jonathanbrooksauthor

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Simply walking toward the stand of trees in the distance wasn’t quite the stroll in the park that Thaden had hoped for.  Not more than 100 feet from where he’d taken control of the Beezards, his army was attacked by 3 giant Mutated Beezard Warriors that seemed to float up from the flowers despite there not being any room for them to hide, which were each the size of a greyhound bus.  At Level 44, they were already inherently stronger than his own minions, but that didn’t mean much when they were prevented from moving toward Thaden by a bunch of controlled Drones.  They also didn’t last long against the combined leeching of his Dominated army, which rapidly sucked their Health dry by absorbing thousands of Health with each usage of their leeching ability.  Combined with the constant healing that he maintained on them all with Lesser Minion Regeneration, the Warriors didn’t stand a chance.

That was just the warm-up, however, and it was more of a proof-of-concept than anything else.  When another short distance produced another group of larger Warriors, this time 5 of them, he held his army back and instead took them over with a combination of Lesser Enthrall and Dominate Spirit, adding them to his forces.  Once they were fully under his control, the strain on his mind increased, but he hadn’t hit his limit quite yet.

No one from his Party said anything through all of that.  They stood behind him at a distance of about 50 feet, simply watching in silence as he destroyed the first group and took control of the second.  The twins’ expressions were locked down, their faces showing none of their thoughts, though by the way that they gripped their staves to the point where they looked like they would crack the wood, he could tell they were doing their best to hold back an extreme reaction to what they were seeing.  Whether that reaction was anger, fear, or something else, he couldn’t rightly tell.

As for the Aelveen, Rel’ba’shet, the Soldier Recruit’s face was an open book.  Shock and fear were clear to see, as well as what might be a hint of jealousy in the way he shook his head at what he was seeing.  He was also mumbling under his breath, though it was either completely incomprehensible or Thaden’s hearing wasn’t as good as he thought it was.

Blinky, on the other hand, had originally gone from fear and hopelessness to his normal exuberance – turned up to 11.  He bounced up and down in place, his hands gripping onto his sheathed knives on his belt, and his smile was wider than Thaden had yet seen it.  The Grome’s eyes shone brightly with excitement and eagerness, as if he couldn’t wait to see what wonder was next.

Well, at least someone appreciates all this.

Then again, he hadn’t originally brought his Party along to impress them, so he supposed it didn’t matter.  What did matter, though, was that they learned what he could do so as not to underestimate him; not because he wanted to be intimidating, but because he was planning on Leveling-up quickly, which meant putting them all in dangerous situations that would lead to the biggest benefits.

The next few minutes saw a mixture of Drones and Warriors appearing from the flowers as if they were being birthed by the colorful plants, and instead of controlling any more, he instead instructed his army to destroy everything in his way.  While he could theoretically handle more strain on his mind by adding to his forces, there was no reason to push it and make the experience uncomfortable; in addition, he wanted to ensure he had ample “room” to add anything unexpected to his repertoire of minions.

Thankfully, Thaden didn’t have to worry about extracting any loot from the dead monsters he left in his wake, as Blinky volunteered the rest of the Party to handle it while he continued on his way.  He didn’t look to see what he received, but he had to believe that it was quite a bit since these were higher-Level monsters than what he’d killed numerous quantities of before.

After a steady 30 minutes of progress through the flowers, Thaden began to think that something was wrong for a couple of reasons.  The first one that made itself known was the fact that, despite walking at least a mile of distance, the trees in the distance didn’t seem to be getting any closer.  The second, and probably most important factor in his assumption that something was wrong, was when he looked back the way they’d come and, instead of leaving a relatively straight path through the flora, they seemed to have made a clearly curved cut through the flowers. 

“What do you make of that, Blinky?” he asked, pointing the way they’d come.

It appeared as if their Scout Class hadn’t noticed it until then, either, as he seemed to twitch slightly in surprise.  “I hadn’t even noticed that!  Must be some of the Strained dungeon shenanigans that Lovinia mentioned.”

“Are we walking in circles?”

The Grome thought about it for a second before shaking his head.  “No, I don’t believe so.  We would’ve looped back on where we’ve already been, and now that I’m paying attention, I’m positive that we aren’t doing that.”

“Hmm… should we head a different direction?”

He just shrugged in answer.

Thaden thought about it for a few seconds before he decided to continue on as he was, as he didn’t have any other visible destination to head toward. 

It was only a minute or so later when the something changed.  As his lead minions flew over the flowers approximately 100 feet ahead of him, he heard a short hissing that made him freeze in place, as it was out of place.  He thought, perhaps, that there was some sort of snake monster in the flowers because of the hissing, but when a whole line of red flowers suddenly exploded in a detonation that sent a heavy shockwave toward the Party, strong enough to nearly knock him down, he realized that the hissing was the prelude to a bomb going off.

The flowers all around the explosion were flattened with most of their petals ripped off, showing the devastation that had occurred when they went off.  He took a quick inventory of his minions, and while those that had been right on top of the exploding flowers were heavily damaged, their Health pool was high enough because of Lesser Health Reinforcement that they miraculously survived.  He looked over at Sadia, whose eyes were wide in surprise, but she otherwise appeared entirely unhurt.

“Everyone alright?” he asked, glancing toward the rest of his Party.  Thankfully, they were even further away and hadn’t been nearly as affected, and while they shared the wild eyes of surprise that Sadia sported, they were also unhurt.

As if the line of exploding flowers was some sort of divider, the environment past the devastation changed from what they’d been walking through.  Instead of the flowers ranging from knee-height to almost waist-height, they seemed to rapidly grow taller until they were taller than Thaden.  They quickly blocked out his sight of the trees that never got any closer in the distance, but he wasn’t going to turn back quite yet.  Rather than use it as a definitive guide, he figured he would just walk forward, hoping that he would eventually reach whatever counted as the end of the dungeon.

The taller flowers grew close together, making seeing more than 50 feet or so difficult, so he had to pull his army of Beezards back so that they could respond to any threats up close.  In fact, since the Mutated Beezard Warriors were so large, he used them as bulldozers to crash through the flowers, flattening them to make a navigable path.

Even when he started that process soon after encountering the taller flowers, he realized that it had almost been too late.  Within the first dozen feet or so of the new environment, his bulldozers encountered a new enemy.

Floral Scourge – Medial

Level 42

Dozens of flowers uprooted themselves and began to migrate toward Thaden, their stalks nearly a foot around and their leaves wide and razor-sharp like arboreal swords.  But the worst part about the Floral Scourges were their petals, which were solid and detachable, and as they turned their heads toward Thaden, they suddenly launched hundreds of colorful projectiles at high speed right at him.  His forces weren’t quite in position to block more than a handful, but he was fast enough to react by throwing himself face-down into the grass and bent flower stems, with Sadia doing the same next to him.  Unfortunately, he wasn’t fast enough to avoid every petal projectile, and he felt at least a half-dozen of them pierce through his cheap shirt and embed themselves in his chest and shoulder before stopping.  The pain hit him like a sledgehammer, but thankfully his Health pool was high enough to withstand the damage without killing him completely. 

Even as he panted in pain, he was already at work ripping out the colorful and now blood-covered petals from his body, while casting Lesser Health Siphon and targeting one of his nearby Drones and himself.  The sharp petals cut his hands even more as he gripped onto them, but he ignored the damage as he eventually felt his healing spell take effect, and he immediately felt better even as he continued removing the projectiles from his body while he lay on his back.

Meanwhile, Sadia had gone to work.  Using Lesser Enthrall, she managed to take control of 30 of the 35 Floral Scourges with a single cast of the spell, which made Thaden wince as the new load hit his mind, but he pushed through and continued what he was doing.  She didn’t try again, but instead used the new additions to surround the 5 Scourges not under his control, using them as fodder to keep them occupied.  The strain on his mind lessened bit by bit as more than half of the flower monsters he controlled were cut apart by the blades of those still hostile, but that was when his Beezards finally got into position to leech the Health away from the attackers and kill them. 

By the time he picked himself up, threw the last sharp petal off to the side in annoyance, and assessed the scene, he found that only 8 of the Floral Scourges remained under his control.  Their addition put more strain on his mind, but it still wasn’t as bad as when he’d been forced to control the whole 30 of them from when they first appeared.

“Thanks, Sadia.  That was… painful.”  Not for the first time, Thaden wished that his defensive spells were a bit more affordable, because he could really use some sort of damage protection.

“You’re welcome.  By the way, you need a bath and a new set of clothes; you’re not looking so hot.”

Looking down at himself, he couldn’t help but agree with her, as his whole front side was covered in blood, and there were huge holes in his shirt.  His hands and arms were practically drenched in still-wet blood, and though he wiped them a few times on his pants, it still looked like he’d just come from a class on how to be a serial killer.

“Are you… alive?” he heard coming from Flarenia, of all people, and he grinned back at her, the intense pain of the attack already starting to fade from his mind.

“Alive and kicking!  I look like I just bathed in blood, but I’m… fine.”  He was feeling good, though he had to admit that he wasn’t a fan of the ongoing feeling of his vital fluids covering a good portion of his skin. 

“Hold still.  I’ll clean that off you,” Lovinia spoke up, surprising everyone, as she walked toward him while glancing at the monsters lined up obediently behind him.  Thaden was momentarily suspicious, but he realized that she wasn’t likely to try anything, as hurting or killing Thaden would likely end with her death when he lost control of the monsters.  “Now, close your eyes and don’t scream like a baby,” she warned, before she started casting a spell.

For the first time, he had the opportunity to see the Ashdancer Trainee at work, as a cyclone of smoke and hot ash suddenly appeared in front of her the size of Thaden, and before he knew it, that cyclone had moved toward him.  He barely closed his eyes at the last second before it slammed into and through him, the heat from the ash particles uncomfortable but not greatly so as they swirled around him.  It wasn’t the heat that was slightly painful, though, as it felt like the ash was scouring his skin raw as it rubbed across it, like some sort exfoliation treatment from hell.  He managed to not scream, which helped to keep his mouth closed, and he realized that was the reason why she’d told him that – because having that enter his body through his mouth would’ve been horrible to experience. 

After what felt like hours, but was probably no more than 15 seconds, the scouring cyclone of smoke and ash faded away, and he opened his eyes.  Already, the lingering Afterglow effect had healed whatever damage had actually been done to him, so when he looked down at his body, he didn’t see the raw skin that he expected.  Instead, he found that nearly all of the blood on his arms and hands was gone, and even a good portion of what had bled all over his chest.  His shirt had streaks of scorch marks all over them, as well as a few more tears, but it was thankfully still largely intact.  Bloodstained, but that was understandable.

Nodding toward Lovinia, he smiled.  “Thanks.  That’s… convenient?  Not very pleasant, but I guess that beggars can’t be choosers.”  In the end, it was a huge help, as while he certainly could’ve kept going while still covered in blood, he felt so much better being relatively clean.

“Anytime.  Seriously – anytime.”  The way she said it made her sound a bit vindictive, but if it made her feel a little better after the stressful time in the dungeon, he wasn’t going to complain.

From that point on, he made sure to keep his army of minions close to him while he had the Warrior flattening the way through the tall flowers.  They uncovered hundreds of Floral Scourges as they advanced, each one killed before they could cause a problem as soon as they appeared, and while he couldn’t see exactly where they were going, he felt like they were still making progress toward the dungeon exit. 

At least, that was what he thought at first. 

When the tall flowers eventually receded until they were the height they were when they first arrived, quickly followed by another explosive line of red flowers, he could see the trees once again – and they were still at the same distance away as before.  When they encountered more Beezards, essentially identical to the ones he’d fought before, he began to get slightly worried.  Another hour of tromping through the flowers led to a third exploding line of flowers, which he spotted before they reached it and had his Warriors trigger it before Thaden was anywhere close, he was somehow not surprised when the tall flowers and the Floral Scourges were back.

This cycle happened twice more, and Thaden was growing frustrated – while at the same time, he was slightly pleased.  On the one hand, it felt like they were stuck in the dungeon with no way out, even it they hadn’t seen any sign of going in circles; on the other hand, this while scenario was exactly what he was hoping to find, where he could kill high-Level monsters in droves, earning heaps of PICK and loot at the same time.

