weapon rack was loaded down with a half-dozen weapons of different kinds, including a spear that Thaden saw Rel’ba’shet eyeing as soon as he entered behind him. 

Looking further at the equipment on the armor stands, the first one ended up being a shiny steel and hard leather cuirass accompanied by what looked like some sort of gladiatorial skirt-like bottom piece that would protect someone down to their knees.  A pair of knee-high boots made of similar shiny steel finished off the ensemble, and while it was different from what the Soldier Recruit was currently wearing, it was certainly an upgrade.  It also wasn’t a full set of equipment, as it was missing some pieces, but the Aelveen didn’t appear to care all that much as he picked it up.  He wasn’t able to wear it yet, as its Level Requirement was 39, but Thaden didn’t think it would be too long until that requirement was reached – especially given what the dungeon was likely to provide as far as PICK went.

The second stand held a bunch of upgrades for a Scout Class, and Blinky immediately started snatching them up and exclaiming over how amazing they were.  It also wasn’t a complete set of equipment, but he didn’t seem to care that it wasn’t complete, nor that he wouldn’t be able to wear it until Level 40. 

The third and fourth stands were filled with robes and cloth equipment, and while Thaden was originally excited to see what might be available for him to wear, he was almost immediately disappointed when all of it turned out to be useable only by Mages and/or Control Classes.  The twins were ecstatic over their acquisitions, even though – similar to the other two – they couldn’t wear them quite yet.

As far as the weapons on the rack, only the spear was eventually going to be useable by any of their Party, though the rest were taken up to be sold later.

Is there nothing for me?  I thought my Fortuity would’ve had more of an influence on these rewards than this.

Seeing his forlorn expression after they finished looting the treasure room, Blinky placed his hand on Thaden’s arm.  “Why are you so sad?” he asked, concerned.  “Didn’t you see what you got from the Boss?”

“Huh?  What?”  He, of course, hadn’t looked at any of the extracted loot.  In addition, Blinky said that he got it from the Boss, where such things should’ve been random or he would have to “roll” for it.

“Once we started looting all of the items from the monsters inside the dungeon, we collectively decided that everything but what was automatically divided amongst us would belong to you, other than what was in here.  That includes the Boss, so it’s all yours – and it might just make up for the lack of anything in this room.”

“That’s… very generous of you,” he said, curious about what he was talking about.  Since he still didn’t want to open his messages, as it would likely overwhelm him with the amount of information in it, he instead opened his Inventory.

The first thing he noticed was that his current monetary wealth had jumped up to just over 300 gold.  Besides that, though, his Inventory was nearly completely full, which was impressive considering that it had recently expanded.  First, there were stacks of Common and Uncommon crafting materials gained from killing the Beezards and Floral Scourges throughout the traversal of the dungeon, which he was sure he could probably unload for quite a bit of gold once he got back to Teglir.  Since they were automatically divided among the entire Party, it was likely that the others would have approximately the same amount, which was already an impressive haul.

Second, there were dozens of pieces of equipment, ranging from Level 25 to Level 34 and from Uncommon to Rare – and all of it was made for Classes other than Support.  He immediately started taking duplicates out of his Inventory and handed them to the others, as they would help to further outfit his Party once they reached the required Level.

“We can’t take this—”

Thaden interrupted Blinky as he tried to give a few things back.  “I can’t wear them, and I’m keeping any duplicates to sell.  It’ll make you stronger, so why wouldn’t I want you to have them?”  Granted, he could’ve been greedy and kept it all, as they all now had enough money to buy just about anything they wanted once they got back to the city, but he’d rather clear up his Inventory of some things.  That, and it made him feel good to share the wealth – and alleviated some of the guilt he still held after controlling them.

Unfortunately, for all of the monsters that he’d killed, there weren’t any Epic rarity items or anything particularly special – which was a bit of a surprise.  While he didn’t have as high of a Fortuity stat as he had back on Tarth, it was still over 400, which he thought was much higher than most other people – especially at his current Level.

Once he’d parsed through all of those items, Thaden finally found what he thought had come from the Boss.  As soon as he starting taking things out and looked at them, he had to admit that Blinky was right.

These more than made up for the lack of items dropping for him throughout the dungeon and the treasure room.

Lavender Robe of Mesmerizing Mental Fortitude

Rarity: Epic

Class Restrictions: Control, Support

Level Restriction: 55

Physical Damage Resistance: 7

Magical Damage Resistance: 20

+30 Mentality

+30 Personality

+30% Increase in Psychic and Spiritual spell effectiveness

Black Rose Boots of the Vampire’s Kiss

Rarity: Epic

Class Restrictions: Control, Support

Level Restriction: 55

Physical Damage Resistance: 5

Magical Damage Resistance: 15

+15 Mentality

+15 Personality

All damage done by targets under the control of wearer’s Psychic or Spiritual spells and effects heals wearer for 10% of the damage done

Indigo Gloves of Glowing Petals

Rarity: Epic

Class Restrictions: Control, Support

Level Restriction: 55

Physical Damage Resistance: 2

Magical Damage Resistance: 10

+60 Mentality

+10% Decrease in Mana cost for all Psychic and Spiritual spells

Orchid Belt of Spreading Growth

Rarity: Epic

Class Restrictions: Control, Support

Level Restriction: 55

Physical Damage Resistance: 1

Magical Damage Resistance: 5

+20 Mentality

+20 Personality

All Channeled and Reserved spells of the wearer increase in effectiveness by 1% per second that they are active, for a maximum of 60%

Amethyst Floral Necklace of the Shielded Mind

Rarity: Epic

Class Restrictions: Control, Support

Level Restriction: 55

+25 Mentality

+25 Personality

Makes wearer immune to hostile Psychic and Spiritual spells and effects coming from sources up to 5 Levels higher than wearer

He practically drooled at the items he’d just received, and it was only a slight disappointment that he couldn’t wear them until he was Level 55.  Overall, they all had a purplish theme to their coloring, with only the boots being black, and there were embroidered flowers on every single piece other than the necklace, which was made of a purple-tinted metal he couldn’t identify.  The fact that they were all Epic and gave tremendous bonuses made him feel incredibly lucky that he’d been able to procure them.  He was also salivating at the thought of placing Sadia’s CAMP on any of them, which would quintuple the bonuses; he’d have to think about which one would be the most beneficial, though there were definitely some frontrunners.

As soon as he looked at them, Sadia was also aware of them, and given her wide eyes as she stared at the items in his hands, she was equally impressed.  While it wasn’t an official “set” with set bonuses, their effects were amazing enough that it didn’t really matter.

“Alright, let’s get out of here,” he said as he stored away his new acquisitions.  “I want to check my messages, and I don’t want to do it in here.”

“You haven’t been checking your messages?” Flarenia asked, walking toward the exit along with everyone else.  “So, you don’t know…”

He shook his head.  “No, I don’t like to get distracted while in a dungeon,” he replied.  “I just hope that we all received enough PICK to reach our Class Evolutions.”

All of them laughed at him, even as they passed through the exit.

I guess that’s a yes.   

Plans for Jan 18-23

I got through most of a second chapter today, but I was unable to finish it because I had to stop work early due to a family function. I'll finish it on Monday!

Next week, I will be spending Sunday working on the title, series, and cover ideas for Healer arc 2 book 1. After that, I might get a chance to write, but I can't guarantee it. As far as I know right now, I don't have any other plans Monday-Friday other than to write!

I'm approaching Chapter 30, which (as a heads-up) is the final chapter for my $5 Patrons; once the book is done, I'll be releasing the chapters leading up to its release on Kindle. I'm hoping to have it completely written by the end of January, while it will probably be published near the end of February.

Plans next week:

Sunday: Work on title, series, and cover ideas

Monday-Friday: Write more of Healer Arc 2 Book 1

Have a great weekend!

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Darkness descended upon the area underneath the trees, as the full foliage above blocked out the sun that had been beating down on them for hours.  It was both a welcome relief and a warning, because with the loss of full sunlight, the forest they entered had a sinister aspect to it.  That didn’t stop Thaden, of course, as he spread his army of Beezards and Floral Scourges out ahead of him and his Party, who was staying near him instead of hanging back and out of the way like they had been through the rest of the dungeon. 

In total, Thaden had maintained control of the 61 monsters he’d acquired throughout his trek past numerous flowers.  The majority of them, 26 in fact, were Beezard Drones at Level 38; after that came 12 Mutated Beezard Drones at Level 41, 10 Level 40 Beezard Spitters, 8 Floral Scourges that were Level 42, and finally 5 of the massive Mutated Beezard Warriors at Level 44.  Each of them had a refreshed Lesser Health Reinforcement and Lesser Explosive Recuperation cast upon them, which would not only make them hard to kill, but if they did die, they would automatically heal Thaden or one of his Party members who had the least amount of Health.  If everything went well with the Boss, he hoped that none of his Party members would even need healing.

Before too long, the view back toward the vast field of flowers was blocked, and their entire world suddenly felt like it had always been inside the forest they were traveling through.  There was an earthy smell that permeated the bare ground underneath his feet, which was completely free of any underbrush or even dead leaves, as if it had been swept completely clean of all debris before they arrived. 