After about 8 hours of this, his Party members were bored and showing signs of worry, as well.  At first, they were angry and frightened – other than Blinky, after the first few minutes – but after so long in the dungeon, they probably felt like they were never going to leave it.  He couldn’t blame them, as he was somewhat thinking the same thing, but other than retracing their steps in the hope that another route would miraculously appear, Thaden couldn’t think of any other method to get out.

They were finishing up yet another section of tall flowers with his original Mutated Beezard Warriors flattening them with tireless devotion to his orders, when Flarenia finally lost it.

“I swear, if there’s one more area full of these damn Beezards, I’m going to scream!  How long are we supposed to run around in circles—?”  Thaden was glancing back at her when she abruptly cut herself off, so he could see when her eyes widened in shock.  Whipping his head back around to where his Warriors were still at work with the tall flowers, he immediately saw what was different. 

The trees.  They were suddenly right in front of them.  Somehow, despite the fact that they now stood right at the edge of where the 150-foot-tall trees began, they hadn’t been visible to them above the tops of the flowers until just that moment.  More than that, the dungeon exit, which had been so vague before that he hadn’t been able to feel where it was, was suddenly front-and-center to his senses.

“Well, it looks like we finally made it.  Who wants to bet that the Boss is in there?”

Blinky’s mood was back to normal as he snorted, which was accompanied by a grin.  “No bet.  But is that really the exit?”

“Sure feels like it.  Are you all ready?  Like I said before, I’m probably going to need some help to kill it.”

Rather than be frightened at fighting something that could be 30 Levels above their own, his Party actually looked eager to finally kill something.  I suppose that watching me do all the work was probably both boring and tiring.  They want to finally get involved.

When they all seemed to assent, he started walking toward a space in between two of the trees.  “Let’s get this dungeon done with, then.”

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Walking through the dungeon entrance was as strange as it always was, though he certainly wasn’t expecting what ended up being on the other side.  Based on the underground location, he had figured that the dungeon would be based around caves or dark spaces, but he was almost immediately blinded by the bright sunlight as he emerged into a vast sea of calf-length grass and thousands of flowers in a riot of colors for as far as the eye could see.  When he was able to see clearly again, the first thing he checked out was his notifications to find out exactly where he was.

You have entered the Wild Flower Dungeon!

Wild Flower Dungeon

Assessed Difficulty: Medial (Strained)

Recommended Party Size: 5

Recommended Party Levels: 38 – 41

Thaden had only been inside 2 dungeons since he’d been on Plangea, and both of them had turned out to have something special about them.  The first, the Blasted Caves Dungeon, had been a Minimal difficulty “Swarm” dungeon full of relatively weak monsters, but in large groups; it had been relatively simple to clear once he fully took advantage of his new spells, as well as with some help from his Party of Netherines to kill the Boss.

The Wild Flower Dungeon, on the other hand, was assessed as a Medial dungeon, which he had been told was a rarity except for some of the deeper dungeons – and they hadn’t been anywhere near those locations.  He figured it had to be the special modifier attached to it, though, which was “Strained” instead of the “Swarm” he’d seen on the other dungeon.

“Uh, Thaden?” Blinky said only seconds after entering after him.  “I know you made a deal, but I think even Flarenia would be willing to switch dungeons.”

Thaden was confused.  “What?  Why?”

“Are you so ignorant that you don’t know what’s happening to this dungeon?”

He sighed, before gesturing with his hand for Flarenia to get on with it.  “Obviously, I have no idea what you’re talking about.  Why don’t you explain it to me?”

The armored Aelveen answered first.  “When a dungeon has been ignored for too long, it becomes what you see here, which is what is referred to as ‘Strained’.  In short, the Adversary is pumping more of its energy into the dungeon, attempting to forcibly increase its strength by enhancing its monsters; that’s why the Recommended Level listed is higher than what was posted outside.  This process strains the dungeon as a whole, however, making things inside it… unpredictable.”

“What do you mean by unpredictable?”

Rel’ba’shet turned to Lovinia next to him, clearly out of his depth already with his knowledge.  She took up the explanation, even as she eyed the entrance.  “Odd changes to the dungeon’s layout, multiplied or mutated monsters, and/or shutting down access to the entrance we’ve just passed through.  I would recommend we leave as soon as possible and then you can perform your little stunt in a different—NO!.”

Of course, as if it was waiting for her to say something about it, the wavy haze of the entrance portal floating in the middle of the field of flowers suddenly flared with a reddish light before disappearing entirely. 

Everyone stared in disbelief at where their only retreat from the Strained dungeon had just disappeared.  After a few seconds, Flarenia turned and looked at Thaden with an expression on her face that looked like a mixture between sheer terror and anger.  “You had better be able to back up that claim you made earlier, because if you kill us all, I’m going to come back as a phantasm and haunt you, your family, and every single descendent for the next 10,000 years.”

Thaden chuckled darkly, shaking his head.  “Too bad for you that I have no living family, and therefore no living descendants.  But you won’t have to worry about haunting anyone, because I can handle this.”  At least, I hope I can.

“You had better, or I’ll—”

“Or you’ll what?  Kill me?  I think that if I end up failing, then I’ll already be dead.”  He took a deep breath as he glanced around him, glad that, at least for the moment, they weren’t immediately under attack.  “Seriously, calm down so that I can do my thing here.  We still have a deal, remember.”

“I think we’re far past worrying about our deal, Thaden,” Blinky said softly as he, too, looked around at the innocent-looking environment.

“No, I think it’s still valid,” Flarenia said with anger tinting her voice.  “He’s the one that picked this dungeon, after all, so he has to deal with what is in here – whatever it turns out to be.  It’s only fair, don’t you think, Thaden?”

For his part, he shrugged, as if it didn’t really matter one way or another to him.  “Sure, sounds fair to me.”  He began to take a step forward, but Blinky caught his arm.

“Hold on.  I don’t know if you can see it, but I believe there is a small safe area around where the entrance used to be.”  The Grome pointed about 20 feet ahead of them both, but Thaden couldn’t see anything; once it was pointed out to him, though, he thought he could feel it.  And if he wasn’t mistaken, it was slowly shrinking.  “As soon as you take a step outside of this area, whatever is in the dungeon will know you’re here.”  Blinky left unspoken the fact that all the monsters in range would likely attack Thaden immediately.

Nodding to show that he understood, Thaden turned to his Party and warned them, “Don’t attack my friend that is about to appear; she’s on our side, and I’m probably going to need her help.”  The next moment, without any other prompting from him, Sadia materialized next to him in her giant squirrel form.

Every member of his Party took an involuntary step back when she appeared.  “What the—” Flarenia began to ask in a shocked voice, but Thaden cut her off.

“I’ll explain later.  For now, stay back and let us work.”  In a softer voice, he addressed his companion.  “You ready for this?”

“As ready as I’m going to be, I guess.  And they’re right, dungeons in a ‘Strained’ state can be unpredictable, so be prepared.”

Another quick nod had Thaden preparing, as he cast Lesser Subjugation Aura, which – at its base – increased his spiritual will battle success rate by 20%; with his spell effectiveness bonuses, from Advancements and Class traits (including the 300% increase in effectiveness for existing wide-area spells granted by Fortunate Catastrophe), his success rate was essentially increased by 100%.  It required 35% of his Mana pool to be reserved while it was active, but it would be worth it to boost his chances of taking control of whatever monsters were inside the dungeon.  To further help with what he had planned, he also cast Celestial Spiritual Enhancement Aura, reserving an additional 15% of his Mana pool.

Celestial Spiritual Enhancement Aura (Reserved): A persistent aura surrounds the caster that enhances the effectiveness of the spiritual and psychic abilities of every target within range; effectiveness of the enhancement is dependent upon Level differential between the caster and targets, with higher-Level targets receiving a greater enhancement; can aid in partially piercing through spiritual or psychic resistances or immunities.

Range: 120-foot 30-foot radius of caster

Magnitude (Base): 70% 30% increase in effectiveness

Casting Time: Instant

Mana Cost (Reserved): 20% of Mana pool 15% of Mana pool

When the spell had first synergized with his new Class, it had required 85% of his Mana pool and only increased the effectiveness of his spiritual spells by 25%; after acquiring a larger Mana pool, it now only required 15% of his Mana pool and the increase in spell effectiveness had been bumped up to 30%.  With his existing spell effectiveness bonuses, as it was an existing wide-area spell which received a bonus 300% in spell effectiveness, he essentially bumped his spiritual spell effectiveness up by 150%. 

All of that meant that something like Lesser Enthrall, which would allow him to control targets up to 4 Levels higher than his own Level – meaning Level 19 – was now increased by 350%; if he was doing his calculations correctly, that meant he could theoretically control monsters up to Level 85 or so.  Of course, successfully winning a battle of spiritual wills depended on resistances, as well as his Mentality and Personality stats in comparison to the target.  Thankfully, with his 80% increase in success granted by an Advancement, the 100% increase in success boosted by Lesser Subjugation Aura, and the 39% increase he’d received from the Why Aren’t You A Control Class? V Achievement, he thought that he had a fairly good chance of pushing through most psychic or spiritual defenses he might encounter. 

As prepared as he was going to get, Thaden took a few steps forward, halting right on the edge of where he felt the safe area shrinking.  With a deep breath, as he wasn’t sure what exactly to expect, he took that last step.

Before his foot even touched down, he sensed a multitude of hostile sources of Adversarial energy popping up from the wildflowers all around.  It only took a few seconds to see what they were – and he wasn’t sure why he expected anything different given the environment.

Beezard Drone – Medial

Level 38

Mutated Beezard Drone – Medial

Level 41

Beezard Spitter – Medial

Level 40

Bees.  More specifically, Beezards, which were giant yellow and black bees that had a wicked-looking beak like a buzzard, as well as talons tipping each of its 6 legs that had no business being on a bee.  Even the smallest of them was the size of a horse, and while he didn’t have a chance to count how many there were, he estimated that there were dozens of them surrounding the entire party.

The Beezard Drone was the smallest version of the monsters that suddenly appeared, and it looked like it was the “standard” size of these monsters, as there was nothing unique about it.  The Mutated Beezard Drones, on the other hand, ranged from about 50% bigger than the normal version, to nearly the size of an elephant.  They also had extra legs sticking out at awkward angles, an extra set of wings, or even a second head that he saw on one of them.  In short, they looked extremely dangerous.

But they weren’t nearly as dangerous as the few Beezard Spitters he saw, which had a sticky-looking yellowish substance that might have been honey dripping from their beaks, but when he saw some of this substance splash onto one of the flowers beneath the Spitter, the petals almost instantly dissolved from its touch.

Thaden didn’t speak, as there was no reason to; both he and Sadia knew what needed to be done, and they both cast Lesser Enthrall simultaneously thanks to his Double Team Advancement, and the channeled spells were converted to a wide-area effect.  Immediately, he could feel his influence pass through the majority of the Beezards swarming toward him.

A total of 43 monsters were suddenly under his control, and while there was a little bit of strain on his mind, his Mentality was high enough to handle it easily enough.  They came to a stop in the air, hovering in place and awaiting his commands, but there were still another 5 that had slipped through his leash.  “Alternate,” he said, and Sadia knew exactly what he wanted to do.  Thaden canceled his Enthrall spell and immediately cast it again, recontroling those that were still affected by Sadia’s spell, and spreading his influence through the rest – managing to snag 2 more of the ones that he hadn’t managed to grab before. 

Then Sadia did the same the next second, managing to control 1 more of those that were being stubborn, leaving only 2 that weren’t under his control.  Unfortunately, one of those happened to be a Beezard Spitter, and his heart sped up a bit when he saw a glob of yellowish nastiness the size of a basketball heading right toward him.  Thankfully, Sadia was on top of it, and he saw the closest Drone suddenly swoop over and bodily block the projectile – which was horrible to see.  The acidic yellow goop practically exploded upon contact with the controlled Drone, spreading all over its body, legs, and wings, eating through them with a speed that was frightening. 