It was eerie – but for some reason, Thaden didn’t feel too threatened.  There were no monsters that were set to ambush them as they walked through the trees, nor were there any sudden traps that were just waiting for someone to pass before striking out at them.  If anything, he felt increasingly more calm and a sense of peace abruptly washed over him; there was a split-second of time when had the impression that he should stop maintaining any of his spells, only for it to disappear completely a second later. 

Whoa, what was that?

Thaden glanced over at Sadia, who glanced back at him with a similar sense of confusion on her face.  He stopped, concerned at what was going on.  “What was—?” he began to ask, when he realized that the rest of his Party hadn’t stopped along with him.  Instead, as he looked at their glassy eyes and euphoric facial expressions, he could tell that something was very wrong.

“They’re under the influence of something!” his giant squirrel companion said, confirming what he suspected as soon as he saw them.  Thaden and Sadia had apparently fought it off, thanks to their shared Psychic Resiliency Competency, which was at a fairly high Level – and he had additional Advancements that helped them even further.  This wasn’t the first time something had attempted to mess with his head, after all.

Thaden quickly searched through his spells to see if he had anything that could free them from whatever was affecting their minds, but his Support spell that dealt with eliminating mental afflictions was still too expensive to cast.

Celestial Cure Mental Affliction (Single Cast): Cures all mental afflictions upon a selected target from a source up to 90 Levels higher than caster.

Afflictions Cured: Charmed, Confused, Dizzy, Feared, Silenced, Stunned

Number of Targets: 1

Range: 180 feet

Casting Time: 1 second

Mana Cost: 9,800

There was also a spell from his Spiritual spellcasting list that might have been useful, but it was just out of reach of what he could afford to cast.

Celestial Dispel Spiritual Influence (Single Cast): Dispels all spiritual influences upon a selected target and makes them immune to the same influence for a limited time; effectiveness and length of dispelling is dependent upon the strength of the spiritual influence.

Number of Targets: 1

Duration: 60 seconds

Range: 180 feet

Casting Time: Instant

Mana Cost: 5,700

He needed a few hundred more Mentality to afford Celestial Dispel Spiritual Influence, and even then, he wasn’t sure if what was affecting his Party was spiritual or psychic in nature – though the fact that Thaden had resisted it seemed to indicate that it was.

In short, he currently had no way to free them from whatever was affecting them.  Instead, all he could do was follow them as they kept walking, lost in their own worlds, and hope that he could destroy whatever was doing this to them before they ended up hurt.

Sadia had obviously come to the same conclusion, as she bounded ahead of Blinky, who had taken the lead, and was on the lookout for any hostile threats.  Thaden maintained his pace behind them, trying to sense whatever was doing this to them, but all he could feel was the same effect that continuously attempted to influence him but was immediately repelled by his Psychic Resiliency.

Based on how quickly it was negated, there were two scenarios that he considered.  The first was that the influencing effect was actually relatively weak, at least compared to his Competency Level and his Hardened Heart Advancement, which reduced its effectiveness by 50%.  That was the best-case scenario, however, because the other one was that his Size Matters Advancement was kicking in, which meant that whatever was doing this was at least 50 Levels above them – and was therefore nullified completely. 

Regardless of whatever it turned out to be, Thaden was as prepared as he could be as they continued to walk in silence, his army of minions out front and seemingly completely unaffected by whatever was going on.  The forest seemed endless and unchanging, but he could tell that the exit was gradually getting closer; they were making progress, at least, even if it didn’t physically seem like it.

A sudden introduction of brighter light ahead broke the monotony, and he could see a break in the trees.  The sunlight that had been largely obscured by the leaves overhead flooded what appeared to be a small circular clearing, perhaps only 100 feet in diameter, filled with a uniform, familiar calf-height green grass.  That wasn’t the only thing inside the clearing, however, as it was largely dominated by an enormous flowering bush that reached at least 40 feet into the air and spread out to fill approximately two-thirds of the available space.  The dozens of large flower heads decorating the exterior of the bush had deep-purple petals that pulsed with a brighter and lighter-colored purplish energy enveloping them in a sort of aura, and the entire thing felt just wrong to his senses.

Peaceful Slumber Bush [Vampiric Lavender Menace] (Boss) – Medial

Level 70

His vision was slightly blurry when he looked at its name, and he realized that the same effect that was trying to capture him like his Party members was attempting to obscure its name.  Whereas anyone without the resistances he had would see the Boss monster as a Peaceful Slumber Bush, which still wasn’t that great-sounding, in reality it was a Vampiric Lavender Menace – which certainly wasn’t peaceful at all.

When he saw that his Party wasn’t stopping, which was accompanied by movement along the lower edge of the Lavender Menace as the flowers pulled back to reveal branches with thorns as large as Thaden’s arm that were dripping with a purplish liquid that sickened him just looking at it, he knew he had to act quickly.  He sent his army of Beezards and Scourges ahead to begin leeching Health from the giant bush, while he and Sadia threw themselves in front of Blinky and Flarencia, who were up front and would be the first ones to reach the Boss.

They managed to stop them from moving any further, as they had a slight Physicality stat advantage over them, but Lovinia and Re’ba’shet continued moving – and Thaden had no hope of keeping the taller Soldier Recruit back along with the others, as he was too strong.  He looked back at what was happening with the Boss battle, and he wasn’t encouraged in the slightest.  Despite each of them being able to leech thousands of Health from the giant bush, what he hadn’t accounted for was how the Lavender Menace fought back.  The moment the assault began, it began using its branches to snatch and then pull inside of its “body” his minions, piercing them with the horribly long thorns – and then doing its own “leeching” of its own as its vampiric nature came into play.  While he could tell that they were doing damage, it was all negated as it used his high-Health pool minions as healing batteries.

Crap.

He immediately cast Lesser Enthrall, but he had no confidence in it working because of the Boss’s nature.  As he suspected, his attempt to control the Vampiric Lavender Menace basically bounced off as if it had hit a brick wall, and he could only assume that it was immune to any type of influence, just like Thaden was immune to psychic influence from sources 50 Levels or higher. 

Thaden couldn’t help but see some parallels between this situation and his experience in the Mausoleum of Despair on Tarth, where he’d brought a Party in and had fought an actual undead vampire as the Boss.  They’d barely survived that battle, mostly through luck, but Thaden wasn’t the same as he was back then; he had more tools at his disposal now, and he wasn’t planning on letting a damn bush get the better of him and his Party.

“I’m sorry about this, but I swear it’s for a good reason,” he said out loud, and he looked at Sadia with a feeling of sadness flowing through him.  She nodded slowly at him, knowing that they didn’t really have any other choice.  Doing what he was about to do would change how the other viewed him, in a way he didn’t want, and he knew that crossing that line would inevitably change the way they interacted with him.

He cast Lesser Enthrall again.  Not against the Boss, but against his own Party members.  Instantly, whatever the enormous bush had been affecting them with was gone, immediately replaced by Thaden’s own spell, and they stopped moving as soon as he had control.  He could feel them in the back of his head, and while they added to the strain on his mind, it wasn’t much compared to his other minions. 

“You had to do it to save their lives,” Sadia said as she bounded over to stand next to him. 

“I know, but I don’t have to like it,” he responded, even as he began casting Celestial Befriend Spirit.  “They’ll probably hate me after this.”

“Maybe.  But perhaps they’ll appreciate that you saved their lives?”

There was a chance of that happening, but he wasn’t going to count on it.  Regardless of how it ended up afterwards between them, he vowed not to use his controlling spells on his Party members again in the future… though he immediately knew that he would break that vow if it was a matter of life and death, like the current situation.  Hopefully by the time they experienced something so stacked against his current abilities again, he would have the Mana pool to solve these problems without having to resort to what he was doing now.

As he waited for his spell to finish casting, he observed the stalemate going on with his forces against the Bush.  It appeared as though the Lavender Menace could only pull in 8 victims at a time, and his Minions were incapable of escaping; he was tempted to cancel the Lesser Health Reinforcement on them, so that they could die, but he held off for the moment.  He wasn’t sure of the Boss’s reach, but based on how far the branches seemed to be able to reach to grab his controlled monsters, he worried that it would then try and reach Thaden and the others despite them still being inside the trees.  He’d rather keep it occupied for the moment, as it wasn’t attacking anything else; instead, it seemed to be constantly replenishing its Health and healing as it sucked on its current victims.

Thaden also noticed that the Spitters under his control were basically useless.  Whatever acidic properties the yellowish spit had on normal flowers seemed like nothing but water against the Boss; either it was immune, or it couldn’t be hurt much by the deadly projectile nastiness. 

When his spell finally completed, Thaden didn’t even have to so anything as his Befriended Party members immediately started moving in reaction to Thaden being attacked – which in this case, was due to his army of minions being attacked by the Boss.  Rel’ba’shet positioned himself in front of Flarenia and Lovinia, taking a defensive stance that showed that he would defend them against anything that might attack them, while the Fledgling Flameweaver and Ashdancer Trainee began to cast some spells.  Blinky disappeared from sight, but Thaden could feel him hanging back and protecting the other Party members from off to the sight; he was glad to see that, as he was worried that he would suicidally try and attack the Boss head-on.