He began casting Lesser Health Siphon and Lesser Minion Regeneration to save it, but he thought it might be too late; fortunately, the Drone was robust enough to survive until the 3-second Delay from his Delayed Satisfaction Advancement finished, and he immediately felt its Health surge back up to full – though it was still covered in the goop, which continued to eat away at his controlled minion.  Now that it had some lasting healing spells on it, though, he could tell that it would outlast the acidic goop as it quickly dripped off his minion and began dissolve the flowers beneath it.

Of course, while this was going on, he and Sadia hadn’t been idle, as they alternated casting Lesser Enthrall a few more times before enthralling the last couple of Beezards that had escaped his control.  Once that was done, and there didn’t seem to be any more threats, Thaden finally let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding since the conflict began, and grinned.

“See, that wasn’t too bad, was it—?” he asked, even as he turned back to his Party – who were all slack-jawed and staring at him as if in a daze. 

Eventually, after about 10 seconds, Flarenia snapped her mouth shut, before asking in a strained voice, “What did you do?!”

“I enthralled them,” Thaden said matter-of-factly, as if it was obvious.  “I’m a Novice Enthraller, after all.”

“I can… see that, but what you did should be impossible!”

He shrugged, as he didn’t want to explain everything right then and there.  “Yet, it happened.  Now, there’s a few other things I need to do, and then we can really get started.”

He turned away from his flabbergasted Party, before focusing on his new flying minions.  The one that had blocked the yellow goop was slowly recovering, as its Health kept seesawing up and down as the last of the nasty projectile either lost potency or fell off, but otherwise all of the others were perfectly fine.  In total, he’d acquired control of 48 monsters, and he certainly felt the strain on his mind; even though they weren’t as high of a Level as the Tentacled Stranglers he’d controlled in the river, they were still all a much higher Level than him – and his Mentality couldn’t handle too much more than what he had currently.  He thought he might be able to add another dozen or so, but that would be pushing his limits; at the moment, it was manageable without being distracting. 

First, he cast one of his newest spells that he’d gained from his recent Level-ups, Lesser Health Reinforcement. 

Lesser Health Reinforcement (Single Cast): Boost the maximum Health of a single target based on the number of minions under your control

Maximum Health Increase: 9% per controlled minion

Range: 60 feet

Duration: 20 minutes

Casting Time: 5 seconds

Mana Cost: 50

Lesser Health Reinforcement was incredible for someone like him, who could control quite a few monsters at one time.  At a base of a 9% increase in maximum Health per controlled minion, of which he now had 48, that meant that once he used the spell with a wide-range effect – which would include even himself and his Party – that would mean a 432% increase in maximum Health.

But then there were bonuses to factor in, as well.  As this was a Support spell, it automatically would gain a 150% increase in spell effectiveness from his Class, but then his Delayed Satisfaction would kick in to add another 900% increase.  Therefore, with a 1,050% boost to the 432% from the original spell, he was looking at a 4,968% increase in maximum Health.

As he bent over in pain as his body was suddenly flooded with extra Health, he could hear the screams of his Party members as it hit them at the same time.  I probably should’ve thought about this before I did it.  Previously, when he was on Tarth, his Physicality had already been at incredible heights when he began messing with his maximum Health, so any changes hadn’t really affected him all that much – because he could handle it.  Now, though, jacking his Health from 1,680 to a little over 83,000 made a huge difference, and it took him nearly 30 seconds before he became used to the changes.

“What the hell did you just do?!” Lovinia screamed once she could speak again, as Flarenia was apparently still recovering.  Thaden got to his feet after collapsing in pain, thankful that he was able to maintain his channeled Enthrall spells, and panted out the last of the growing pains.  “I just boosted our Health a little bit.  No big deal.”

“No big deal?!  It felt like my entire body was going to explode from the inside!” the Netherine complained, before she seemed to freeze in place as her face went slack and her eyes looked distant.  Thaden smirked as he turned away, knowing that she was looking at her new maximum Health.  Unfortunately, her Health pool probably wasn’t full, as even though she had a higher max Health, it didn’t bring her up to that maximum Health right away.  Thaden took the time to use Lesser Health Siphon on each of his Party members as they recovered, and while the original heal was relatively small compared to their much larger pool, they also all had Afterglow affecting them, which was replenishing 1% of their max Health every 5 seconds for the next 60 seconds.

“How… I have over 90,000 Health now!” Rel’ba’shet exclaimed as the Aelveen stood up, looking at his Character Report. 

“Should keep you alive for a little bit in case something goes wrong – which it hopefully won’t,” Thaden said, again without any specific explanation.  He’d rather get the dungeon cleared first before he went into anything with his Party.

But Thaden wasn’t done; he cast another spell on his controlled Beezards – as a further safeguard against anyone dying.

Lesser Explosive Recuperation (Single Cast): When the controlled target of Lesser Explosive Recuperation is killed, they will explode in a non-damaging manner, and their fleeing lifeforce is rerouted into the member of your Party with the lowest current Health to maximum Health percentage, healing them instantly.

Health Amount: 30% of maximum Health

Range: 90 feet

Duration: 60 minutes

Casting Time: 7 seconds

Mana Cost: 45

The new spell, Lesser Explosive Recuperation wasn’t as effective as something such as Death Ward (which he couldn’t quite cast yet), but it was a way of healing himself and his Party whenever one of his minions was killed.  Theoretically, that might not happen at all, now that he’d boosted their maximum Health, as well, but in case it did, it was basically an automatic heal that he wouldn’t have to worry about.

Before venturing further into the dungeon, Thaden cast one more spell: Celestial Dominate Spirit.  He was tempted to add Celestial Befriend Spirit, but he figured that they would likely encounter more Beezards, and that would prevent them from attacking; Spiritual Domination would at least let them leech Health away from other monsters – which amount was now based on 10% of his maximum Health, which had just been boosted incredibly high.

I’m suddenly feeling much better about this.

With a wave for his Party to follow him, he started walking toward the only landmark anywhere in the vast field of flowers.  A stand of trees in the distance practically beckoned him forth, and without any other destination in sight, he planned to oblige.  

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 22

Chapter 22

The area around Teglir was interesting because, at first glance, it didn’t seem like it could sustain as many Adventurers that operated out of the city.  The immediate area, for approximately 50 miles around, was pretty much all cleared land that had functional farm fields spread around it.  As Thaden had learned earlier, the farm communes that ran the farming operations employed many thousands of people, all of whom needed to be protected from stray monsters that might wander by every once in a while.  However, this was work for perhaps only 200 Adventurers that constantly patrolled the area, looking for any threatening monsters that might be nearby – and not nearly enough for the tens of thousands of Coalition members that he’d seen in Teglir.

Then there were Protection Quests, such as the one that Thaden had inadvertently caused to go sideways on the river, where a Party of Adventurers would protect a ship or a caravan as merchants brought their goods to other towns and cities.  From what Thaden eventually learned, these types of Quests were frequently available, as Teglir was a trading hub, but they still only provided opportunities for an average of another 1,000 or so Adventurers at any one time.

Resource Collection Quests, put out by the Teglir Coalition Branch, were the next-biggest contributor to Adventurer paychecks, as the Coalition was constantly on the hunt for certain materials and other items that it could pay the Adventurers to collect for them, before shipping those goods off somewhere else to sell for a tidy profit.  These Quests employed approximately another 2,500 Adventurers, which was an incredible number of them, but it still wasn’t enough to put a hefty dent in the bodies available. 

While there were a few other random Quests of various types that were available to Adventurers, such as Item Retrieval Quests looking for specific weapons or armor, or Monster Extermination Quests featuring some particularly strong monsters sighted within range of the city, these were almost random in their appearance and couldn’t be relied upon as a steady source of income.

Most of the Quests in Teglir city weren’t cushy jobs like the Protection Quest that Garney and the other Porcereans participated in every couple of days, however.  The rest of the Adventurer population, which was also the majority of them, took Dungeon Clearance Quests.  But where were the dungeons when there were miles and miles of cultivated farmland all around the city?  The answer wasn’t what Thaden expected.

From what he’d gradually learned in his time thus far in Plangea, or as far as the people believed, the Persistent Adversary lived up to its name by introducing random monsters and dungeons all around the world, using its power to affect as many places as possible in the hopes that its efforts could overwhelm the local defenses.  However, the Adversary was limited to where it could effectively place its monsters and dungeons, as it could only produce weaker versions of everything where there was a greater concentration of people around.  On Tarth, all of the dungeons and, later, NESTs, had been pre-placed by the System and were essentially permanent installations, used to train the Contenders that fought against them.  On Plangea, as he’d already discovered, dungeons that popped up could be cleared and closed – at least in the “peaceful” sections where most people lived.  The area beyond the Front Line, where the Adversary was the strongest and therefore held a greater sway on monster/dungeon strength and permanency, was apparently different – but that was a concern for a later time.

In Felith, new dungeons could appear just about anywhere other than in the middle of the town, at least as far as he could tell, but they seemed to prefer places that were out of the way and not in direct contact with populated areas – so that they could gradually gain strength while hiding from view.  It took constant vigilance from the Adventurer members operating out of the town to identify and then clear these dungeons before they could cause a problem – such as an unknown, hidden dungeon breaking and releasing its monsters.  Thaden had experienced such a thing on Tarth a few times, from when he helped to stop an undead-filled one from breaking altogether to almost dying when he inadvertently released a bunch of Magma Worms into the middle of a city – so he knew the danger of this happening first-hand. 

This entire process was the basis behind the basic Adventurer life, which had them going out and taking care of any threats that might appear, no matter where it might be.  Fortunately, those threats in the peaceful sections of the world were relatively minor most of the time, as the Adversary didn’t have as much power and influence away from the Front Lines, which resulted in there rarely ever being any monsters or dungeons that exceeded Level 80 or so.  When something extreme managed to come through, that was when the Local Legion was called forth to take care of it as the elite forces that they were – or so he assumed after getting a crash course on how things worked around the world while waiting at the Quest Assignment counter for their turn to accept some Quests of their own. 

So, what happened when an area such as the one around the city of Teglir was inundated by populated areas, thereby limiting where the Adversary could introduce threatening monsters and hidden dungeons?  Well, as the residents of Plangea had learned the hard way after countless tragedies, the Adversary eventually began throwing all of its resources right smack into the middle of population centers, causing monsters to essentially spawn from nowhere and dungeons to appear in the streets.  Billions of people died before a solution was found, which was actually fairly simple when it came down to it.

“…and so that’s where we’re going,” Blinky explained as they moved quickly down the well-traveled pathway leading out of the northern city gate.  “By leaving a large, uncultivated and technically ‘empty’ piece of land, approximately 100 square miles, alone, the Adversary then takes that land and goes wild with whatever it wants to create.  Teglir and its environs contain a total of 4 of these ‘Spawning Reserves’, each starting within 5 miles of the city proper, and extend outward from there. 

“In essence, they’re like designated stripes of violence emanating out from Teglir like the rays of the sun, each of them capable of containing thousands of dungeons.  How?  Well, it’s because these dungeons aren’t just located above ground; there is a whole network of tunnels carved out underneath the surface, filled with a variety of dungeon entrances.  And the lower you go, the stronger the dungeons tend to be.  That doesn’t mean that there won’t occasionally be a higher-Level dungeon near or even on the surface, but the Coalition caretakers of the Reserves make sure to quickly assess and note where these abnormal dungeon placements occur.”

The Grome hadn’t lost any enthusiasm since learning that Thaden would be accompanying the Party as their Support member; if anything, he was even more excitable than before.  Thaden was amused at how the diminutive Adventurer walked along with a bounce to his step, a smile on his face as if they were going on vacation rather than to a dungeon with deadly monsters. 

As for the rest of his new Party members, Rel’ba’shet looked more resigned than anything, not seeming to be either angry or pleased at Thaden’s presence.  That was perfectly fine with Thaden, because he’d rather have someone indifferent on the team than one that was actively disapproving of him. 

The same couldn’t necessarily be said of the two Netherines, who he still suspected were spies – and family members – of the Coalition Leader, Eleria.  Both Lovinia and Flarenia had accepted that he was who they were supposed to Party with, the “special” individual – at least according to the Coalition – that had been influential enough that the local Coalition Leader had personally seen to filling out his Party.  Strangely, they didn’t seem to have any more information about him than his special status, and they also hadn’t appeared to know that he was actually a Platinum+ Rank and not just Diamond Rank in the Coalition.

“And the Quest we picked up is appropriate for any dungeon within our Level range?” he asked once Blinky’s explanation wound down.  He somewhat understood the theory behind these so-called Spawning Reserves, though he’d never actually seen one in person.  Apparently, they were common practice near major towns and cities, so most Adventurers knew about or had actually visited some of them; the fact that Thaden hadn’t known about them was a major factor in how the twin Netherines even now looked at him with disbelief and disdain painting their expressions.  They didn’t actually come out and say anything, however, so he gave them some points for not vocally doubting him – even if their distrust in his competency exuded from them like a foul stench. 

Thaden ignored it.  Not because he didn’t care, but because there would be plenty of time to show them that judging him based on his appearance and lack of worldly knowledge was extremely short-sighted of them.  There wasn’t really a more satisfying way of saying, “Stop being a stuck-up asshole and I told you so,” in the same breath than an in-person demonstration of his power.

“Yes, it should cover everything.  It’s what makes the Quests so versatile, as they allow for flexibility,” Rel’ba’shet answered for Blinky, the Aelveen’s head on a swivel around them despite the safe path they were taking toward the North Spawning Reserve.  Thaden was fairly certain they wouldn’t see any monsters until they arrived at their destination, as there were hundreds of Adventurers walking both directions upon the beaten pathway, and from what he’d heard, those assigned to making sure the land around the city was free of monster threats took their jobs seriously. 

Thaden looked again at the Quest, noticing immediately what the Soldier Recruit Class was saying about its flexibility.

[Quest Type: DUNGEON CLEARANCE

Rank Requirement: Wood

Quest Time Limit: 3 days

Quest Difficulty: Low-Minimal

Minimum Recommended Level: 10

Minimum Recommended Party Size: 5

Quest Description: Explore the Teglir North Spawning Reserve and clear 1 of the Minimal dungeons rated for recommended Levels 10 through 30

Completion Requirements: Completely clear 1 of the (Minimal) dungeons located within the Teglir North Spawning Reserve and shut it down entirely

Quest Rewards: 60 silver, 30.0 PICK, and 5 Rank Progress up to Copper]

They had actually been able to pick up two of these Dungeon Clearance Quests, both of them identical, which would allow them to stay in the Spawning Reserve longer.  Blinky had mentioned that the higher Rank one had, the more Quests they could take simultaneously; unfortunately, even if Thaden had a higher Rank than everyone else, the lowest Rank was taken into account when evaluating how many Quests could be undertaken at the same time.  In this case, because Blinky and Rel’ba’shet were only Leather Rank (which was one Rank above the lowest, which was Wood), 2 Quests were all they could take.  Apparently, both Lovinia and Flarenia were already Copper Rank, which either showed that they were extremely experienced or had taken advantage of a heavy dose of nepotism.

The Spawning Reserve was only a relatively short distance away from the city, which seemed dangerous to Thaden, but it was apparently required to be that close in order to avoid any unpleasantries with monsters or dungeons appearing in the city.  As it was so near, it didn’t take his Party long to travel the entire way, and Thaden could see it appearing in the distance long before they actually arrived.

While they had largely been traveling through cultivated farm fields, including a few areas where pastures full of livestock were grazing placidly in the noonday sun, the Reserves looked like a glitch in the landscape.  Tall trees and rocky hills suddenly marred the relatively flat landscape, and there was such a marked difference between the fields and the wooded and “wild” area that appeared that it looked like someone had ripped up a patch of land from somewhere else and plopped it down in the middle of civilization.

Stretching at least 2 miles in width, this strange, untouched land seemed to extend far into the distance, a literal stripe on the map of the area that would probably look odd from an aerial point of view.  What was even more weird than its appearance was the feeling of energy it gave off, which was like a concentrated blast of Adversarial energy that he hadn’t really experienced since he was on Tarth.  It wasn’t so overwhelming that he expected to be attacked by some extremely powerful monster at any time; instead, it was more about quantity rather than quality, as he could tell that the energy was coming from hundreds or thousands of nearby dungeons and even individual monsters that must’ve spawned in the Reserves. 

No one else seemed to be affected by the blast of energy he could feel, so he didn’t bring it up; he’d been highly sensitive to pretty all types of energy since he arrived on Tarth, so this didn’t surprise him.

They followed the various groups of Adventurers walking along the same path and into the Reserves, and as if crossing a threshold, there was a definite feeling of danger that seemed to finally affect his other Party members.  “Whoa!  That was more than I expected!” Blinky shouted, looking back at the Netherine twins, who didn’t say anything – but he could see that they, too, were at least somewhat reacting to the change.  They adjusted quickly, though, as if they’d done this type of thing every day. 

“You haven’t been into a Spawning Reserve before?” Thaden asked curiously, given that he seemed so knowledgeable about them.

The Grome shook his head.  “Nope!  I’ve heard all about them for most of my life, though, so it’s amazing to finally be here!”

“I see.  Is that the same for you, Rel’ba’shet?”

All he got was a grunt and a nod in return.

“Well then, I guess then that it is up to our resident experts to lead the way.”  Thaden turned toward the twins while they continued walking further into the Reserve, though at a slower pace than before.  “You’ve been here before, haven’t you?”

“Of course,” Flarenia stated in a tone that was meant to be disdainful, as if she was saying that it was absolutely ridiculous that there were Adventurers that hadn’t been to a Spawning Reserve before.  Thaden, once again, ignored it.  “We can lead the way.  There shouldn’t be any monsters roaming around this close to the entrance, as the Reserve caretakers do a thorough job of keeping it clear.  The few dungeons that we might be able to find on the surface are going to be too weak for us, so we’ll be heading underground to find something better.  Follow us.”

There was no discussion after the order was given to follow the two Netherines, mainly because none of the others – including Thaden – knew enough about the layout and situation in the area to argue.  Before they set out, however, he loudly cleared his throat to get their attention.  “Just a word of warning as we move further into this place,” he told his entire Party.  “If there are any monsters around, or within 3 miles of my location, they will know and try to attack me.  There seems to be enough people around that it might not be a risk, but I wanted to make sure that you’re all prepared.”

“You have monsters up to 3 miles away trying to attack you?  Why?  How in the world have you lived until now?” their armored Aelveen asked, shaking his head at what seemed to be utter ridiculousness. 

Thaden shrugged, even as he caught the look the twins shared together.  “I guess I’m just lucky.  And it is a trait of my Class, so it’s not something I can turn on and off.”

“Very well.  Then we’ll be on the lookout for any threats until we get to where we’re going.”

Even if they didn’t believe him, or didn’t think that the warning was completely accurate, Thaden could see the intense focus that went through the twin Netherines as they continued on their way.  They were prepared to defend against any attacks if the unlikely became necessary.  As he followed them, situated in the middle of their formation as they walked ahead and around him for protection, he reflected on how effective their Party was likely to be. 

They had all revealed their Classes soon after officially becoming a Party, though Thaden only mentioned that he was a Novice Enthraller.  Their front-line Fighter Class, Rel’ba’shet, was a Soldier Recruit, which meant that he was basically a typical melee-focused Class that had chainmail and iron plates protecting his body, and he wielded a spear and a large shield with a notch in the right side where he could position his spear to stab while still being protected.  In other words, he was a prickly meat shield.

Blinky, as he’d suspected, was a Rookie Infiltrator and their Scout Class, which was basically a stealth-based Class that relied on being sneaky and exploiting weaknesses in their target when they least expected it.  It seemed entirely contrary to the buoyant attitude of the excitable Grome, but he suspected that the small Adventurer could probably flip a mental switch and transform into one heck of a stealth attacker when he chose to. 

Lovinia was their Control Class, and a unique one at that.  He’d never heard of an Ashdancer Trainee before, but apparently she used billows of dark smoke and ash to confuse, blind, and even restrain her targets, effectively trapping them in place while other members of the Party finished them off.  She could also use the ash-filled smoke offensively by filling up the lungs of her victims with harmful smoke, destroying them from the inside, but it apparently wasn’t very powerful – nothing like what their new Mage could do.

As if taking a cue from her name, Flarenia had gone the full pyro route, but instead of her being an Apprentice Fire Mage like he expected, she was another Class that he’d never heard of.  He could only assume that, over time, the residents of Plangea had managed to figure out how to acquire higher-Rarity Classes for their first Class, though apparently that kind of information wasn’t shared with everyone – because he doubted that everyone had access to that knowledge.  Whatever the reason, Flarenia was a Fledgling Flameweaver, and she professed to be an expert on all things fire.  What was even more interesting was that she, reluctantly for some reason, admitted that she even had a special spell that helped to produce ash from a defeated enemy – which synergized perfectly with her sister, who could use the ash that was produced to enhance her own spells.  It was the first time Thaden had seen two Adventurers Classes line up so perfectly that they were almost like two halves of a whole. 

As for what Thaden had told him about himself, he told them that he could use Enthrall upon monsters and heal the others in that way, and that he was somewhat like a pseudo-Control Class.  Livinia seemed to dismiss that claim, as if such a thing was impossible, and he didn’t try to convince her; there would be time enough for that later.

All in all, it was a very good mix of Classes, and with how the pair of Netherines matched their spells so perfectly together, he had high hopes that they would perform amazingly in their first dungeon.  He was planning on Leveling a lot with them, after all, so it was important to have a good Party from the beginning.  While the twins weren’t the most friendly, and their Fighter Class was more standoff-ish than friendly toward him, they all seemed more than competent in doing their jobs. 

How much they would have to actually do their jobs with Thaden in the picture was still up in the air.  He wasn’t sure how much he should reveal of his abilities on what was essentially their “First Date,” especially if it scared them off.  He had been fortunate that Warven and the other Netherines he’d Partied with in Felith probably hadn’t known just how impossible his spells were for someone of his Level; he couldn’t count on the more worldly members of his current Party being quite as ignorant.  He couldn’t help but imagine them freaking out and wondering if he was some sort of enemy in disguise, as had, sadly, happened more than a few times back on Tarth. 

What was even worse was that they hadn’t been entirely wrong.  While he hadn’t necessarily been anyone’s enemy, he had actively tested the boundaries of the System, which led to some unfortunate circumstances that had killed more than a few people.  It might not have always been intentional, as he’d usually had the best intentions, but to those that died, they probably hadn’t cared about his motivations at the time.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Thaden realized that they had been walking for nearly a half hour, pushing deeper into the North Spawning Reserve.  As the pair of Netherines had assured them, not a single monster had attacked them, or even shown themselves their entire trip – which was a welcome surprise.  Instead, they arrived at a large hole in the ground without incident, and as they approached the edge, Thaden could see that many tens of thousands of feet had passed that way in the past, as the pathway they had been following led underground on a gentle slope.  Dotted every few dozen feet were glowing stones that illuminated the tunnel that quickly darkened away from the sunlight above, seemingly scattered haphazardly along the side walls of the dirt and stone passage, though he could tell that they had been placed deliberately to provide maximum illumination.

The underground tunnel smelled of fresh dirt, sweat, and blood all mixed together, and the environment was just creepy enough with the lack of full light that it made him slightly uncomfortable.  He could see in the way their Aelveen Fighter kept adjusting his grip on his spear and shield that he probably felt the same, though neither of the twins – nor Blinky – seemed to be worried at all.