Seeing his Party ready to do their part, now that they were free of the bush’s influence, Thaden took steps of his own.  First, he mentally canceled the Lesser Health Reinforcement on the monsters that were being vampirically sucked dry of Health, while at the same time he activated Lesser Sacrificial Backlash Aura, which would reduce the stats (up to 60%) of hostile targets in range of his Aura when one of his controlled minions died.  His spell efficiency increased how quickly it reached the maximum stat reduction, and not increased how much they could be reduced – which was a shame – but he hoped that it was still more than enough as it was to allow some serious damage to go through.

Within seconds, his captured minions were dead as they lost their extra Health pool, and he could immediately see the petals on the bush wilt a little as its stats were decreased, though it didn’t seem to be as much as he had hoped.  He could only assume that the Boss had some resistances against his Backlash Aura, though thankfully it wasn’t immune like it was to his controlling spells.

Even as more branches whipped out to snatch up more victims from the controlled monsters attacking it, Flarenia’s spell went off, creating a firestorm of flames that enveloped the entire Boss.  Thaden could see it doing some damage, even more than what his army of minions had been doing, though it wasn’t enough to get through the Lavender Menace’s vampiric regeneration; even with slightly reduced stats, it was still a Level 70 Boss, and it wasn’t going down that easily.

Lovinia’s spell went off a second later, and the firestorm was accompanied by smoke and ash, whirling around and seeming to grow stronger by the second as the flames burnt parts of the flower petals, creating more ash, before they were regenerated. 

That, more than the flames alone, seemed to get the Boss’s attention.  Even as he felt another of his minions die, as he’d canceled Lesser Health Reinforcement on those that were snatched up, he saw a burning branch whip out of the flaming cyclone and aim right for the Netherine twins.  Rel’ba’shet reacted instantly and deflected the incoming branch with his shield, which nearly knocked him on his back, and while he struggled to regain his balance, the branch began to wrap around his waist.  Out of nowhere, Blinky appeared and sliced through a hefty chunk of the branch trying to snatch away the Aelveen; it didn’t get all the way through, however, and the Soldier Recruit was pulled off his feet.

Rel’ba’shet wasn’t out of the fight, however, as his arms were free, and he stabbed the cut portion of the branch with his spear, using some sort of ability that made the speartip glow, and then he retracted it before he slammed down with the bottom edge of his shield in the same place.  There was a crack as his shield blow cut through the branch, and he was suddenly falling, approximately 20 feet from where he’d been standing, and he agilely rolled as he hit the ground.  He was back on his feet in no time, before running back toward his previously position without a trace of fear on his face for the death he’d just barely avoided.

Sweat began to fall down the faces of the twins as they maintained what were likely channeled spells, as their Mana ticked down in waves, while the fire, smoke, and ash cyclone continued to increase in intensity – but it still wasn’t enough.  Thaden kept throwing his controlled monsters at the Bush, who instinctively grabbed at them to suck them dry of Health as it tried to recover from the damage being done to it, and it grew weaker and weaker as a result of his Sacrificial Backlash Aura. 

“That’s the last of them; let’s hope that it was enough,” he said softly as he watched the last few Beezards still alive and under his control being snatched up and drained by the Boss.  Meanwhile, his Netherine Party members had fallen to their knees as their Mana continued to drain, and not for the first time, Thaden wished that his Mana Rejuvenation spell was accessible, as it would help to replenish their Mana at an incredible rate. 

What would give out first?  Their Mana, or the Boss’s defenses and Health?

He thought it might be his Party members that ran out of Mana first, as nothing seemed to change within the firestorm, but a psychic scream not a second after the last of his minions was drained signaled the end of the Vampiric Lavender Menace.  Three branches shot out toward the spellcasters, but even before they were halfway to them, they crashed into the ground, all strength behind them having given out.  The rest of the bush followed suit soon after, and even as the twins collapsed to the ground, their spells abruptly winking out, he could see the still-burning remains of the Boss smoldering in the middle of the clearing. 

What really confirmed the fact that it was dead, however, was the glowing archway that appeared along the trunk of a large tree positioned on the edge of the clearing.  The way out.

Taking a deep breath, Thaden looked at Sadia with a small smile, happy that they had managed to kill the Boss, but dreading what was going to happen next.  Turning toward his Party, he closed his eyes for a moment, preparing himself for the—rightfully—angry tirades he was about to suffer.  Finally opening his eyes, he took another deep breath…

…and canceled his Celestial Befriend Spirit spell that he’d used on his allies.