Voices coming from down the tunnel were just barely on the edge of his hearing, making him realize that they weren’t alone underground looking for dungeons to enter – but it was also what he’d been told was normal.  As the passageway, which was thankfully fairly spacious at over 20 feet tall and wide, turned a corner, he caught a glimpse of the last few members of a different Party of Adventurers passed through a dungeon entrance located along one side of the tunnel a little further down from them.  The entrance then went opaque, signaling that no one else could enter, which he could only assume would stay that way until they either left or cleared it.  On Tarth, there had been the opportunity to enter the same dungeon in different “instances,” and since the dungeons didn’t disappear after being cleared, it meant that quite a few Contenders could have a go at the same dungeons over and over again.  Here, though, when the dungeons could be cleared and closed, it seemed as though there was a limit to how many people could enter.

No one said anything as they passed the dungeon entrance, but Thaden noticed what appeared to be a steel pole impaled at an angle into the wall next to the now-opaque portal.  Hanging from the pole like an odd flag was a scrap of cloth that had the number 8 on it.  Blinky noticed him looking, and pointed at it.  “That means one of the Reserve caretakers was here and evaluated the dungeon as appropriate for Adventurers starting at Level 8.”

“So, what are we looking for?”

He hesitated for a moment before answering.  “Normally, with a new Party, I would probably advise a Level 10 or 11 dungeon, just so that we can get used to fighting together, but I think we could probably handle something stronger – especially with these ladies here,” he said as he pointed his thumb toward the two Netherines.

“The little one is correct,” Flarenia said without turning around.  “We are looking for a dungeon around Level 15.”  She waited a few seconds as they continued down the tunnel, even as they saw another Party emerge from a side passageway, appearing exhausted and covered in some sort of nasty-looking sludge – but they had smiles on their faces.  The Fledgling Flameweaver glanced back at Thaden.  “Unless you don’t think you can handle a dungeon that strong?  It’s no trouble to find one that you can manage… something like this Level 8 dungeon we just passed, perhaps?  Or is that too much for you?”

“Ooh, them’s be fightin’ words.”

Thaden had steadfastly ignored the disdainful looks, the holier-than-thou attitudes, and the doubtful remarks coming from the twins up to that point – but this was crossing the line.  He held his anger down as best as he could as he took a few deep breaths before responding.  Once he felt like he was in better in control of himself, he smiled at the Netherine, who was still glancing back at him to see if her words had the effect they were obviously trying to elicit.  Unfortunately for her, Thaden was smart enough to see what she was doing – and it was about to blow up in her face.

“Too much for me?  Or did you mean yourselves?  And only a Level 15 dungeon?  Are you really that weak?  I’m starting to think we should head back to Teglir and ask for another Mage and Control Class to round out our Party, if this is all Eleria can scrounge up for me.”  He shook his head as if in disappointment.  “And to think, you actually sounded like you were pretty strong, but I guess I was wrong—”

“We are strong; stronger than you, that’s for sure.  I’m not sure how you got that Badge, but you don’t deserve—"

“Are you sure about that?  Absolutely sure?  Why don’t you prove it to me, then.”

Interrupting the Fledgling Flameweaver seemed to greatly irritate her, as she stopped and held up her hands as if she was about to claw him apart.  He thought that he even saw steam wafting away from her body, but that could also be his imagination.

“I can kill you in seconds—”

“I’m sure you could, but that’s not what I’m talking about.  Prove it to me in the dungeon, Flarenia.  One of my choosing.  If you can manage to clear it with the rest of the Party but without my help, I will gladly leave this Party and even tell Eleria that I was mistaken and that I don’t deserve my Badge.”

“Ha!  That’s so easy that it’s a joke.  I could probably clear a Level 13 dungeon by myself.”

“Well, fortunately for you, that isn’t necessary.  You’ll have the rest of the Party to help you, just not me.”

“Probably not needed, but I’m not going to forgo good help to make winning easier,” she said, looking at her sister, but not at the other two.

Thaden held up his hand.  “And if you can’t clear a dungeon of my choosing without my help, then you have to stop treating the rest of your Party like we’re less than worthless.  In addition, you have to verbally acknowledge that my Badge Rank has been rightfully earned and to follow my lead in what we do from this point forward.  I have plans to Level all of us up quickly, and I can’t have someone second-guessing some of the decisions that will be made to get us there.  Oh, and you have to make me the Party leader before our next dungeon.”

With each additional requirement once he won this little bet, Flarenia’s lips pulled back little by little, revealing her sharp teeth and eliciting a low growl.  “Deal!”

She appeared to want to say something further, but Thaden took the lead and started heading back down the tunnel.  Blinky was by his side a second later, speaking softly with a concerned look on his face – which was completely contrary to how he normally looked, so Thaden paid particular attention to him.  “What are you doing?  Are you sure this is a good idea?”

Thaden shrugged.  “Probably not, but I’m trying to make a point.”  He could see that his flippant response hadn’t really set the Grome at ease.  “Relax.  I won’t let anything bad happen to anyone in the Party.”

That still didn’t seem to help, but they started to pass by numerous Adventurer Parties walking along the tunnel, either leaving or delving deeper, so he didn’t want to try to have this conversation where everyone nearby could hear.  Instead, Thaden was paying attention to the dungeon entrances that seemed to pop up every once in a while; in particular, he was looking at the poles with the hanging cloth denoting their Levels. 

Level 10…  Level 9… Level 14… Level 13… Level 15…

He could hear the others beginning to slow next to the Level 15 dungeon entrance, but Thaden didn’t stop.  Hearing one of the Netherines opening their mouth to say something, he deliberately ignored her, as he kept searching.  After about 20 minutes, he could sense that his Party was beginning to question what he was doing, as he passed entrance after entrance without even slowing down – but he hadn’t found what he wanted yet. 

It wasn’t until he felt a strange tingle run through his body as they passed an off-shoot of the main tunnel that he stopped and faced the smaller passageway.  He only hesitated for a second before he started down the passageway, and he could hear the irritated sighs of the twins behind him, which only made him smile in response.  When, after a winding tunnel that seemed to go on forever, they emerged into a small cave that was barely wide enough to hold them all, he knew that he’d found what he wanted.

I think my Fortuity played a part in finding exactly what I wanted.

The pole outside of the dungeon entrance held a cloth that was different than the dozens of ones they’d already passed by without a second look. 

“Level 30?  Are you insane?”

Thaden shook his head at Flarenia’s questions.  “No, not at all.  Do you wish to forfeit the deal before we even start?”

Hearing the sound of grinding teeth coming from the Netherine, Thaden stared back at the Flameweaver with a steady gaze.  “No one our Level can clear this dungeon—"

“I’d say ‘wanna bet,’ but we already did make a deal, didn’t we?”

“This is an impossible challenge, and it should automatically negate any deal we had.”

He chuckled, doing his best not to bust out in full, maniacal laughter.  “It’s not at all impossible.  But in the realm of fairness, how about we change the deal a little bit?”

“What do you mean by that?” she asked suspiciously.  Meanwhile, the sick looks on Blinky and Rel’ba’shet’s faces nearly broke him, so he forced himself to look away.

“Alright, here’s the new deal.  We all go into the dungeon… and then you watch me solo it until we reach the Boss.  When we get there, I’ll need your help to finish it off.  If at any point I need your help before the Boss, or possibly at any Mini-Bosses, then I will forfeit my end of the deal.  But if we manage to clear the dungeon, then you will acknowledge that I’ve fulfilled my end of the deal – which takes into account all that I mentioned before.”

Everyone was silent as they stared at him as if he’d not only grown a second head, but an additional dozen, until Flarenia seemed to break the trance she was under.  “One stipulation.  If we, at any point, feel that you’re in over your head and that we’re all about to die, we will immediately leave you to die so that we can escape.  I’m not dying so that you can prove how stupid you really are.”

“Sounds good to me.  Just make sure that I’m actually losing control of the situation before you flee, though.”

She nodded after a few seconds of thought, and the deal was done.

As they lined up to head inside the dungeon that was supposed to be for Adventurers twice their Level, Blinky whispered, “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

Thaden smiled a little weakly, realizing what he’d just gotten himself into.  “Me too, Blinky.  Me too.”

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Thaden dug into his breakfast with gusto, the food better than he expected for a buffet-style format in the Coalition’s dining area.  It made sense for the food to be made in mass quantities like it was given the sheer amount of Adventurers filling the massive cafeteria-style room, but it had still surprised him to learn that it was a buffet.  Of course, with thousands of people wanting to eat around the same time, there were actually 8 different stations around the room that were serving the same thing, and despite the crowd of people, getting his food hadn’t take very long.  He’d had to pay for his food, as he made it a point not to take even more advantage of his status as a Platinum+ Badge Holder because it would cause more attention to be paid to him, but it had been a reasonable single Silver coin for the quality and quantity of food he’d received. 

Looking at his reserves – which sat at just over 6 Gold coins – and comparing it to just a few days before, where he had to scrape enough Silver together to try to replace his Badge in Felith, it was a veritable fortune.  It was also enough to start purchasing some decent gear, which was his next stop after breakfast.  He thought he had more than enough time before he had to report to the Quest Assignment area in the lobby, as the odd System message he’d received when he’d woken up had been slightly vague on exactly when he needed to be there.

Thaden,

I’ve found some additional Party members for you, as well as contacted the two Adventurers you had mentioned the previous evening.  They will meet you near the Quest Assignment counters tomorrow around mid-morning.  Please let me know if you need any other assistance and I would be happy to help.

Eleria

Adventurer Coalition Leader – Teglir Branch

“It’s a special feature of your Badge that allows the Coalition employees to contact you as long as you’re within range – which is typically inside a town or city, or its immediate environs right outside,” Sadia had explained after Thaden had confusedly looked at the message.  It wasn’t something that was available on Tarth, which would’ve been nice, but it seemed as though the Coalition had advanced in some ways while it had been on Plangea. 

Regardless, as he’d woken up early – a result of his time working the fields where he had to be up before the sun – and had time to spare after eating breakfast, he now had time to shop.  Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be any type of “online marketplace/auction house” that offered instant delivery via System shenanigans like on Tarth available on Plangea, which would’ve made things easier, as there hadn’t been any private access to it in his room.  He also couldn’t recall there being anything like that in Felith, so he figured it simply didn’t exist.

Thankfully, Sadia again came to his rescue.  “While there isn’t a Contender Market like on Tarth, there are local Coalition Markets in most towns and cities.  The Adventurer’s Coalition is a business of its own, after all, and they buy and sell crafting materials, weapons, armor, and accessories that are gained from killing monsters and clearing dungeons.  Their reach is limited to the local area, however, as far as direct access.”

“That’s a lot of information.  Why didn’t you mention this before?”

She thought about it for a second.  “I don’t believe that I knew it before I arrived in the city.  An update, perhaps?”

Sometimes, Thaden forgot that Sadia was technically a construct, and even though she was bonded to him through the Condensed Adaptable Mimicry Plate, she still received a lot of her information through the Assimilation System – good or bad.  Thus far, since she’d returned to him, she seemed to be less restricted in what she could tell him and hadn’t seemed as undyingly loyal to the System like she had been on Tarth, but he would still have to keep an eye out for any worrying signs.  At the moment, she was doing everything she could to keep him off the System’s radar, which he took as a good sign that she wasn’t a sleeper agent just waiting to expose him.  He didn’t like even thinking about that, though, so he tended to like to ignore it for the most part.

As he left the dining area and made his way to the lobby, where Sadia had assured him that he could find access to the Coalition Market, he was again amazed at how many Adventurers there were in the city.  The lobby was packed, even with how early it was in the day, and he had to navigate his way around hundreds of individuals and groups, all moving toward different areas for a myriad of different reasons.  In the distance, he caught a glimpse of a sign that he thought said, “Marketplace,” or at least “etplace” from what he could see without someone getting in his way, when Sadia’s voice in his mind stopped him. 

“Hey, isn’t that Blinky?”

While he wasn’t sure where she was looking, as she was back inside the Plate and looking out through his eyes, he stopped and glanced around.  It only took him a second to locate the diminutive Grome, bouncing up and down excitedly in place as he stood outside of the main flow of traffic against the wall.  A second glance showed Rel’ba’shet the Aelveen leaning up against the wall, looking bored with his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes partially closed as he apparently people-watched. 

Thaden walked over to them, though it only took a few steps before Blinky noticed him coming, turning the enthusiastic smile on the Grome’s face his way.  The way the smaller Adventurer seemed to grow more excited after seeing Thaden was infectious, and he found himself grinning in return.

“Thaden!  How fortuitous to see you this morning!” Blinky said as Thaden approached within 15 feet.  The Grome looked a little crestfallen for a moment, before his smile returned.  “The Coalition already found a full Party for us, faster than expected, so we aren’t able to invite you to ours.  I’m sorry, I know we promised to have you come along, but the Coalition apparently found a Support Class already.”

“Oh?  Do you know who it is?” Thaden asked as he schooled his face into one of disappointment, enjoying the harmless deception.  He could only assume that the pair of them had received a message just like he had, also without any type of description of who was going to be joining them.  He was proven right a second later as Rel’ba’shet answered, uncrossing his arms as he did so.

“No, we were only told that they would meet us here.  At mid-morning,” The Aelveen emphasized, glancing at Blinky in annoyance.

“Mid-morning?  Isn’t that a few hours from now?  Why are you here already?”

Blinky hadn’t stopped slightly bouncing in place.  “I was just too excited to wait!  To think, a full Party!  I’ve never actually fought with a Support Class before in my Party, so this is a big deal!  See, Rel, I told you that it was a good idea to come to Teglir!” the Grome nearly shouted, turning to his partner, before focusing back on Thaden.  “But what about you?  Did you find a Party yet?  I’m sure, as a Support, you shouldn’t have any trouble finding one.”

“Yes, I found one,” he assured the excitable Adventurer.  “But I need to do some shopping first, as I’m sure you probably noticed,” he said deprecatingly as he waved toward his simple clothing.  “I was just about to head into the Marketplace, in fact—”

“Oh, you don’t want to do that!  They charge way too much, especially in a city like this!” Blinky announced, which was news to Thaden.

“Really?  Why would this city make a difference?”

The Grome cocked his head to the side slightly, as if he couldn’t understand why Thaden had asked something so ridiculous.  However, it was Rel’ba’shet that answered.  “It’s because Teglir is a major trading hub.  While the Coalition here will gladly buy everything you want to sell to it, even paying slightly higher prices for some things than you’d receive in some nearby towns, it makes most of its money by taking what it buys from Adventurers and reselling it to other Coalition Branches at a markup.  It also sells a sizeable portion of its crafting materials and basic supplies to the Front Lines, which is always looking to resupply their constantly fighting forces. 

“As a result of those practices, the Coalition Marketplace in Teglir charges nearly the same amount that it does for its items that it would normally ship out, as they want to maximize profit as much as possible and maintain their domination over trade.  Therefore, stay away from buying from the Marketplace here for anything you need; selling, on the other hand, is absolutely fine, though you’ll generally receive a little less than you would selling items to individual shops.  It’s more about convenience, though, as you don’t have to visit a dozen different places to find someone who will buy your stuff; not every shop in the city will purchase what you’re hoping to sell.  The Coalition, on the other hand, will buy everything.”

That’s a fairly concise evaluation of the market here, he thought.  “So, where do you think I should go instead of the Marketplace?”

“The same shops I just mentioned.  There are thousands of places to buy pretty much anything you can think of in the city.  They typically have their own supply lines which sometimes intersect with the Coalition, but the main benefit is that you’ll find better equipment because it is crafted locally and not extracted from monsters or as rewards from a dungeon.  Crafted equipment is much better for lower-Level Adventurers; all of ours is crafted, in fact.  I’ve heard that once you reach a certain Level, though, the equipment that you can find from some of the most dangerous dungeons will beat nearly anything that can be crafted, but for now, crafted equipment is the best.”

That hadn’t really been Thaden’s experience on Tarth, but that was also probably because the native crafters – as well as crafting-focused Adventurers – couldn’t keep up with Thaden’s insane Leveling speed.  The native crafters, the Charee, were limited in what they could produce based on the average Level of the Contenders in the world; here on Plangea, though, there were no limitations – and Thaden wasn’t leading the pack in his current Level, either.

“Thanks – I’ll go check them out,” he said.  “I’m sure I’ll see you around, then.”  After a few more pleasantries, Thaden left the enormous Coalition building and made his way outside, squinting at the bright light for a moment before his eyes adjusted.  Once they did, he looked to the side of Glory’s Passage where he’d seen the shops the day before, and started making his way toward them.

It didn’t take him long to recognize that Rel’ba’shet was telling the truth – there were hundreds of shops lined up along the thoroughfare, many more than he had noticed the day before.  As he walked along the outside of them, he couldn’t help but think he was at some sort of outdoor mall, as the shops were varied in their size and sometimes extravagant exterior, with names that sometimes explicitly described what they sold – such as the one called Shining Swords – or were deliberately vague – such as one he passed that was called Tantalizing Treasures.   Most of what he saw was not what he was looking for, however, as most of them seemed to cater to weapons and armor suitable for other Classes, though he almost stopped at one that seemed to deal with accessories.  He passed on that for now, as he needed an outfit first, and he wasn’t sure how much it was going to cost. 

Finally, approximately two-thirds of the way down Glory’s Passage, he stopped in front of a shop that gave him hope.  Pushing open the door of Vital Support after seeing some cloth robes in the window that he thought had potential, he took a few steps in and immediately knew he’d found the right place.  Looking around, all he saw was cloth outfits, ranging from robes to simple-looking shirts and pants, though they all gave off the impression of containing magical energy, meaning that they weren’t exactly simple. 

He also wasn’t the only customer in the small shop, as there were approximately a half-dozen Adventurers roaming through the different racks set up around the shop, each of the racks containing a number of pieces that seemed to work together as a pseudo “set”, and he had a fairly good sense that these Adventurers were most likely Support Classes. 

A strange energy completely separate from what he could feel from the items permeated the entire shop like an invisible miasma, and he felt a sense of danger from it that he couldn’t recognize right away.  Sadia helped him with that, as well.

“There’s a ward preventing anyone from storing items in their Inventory.  It’s a common practice in shops that display their wares out in the open to prevent theft.  It also does something I’m not sure of if you try and run out with something, as well.  I wouldn’t test it, though.”

“Wasn’t planning on it,” he said under his breath, just before he was startled by a person suddenly standing next to him.

“Welcome to Vital Support.  Please let me know if you need any help finding something.”  The voice came from an older Netherine with a slightly hunched-over appearance, as if he’d spent decades hunched over a desk.  He was gone before Thaden had a chance to see his name tag, disappearing through a curtain in the back that swished with his passage.  If I had to guess, that was probably the one who crafted all of this stuff.

Thaden began to search through the racks, briefly touching everything to get a sense of what it was, and his eyebrows unconsciously rose as he began to see what the Aelveen that would soon be in his Party had been talking about.  While none of the items were spectacular in and of themselves, they were all well-made and seemed to be much better than the Common and Uncommon loot he remembered picking up when he was low-Level.  Of course, he hadn’t learned how to extract loot until he was a much higher Level than he was now, but he’d seen what was available in the Contender Market on Tarth at his current Level, and it couldn’t compare.

Some of what he saw in the shop wasn’t perfectly suitable for him, as they had minor bonuses to casting speed for Support spells similar to his Explosive Healing Ring that he was wearing, or even bonuses to healing, which wasn’t exactly something he needed because he was already pretty strong in that category.  None of them were officially “sets,” either, which would’ve provided bonuses to having them all worn together, but he hadn’t really expected them to be at his Level.  In the end, though, he had to pass up most of the items on display because they had Level Restrictions that were higher than his own Level, leaving very little to choose from. 

And what little options he had were expensive.  He remembered how difficult it had been for Support Classes to acquire equipment at lower Levels on Tarth, but he thought it would’ve been different on Plangea – but he was apparently wrong.  A single piece of equipment, a pair of cloth gloves, was 5 Gold coins – nearly his entire reserve – and that was the cheapest item he found that he could actually use.  There were plenty of items that were less expensive, but they were for Support Classes that were at least Level 20 or higher, which seemed counter-intuitive, but he supposed that any equipment for low-Level Support Classes was either hard to produce. 

I wonder if its any different in the Coalition Marketplace?

Thaden left Vital Support disappointed and without making a purchase, as he didn’t want to spend most of his reserve on a single item.  The gloves were relatively nice, as they gave a +9 bonus to Mentality and a +3 bonus to Celerity, along with a +6% reduction in Support spell cooldowns, but that wasn’t worth the expense – at least in his opinion.

On his way back to check the Coalition Marketplace to see if it had better prices, Thaden stopped by the accessory shop he’d seen on the way and left disappointed once again.  They didn’t have any items that were Support Class-only available, and the ones that were available for multiple Classes were based around Resistances – something that he didn’t feel like paying a Gold coin, at minimum, to acquire. 

Wow.  I feel like a country bumpkin coming to the big city and realizing that everything is so much more expensive here.

When he finally got back to the Coalition building and made his way to the Marketplace, he was feeling quite discouraged.  His discouragement only deepened as he found himself closeted within an alcove for privacy, using the interface provided to search through tens of thousands of listings available for purchase.  While there was more variety, a lot more than he expected if he was being honest with himself, he didn’t find a single item less than 7 gold that was for a Support Class of Level 15 or lower.

Is this why there are so few Support Classes around?  Not because Adventurers don’t want to select them, but because a lot of them die before they can afford good gear?  Or do they know ahead of time that they’ll basically be weaklings from the get-go and only the lucky ones survive long enough to become self-sufficient?

He wasn’t sure, but he figured it was a combination of many factors.  Regardless of the reason, what it meant for him was that he wasn’t going to be getting any equipment that day.  Instead, he figured he would have to rely on the generosity of the loot he’d pick up from monsters and the rewards from clearing dungeons – like he had on Tarth.  At least my Fortuity is relatively high, so hopefully I’ll get some good stuff. 

By the time he exhausted his shopping options with nothing to show for it, as he still refused to pay so much for a single item, he left the Marketplace and realized that it was nearly mid-morning.  Pushing away his disappointment, Sadia reminded him that it was time for him to officially meet his new Party.  The sudden shift in his demeanor was welcome, as he was actually excited to find out who Eleria had found to round their Party out, and most of his disappointment faded away into the background.  This should be fun.

Thaden couldn’t keep the smile from his face as he caught a glimpse of Rel’ba’shet in the distance as he walked back through the lobby, leaning up against the wall just as he had been a few hours before.  A few more steps showed Blinky still slightly bouncing in place, though he was staring at two new arrivals, his head swiveling between two Netherine women standing nearby, both of whom were wearing short robes that ended at their knees, belted by a metallic cord that kept it tight against their waists.  One of the robes was a burnt orange color while the other was a dark grey, and both of them were carrying wooden staves with what appeared to be identical dark gemstones arranged around their top exterior diameter.  It wasn’t until he moved closer that he could pick out their name tags from the crowd.

Lovinia {Densartis Faction}

Netherine

Level 16

Flarenia {Densartis Faction}

Netherine

Level 16

Am I racist, or do they look remarkably similar?  While not an expert on telling Netherines apart, he’d had enough practice that he didn’t think that he would casually believe that two Netherines looked identical for no reason.  As he looked closer at them while they stared down at the Grome, whose attention was bouncing back and forth between the two, he couldn’t help but see that any visible stripes on their fur was exactly the same, and while their “devil” horns were slightly different, he thought that might be simply a random difference as the Netherines grew and matured, as their horns weren’t fully grown when they were born.  Regardless of the horns, enough about the two women was similar enough – including the same bored expression on their faces – that he concluded that there was a fairly good chance that they were identical twins. 

Whether it was because he was studying them so closely as he approached, or because he noticed a similarity between their names, but he also thought that these women looked somewhat like another Netherine he’d just met the day before.  While the resemblance was only partially there, he got the impression that they were somehow related to the Teglir Branch Leader, Eleria. 

He could be completely wrong, of course, but if he wasn’t, then that meant one of two things.  First, Eleria trusted Thaden so completely that she was willing to put her family in a Party with him.  While this was possible, he doubted it; even his high Rank wasn’t exactly enough to convince someone to trust family members with him, especially as he seemed determined to push the limits of how fast he could Level himself up.

Second, and more likely, was that these new additions were there to spy on him.  While Eleria had seemed to be all about helping him with whatever he needed, she was most likely experienced enough to know that Thaden was unusual, and would probably like to know exactly who he was and what he was doing there – as well as trying to figure out why he might deserve his Rank despite his Level. 

His footsteps picked up a temporary hitch as all of this occurred to him, and it seemed as though Sadia had the same thoughts. 

“They look like they’re related to the Teglir Coalition Leader.  Probably spies to report back to her.”

Pleased to be on the same wavelength, he quietly murmured, “Yep,” before he continued walking with his smile back on his face.  Blinky seemed to see him first, despite not looking in his direction, and the Grome whipped around to watch him approach with an odd expression on his face.

“Whoa, what’s wrong, Blinky?” he asked.

The smaller Adventurer waved toward the two Netherines.  “They say that they’re our new Party members, but they won’t tell us who our Support member is – or even where they are!  They say they don’t know who it is!”

At his words, both Lovinia and Flarenia raised their heads to look at Thaden, in exactly the same movement, which further locked in his assumption that they were twins.  He didn’t see any sense of recognition in their eyes as they took in his appearance, though there were certainly sneers of disdain that creeped onto their mouths.  A little stuck-up, perhaps?  Or because they’re underestimating me due to my lack of equipment, just as Rel’ba’shet does?

He ignored them for now.  “I’m sorry to hear that.  I guess it’s a good thing I’m here then, right?” he asked with a smile as he came to a stop across from Blinky and the rest of the Party.

“Thaden, I appreciate you being willing to join our Party, but we’re waiting—”

“—for me!” Thaden interrupted Rel’ba’shet before he could finish whatever he was about to say.

“No, that cannot be.”  The statement that came from Flarenia was flat and final, as if it was an absolute, and her sister nodded in agreement.

Thaden scratched the back of his head.  “Oh, and why not?  Why not me?”

“Because you’re… whatever this is,” she went on, gesturing toward him from his feet to his head like he was some sort of disgusting freak of nature.  Rather than being indignant or angry, Thaden only felt amused at what she was saying about him.  “Besides, we’re waiting on someone very important to the Coalition, which is why we were chosen to join this Party.  And you’re definitely not special, even if you’re a race I’ve never heard of before.”

Thaden chuckled.  “Special?  How do you mean?”

“I don’t know, but she—uh, the Coalition said that we would know it when we saw it.”

With that slip of the tongue, it became more obvious that Eleria knew them personally, which made his theory that they were family of the Coalition Leader more likely. 

“They probably want to see your Badge.  Which means that Eleria wants them to know that you’re a high Badge Rank.  Still doesn’t mean that they’re spies, but it’s looking more like that’s the case.”

He nodded to acknowledge Sadia’s words, while he extracted his new Diamond Badge from his Inventory and held it in his right hand.  While he didn’t want to necessarily flash it around to everyone, he was fairly certain he could keep it so that just his Party could see it.

As for his assumption that these two additions to the Party were spies… he didn’t really care.  For whatever reason the local Coalition Leader sought to employ such tactics, it didn’t matter in the long run.  He was legitimately a Platinum+ Ranked Adventurer, and trying to research him through the System wouldn’t get her anywhere since he technically didn’t exist.  Or, at least, that’s the impression he had after all the problems he’d caused with the Codexical Access Point in Felith.  It was possible that she might go to some of the higher-ups in the Coalition to ask about him, and while they would probably tell her that they didn’t know who he was, it would hopefully be too late by that point. 

Hmm… Sadia talked about a purpose before, right?  I think she was trying to steer me toward becoming strong enough to protect my people, where the Humans from Earth ended up after coming to Plangea.  That’s a noble idea, but not really for me.  It’s not that I don’t care about them, because I do, but there’s something a bit more selfish that I care about more: myself. 

He needed to become strong enough no to have to worry about people coming after him, or sending spies to watch his every move and report back to someone in the hopes of exposing him to those with more authority.  The only way to do that would be to Level-up so much that such things no longer threatened him.  In other ways, he needed to become independent enough that no amount of politics or imagined strength could touch him.  And then, and only then, could he do something to protect his people, and perhaps even dig into the System and the Adversary without any obstacles in his way.  I think that’s my purpose.  To become strong enough to do what I want without interference.

When he thought about it like that, it seemed like something that an evil supervillain would say, but Thaden wasn’t evil.  He just didn’t like being chased, abused, manipulated, or restrained in any way.   The first two were things that people could do to him, and if he was stronger than everyone else, then they would never have that opportunity.  The last two were what the System did to people, even if most of them didn’t know it; Thaden did, however, and he was continually fighting against it. 

Feeling more confident in himself at the thought of his newfound purpose, he smiled, moved up close to the two Netherines, and opened his hand to display his Badge.  “Is this special enough for you?”

Needless to say, after their initial disbelief, flashing his Badge was more than enough to convince the sisters that Thaden was the real deal.    

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 20

Chapter 20

“Thank you.  I really appreciate you working with me on this.”

Thaden had been surprised to learn that the Teglir Branch Leader of the Adventurer’s Coalition was only Diamond Badge Rank, as he expected her to have at least Platinum, if not Platinum+ like his own.  As such, Eleria – the Coalition Leader – was unable to provide him a Platinum-Ranked Badge, as Diamond was the highest that she could provide; it was the only spare Badge of that Rank in the entire city, apparently, and he would have to visit the capital to upgrade it to Platinum Rank.  As for Platinum+ Rank, Eleria didn’t have any information on where to go for that.

“It is my pleasure to be able to handle it for you.  Would you like access to a Gold-Ranked room as an accommodation for someone of your exalted status?  Unfortunately, that’s all we have available, as the very few Diamond-Ranked Adventurers that visit usually stay with the Baron.  Unless that is your plan?” the Branch Leader asked, seemingly unsure of herself despite the power that she obviously wielded.  While his ability to determine the Level of people had improved ever since he’d acquired his newest Class, he still couldn’t tell exactly how strong she was – but the aura of strength that the Netherine exhibited was enough to tell him that she was probably over Level 100.  Possibly Level 150 or even Level 200, but he didn’t feel it right to ask; it didn’t really matter, anyway, as she had been accommodating to the extreme since the moment he walked into her richly appointed office.

“I have no desire to bother the Baron at this time,” Thaden responded, “so a Gold-Ranked room would be absolutely fine.”

“I understand.  Would concealing your presence from the Baron be considered a part of the assistance you’ve asked for?” Eleria asked cautiously.

“Tell her no.  I have a feeling that doing so could cause some loyalty issues.”

Taking Sadia’s advice, Thaden shook his head.  “No, though I’d appreciate not volunteering the information that I’m here.  If he asks about me for some reason, then you can tell him.  Otherwise, as I said, if anyone from the Local Legion comes sniffing around, please instruct your staff to plead ignorance.  My particular assignment for the Coalition cannot have them interfering.”

Thaden’s heart had felt like it was going to beat itself out of his chest the entire time he was with the Branch Leader, but he thought he’d done a fairly good job in keeping his nerves together.  His objective was not only to replace his Badge, but to convince the Branch Leader to hide his presence.  The experience with Rivella’s reaction to his Rank in Felith, along with some information from Sadia regarding the Coalition, had led him to believe that his Rank had more than a bit of pull with the local Coalition leadership, and so he was willing to lean on it to get what he needed.  While he couldn’t stay anonymous forever, he hoped to stop anyone coming after him – especially from the Local Legion – from pinpointing his location until he could defend himself properly.  Once he was strong enough to do so, then he could potentially stop hiding; until then, he would have to play it safe while he went about his business.

“We can do that,” Elaria said, clearly relieved that she wouldn’t have to lie to the Baron if the noble asked about him.  “Unless there’s something else you need, I can have Wyrdla show you to your room?”

“Only one more thing.  I need to blend into a local Adventurer Party around my current Level.  There were two individuals I met earlier that I believe might be an adequate cover, but we’ll need a Mage and Control to round out a complete Party.  Would you be able to find some appropriate, and discreet, individuals to help me out?  Then, once I’ve worked with them for a while, we’ll probably be tackling some of the harder Quests you have available.  For now, my goal is to Level-up as quickly as possible; after that, I have some other objectives.”

Thaden didn’t explain any more than that, as based on Rivella’s reaction – and from what he’d experienced from his conversation with Eleria – they all assumed that a Platinum+ Ranked Adventurer being nearby meant that they had a special assignment.  He used this assumption to his advantage, as it was important for his next steps; he wasn’t necessarily taking advantage of the Coalition, because he wasn’t exploiting their ignorance, but he wasn’t above leveraging his Rank to do what needed to be done.

“I’ll put something together for you as soon as possible and have it for you in the morning, if that works for you?” the Coalition Leader queried, and he nodded.  “If I may ask… how quickly are you expecting to increase your Level?  At Level 15, I can see you perhaps reaching Level 20 over the next year if you’re lucky, but I’m not sure if that will help you in your objective, whatever it is.”

“You’re correct, it wouldn’t really help to be Level 20 for what I have planned next.  And to answer your question, I expect that Level 60 should be more than adequate for my next objective – which I can’t see taking more than a few months with what I have planned.”

The shock on the Coalition Leader’s face was worth revealing some of his intentions.  “What?  Level 60… in a few months?  How is that possible?”

“Let’s just say that I have some special advantages and leave it at that.”

Eleria snapped her jaw shut before nodding a few times.  “I see.  Then I’ll get to work on finding you a Party, and let you get some rest.”

The next minute saw another Netherine working for the Coalition leading him into one of the Gold-Ranked rooms they had available, and he thanked her as he closed the door behind him.  Looking around, the luxury that a higher-Ranked room provided was quite noticeable, as the size of the room, the materials used in its construction, and the additional amenities – such as a large soaking tub and multi-spout shower in the bathroom – made it a welcome change from the tree he’d slept in the previous night.  Of course, after that rough sleep in the trees, he’d forcibly met some powerful members of the Local Legion, followed by his flight away from Purbooth, the fights throughout the forest, the river battle with numerous Tentacled Stranglers, and finally arriving in Teglir. 

Did that all really happen over the last day?  It was hard to believe.

His body and exhausted mental state believed it, especially after all the work he did to act slightly arrogant and powerful when meeting with the Coalition Leader; it had wrung his nerves out more than he expected.  He nearly collapsed on the bed once he was alone in the room – though he wasn’t alone for long.

“Phew, that was intense.  I think you got what you wanted, though.”

He looked over at Sadia from where he was lying on his back on the expansive – and comfortable – bed.  “I hope so.  Do you really think they’ll keep my presence a secret if that Party from the Local Legion investigating Felith come sniffing around?”

“They should – or at least the Coalition members will, if they’re told to.  You can’t really prevent other people from talking, though; you’re unique enough as the only Human in the City that the word will eventually get out.”

Thaden grunted in agreement, realizing the accuracy of her statement.  He just hoped that by the time that happened, the heat would be off of him; or if they were searching for him, he would be strong enough to reveal some of who he was.

But there was something else that had been bothering him.  “Am I doing the right thing, Sadia?”

“What do you mean?”

Thaden waved his hands around, as if encompassing everything around him.  “All of… this.  Getting stronger in order to go to the Front Lines, where I can use their resources to search for Corinna.  I know you said that there’s a good chance that she’s still alive, but what do I do if I actually find her?  Meet her and say, ‘Hi!  You don’t know me, but we used to be a thing back on Tarth, even if you don’t remember?’  What if she’s completely moved on, found someone to spend her life with, perhaps even started a family?  Am I just supposed to barge in and hope that I could convince her to become my somewhat girlfriend again?  Even if she’s still single, I can only imagine that more than 200 years having passed since we last saw each other could drastically change someone; what if she’s completely different than I remember?  The more I think about the whole situation, the more I think that it could be a big mistake to even try.”

Sadia was silent for a while after he stopped pouring out his concerns.  Eventually, she jumped up on the bed and walked around so that she was looking down at him in the eyes.  “I can definitely see that this has been worrying you.  I don’t know if I have an answer for you, though.  At least, not one that you’re going to like.  The easiest thing would to be to forget about her and live your own life, but I also sense that isn’t what you want to hear.”

“Even if I somewhat agree with that, you’re right.  I don’t actually want to hear that.”

She nodded.  “I know.  You needed a goal to strive toward when you first arrived, and finding Corinna was a perfect objective to aim for.  Now, though, after learning that she’s been here for over two centuries, I think you have to alter… your purpose.”

“My purpose?  Like, what is the meaning of life or something like that?”

The giant squirrel shook her head with a snarky smile on her face.  “No, and you know that’s not what I meant.  What was it you were working toward on Tarth?”

Thaden didn’t have to think real hard to come up with his reply.  “To get as strong as I could, reach the top of the Rankings, and use that access to figure out how messed up the Assimilation System and the Persistent Adversary really is – all while doing my best to save as many people from Earth as possible.  Why?”

“Has anything changed?”

Now he was forced to think about the question a little longer.  “Yes,” he said slowly.  “At least somewhat.  After learning that many of the people on Earth were sacrificed for their life energy to fuel the assimilation of Earth into Plangea, it honestly feels like there’s nothing left to fight for.”

“But there is!  More than a billion Humans survived the assimilation, and they’re out there somewhere.  Now, I’m not saying that you need to feel responsible for all of them, because you shouldn’t, but they are your people.  And those people include Corinna, as well as likely a bunch of other people you knew from Tarth – if they’ve survived this long, of course.”

Hmm… I never really thought of that.  “What are you trying to say?”

“I’m trying to say that you’re not alone, Thaden.  There are other people out there for you, even if they’re not your one-time girlfriend of a couple of months.  I’m also not saying to completely give up on her, but you should go into it knowing that she, as you said, might have moved on—and be fine with that.  In the least, you can watch her from afar – though not in a creepy way, if at all possible – before deciding if you want to even reunite with her; if not, then you can move on, yourself.  Either way, finding her will indubitably lead you to finding where the rest of the Humans of Earth ended up, which will allow you help them in one way or another.

“And as far as learning more about the System and the Adversary, I know you have some nebulous plans that revolve around discovering what they are up to and potentially putting a stop to it, but I’m not sure how feasible that is.  I’m not going to stop or even discourage you, but I think you should, at least at first, decide what you want to work for in the near future.  As I said, you need to find your purpose, which in this case, it basically a goal to strive for.  You want to get stronger, I understand, but why?  If using your strength to simply locate Corinna is off the table, say if you unfortunately learn that she’s passed, then what?  What are you going to do?  What purpose does getting stronger accomplish?  That is what you need to decide for yourself.”

Thaden sighed, the weight of the conversation almost too much for him at the moment.  Purpose?  I have no idea.  He’d had a fairly clear goal while on Tarth, but if he took tracking down Corinna away from his list of objectives, what did that leave for him to do on Plangea?  Any lofty ideas of investigating the System and the Adversary would have to wait, of course, because he was nowhere strong enough to do any of that.  Survival was at the top of the list, of course, but thoughts of locating the rest of the Humans from Earth – or their descendants, as it had been a couple of centuries since they arrived – was an appealing goal.  While he hadn’t let it bother him too much, he had to admit that not seeing another Human in all of his time on Plangea had been getting to him to the point where he would give just about anything to see another person that didn’t look wildly alien to him. 

He didn’t decide on anything at that point, however, because he was too tired to think too clearly.  Taking a long shower to wash off the last couple of days felt amazing, and once he was done, he practically fell into bed, pushing off any complicated decisions until the next day.  Or the next week.  Or even the next year, as he had a lot of work to do before he was strong enough to make a difference in whatever he chose to do in the future.

Sleep found and then pounced on his consciousness less than a minute after his head hit the pillow.

                    *

Eleria watched the door to her office close after Thaden and Wyrdla exited, with the latter showing the Platinum+ Ranked Adventurer to his complementary room.  Once she was once alone in her office, she exhaled deeply before leaning over on her desk, putting her head in her hands in a bout of sudden mental exhaustion.

Why is a Platinum+ Ranked Adventurer here – and why is he Level 15?  How is that even possible?

She would’ve doubted her own eyes if she didn’t know that the System and its assistance with operating the Adventurer’s Coalition was perfect and infallible, which meant that what she’d seen had to be correct – as impossible as it seemed.  And while the Human, Thaden, hadn’t seemed like he necessarily deserved that Rank, there was no way she was going to jeopardize her position or her life to bring up her doubts to his face.

But that didn’t mean she didn’t have them.  While the System was infallible, people weren’t – and she had a feeling that someone had messed up along the top Coalition leadership.  She wasn’t sure what could’ve happened, or even how it occurred, but she was almost 100% convinced that this Thaden had somehow acquired his Rank through nefarious means.  She needed proof of wrongdoing, however, before she passed her concerns up the chain of command.  Until that time, she would go along with what he had requested, which wasn’t that much of a hardship; keeping his presence a secret from any Local Legions that asked about him was easy.  It made her wonder about why they might be looking for him, which was something she would be adding to her private investigation.

His room was also a write-off that was barely a footnote, as they had very few Gold-Ranked Adventurers staying in the city.  Putting together a Party for him was also a non-issue, as it was something that the Coalition already helped its members with.  She kept expecting him to start asking to borrow powerful items or other costly demands – which someone who had nefariously acquired a Platinum+ Rank would undoubtedly do.  But he never mentioned anything of the sort, which was a surprise.

What if he really is a Platinum+ Rank and is here for a specific assignment?

It was possible, of course, but she had a hard time believing it – if only for his Level alone.  Then again, if he could be believed, he was planning on getting to Level 60 in a few months, which was so incredibly impossible that it was laughable.  Her own Level 122 had taken her over 400 years, though she had slowed down her development drastically during the last century, so it wasn’t exactly a fair comparison.  Still, to think that someone could achieve even half that Level within a few months was so out of the realm of reality that she had barely been able to hold in her incredulous laughter when he said it.

He lies as easily as breathing.

To catch him in his lies, or at least to find out more information on this “Platinum+ Ranked” Human, she turned her attention to what he had asked her to do next.  Finding a Mage and a Control around Level 15 was easy enough to do, but she had a pair of Adventurers in mind that would be perfect for his Party.  They were also completely loyal to Eleria, not just because they were Netherines, but because they were family.  Great-great-granddaughters, but still of her blood. 

With a few adept manipulations of her System-powered Coalition interface, she sent out a few communications, arranging things for the following morning.  I’m going to discover more about you, Thaden, one way or another.   

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 19

Chapter 19

“So where exactly is the—” Thaden began to ask as they rounded a corner after passing through an incredibly busy street in the city, but he cut himself off as his vision caught the sight ahead of him.  So far, beyond the walls protecting the city, the buildings hadn’t appeared too different from the ones he’d seen in Felith or Purbooth, though on a grander scale; the streets were remarkably clean for such a large city, especially near the docks, which he somewhat expected to be dirty based on its location.  They were relatively narrow close to the gates, which wasn’t entirely unexpected, though with the press of people all around him, he felt immediately closed-in and slightly claustrophobic.

When they reached the corner of the street they were traveling down, approximately 500 feet from the gate, he figured it would just be another passageway leading further into the Teglir – but that was far from the truth.  His breath caught in his chest as he took in the massive thoroughfare spread out in front of him, as where they moved around the corner from the previous street was slightly elevated, and he estimated that there were tens of thousands of people walking through the enormous space.  The new street, road, or whatever it was called was approximately 1,000 feet wide and was miles long, leading to an enormous structure in the distance that was difficult to comprehend at first glance. 

At first, he thought it was some sort of palace based on how large it was, but with the quantity of people moving in and out of it, which he could see even at a distance, it was more akin to the world’s largest mall than a residence for royal individuals.  Standing at what he estimated was about 200 feet tall, he could see the building’s stylized roofline that made it look like sharp teeth, and it extended so far to the east and west that not even the major thoroughfare could see it all.  The only reason Thaden could see it at all past where the buildings lined the street was because of its height, which far exceeded everything around it, and its pale white stone contrasted greatly with the darker grey, red, and brown stone and wood materials in the buildings around it.

Thousands of windows dotted the exterior of the structure, so many that he couldn’t possibly count them all, and there was a shine to the white stone that had it glittering in the swiftly fading light of the day, like some sort of giant pearlescent teeth emerging from the bowels of the planet.  It was both beautiful and intimidating, given that it seemed almost as large as some of the cities he’d seen back on Tarth, and there was an unidentifiable feeling of strength that came to Thaden when he was looking at it.

“Impressive, isn’t it?  I remember my first time seeing it,” Garney said by his side as he moved next to Thaden, speaking just loud enough to be heard over the sheer number of people that filled the city.  “I stood just about where you are right now, looking down Glory’s Passage at the local Coalition Headquarters located at the end, thinking that it had to be the most impressive sight in the entire world.  And while it’s certainly amazing, I’ve seen a few other things in my life that not only beat this, but make this Coalition branch seem like one you’d find in any small town.  That doesn’t take away from the majesty that it presents, of course, but I want you to know that this is just the beginning – there is a whole lot more out there for those who want to find it.”

“He’s surprisingly cultured for an Adventurer who seems to have spent the last few decades protecting ships running up and down the local river.  I wonder what he did before he settled down here.”

Thaden wondered as well, but now wasn’t the time to ask.  Even as he stood there absolutely floored by the sight spreading out ahead of him, he could feel and hear the frustration and anger from people needing to go around him and the Party of Porcerean showing him the way.  He started walking again, which got Garney and the others to lead the way again, and soon enough they joined the thousands of people walking down what he’d been told was something called Glory’s Passage – a relatively ostentatious name for a street, but at the same time it wasn’t out of place.

Apparently, Glory’s Passage was a combination of residences and a commercial district, as hundreds of tributary roads branched off from it to either side of the thoroughfare, with those on his right leading to what appeared to be large apartment complexes and – further down the roads – individual townhomes, each of them built in a way that reminded him somewhat of modern Earth with how they were packed together.  The lefthand-side of the large Glory’s Passage street appeared to be shops and services, ranging from general goods to armor and weapons, though they were too far away from where they were walking to see them too clearly.  He made a note to check them out later, however, as he was hoping to find more equipment suitable for his Class; he figured that a large city like Teglir was much more likely to contain gear for a Support Class, unlike his experience in Felith.

No one spoke as they made their way down the thoroughfare, as it was enough of a distraction just avoiding the people that moved in and out of the nearby offshoots, making it feel more like a highway with hundreds of exits and the people moving at chaotically different speeds as they merged into the flow of traffic.  Every once in a while, he would see a group of Teglir City Guards stationed along the way, both down the center of the Passage and along its edges, looking out for anyone that seemed to be causing trouble.  What kind of trouble people could make in the city, he didn’t know, because he doubted pickpockets were too much of a problem to a population that had the ability to contain their valuables in their personal Inventory, but he could be wrong. 

On Tarth, personal Inventories weren’t necessarily lootable by others even when they were killed, though there were some exceptions that were made by the System; it was possible that it could be different on Plangea.  If that was the case, then killing someone for their stuff might even be common – which made him feel instantly wary of everyone he saw slinking down a few alleyways here and there, wondering if they were filled with muggers and murderers.  At the moment, he didn’t exactly have the best protection against someone trying to kill him, especially if he was surprised and couldn’t prepare; he could use Enthrall, of course, but a fatal headshot by an attack he couldn’t see could one-tap him into oblivion.

Fortunately, surrounded by so many people and somewhat protected in the company of the Porcerean Adventurers, he didn’t really have anything to worry about.  In addition, his current state of dress, which was basically a pair of loose, brown pants and a tan shirt with ties down the front that he’d quickly purchased in Purbooth before he fled the town, didn’t exactly pinpoint him as a valuable mark to kill and rob.  Any of the Adventurers around him appeared to have much more coin on them, as well as their valuable equipment, and while he might look like a rube gawking around at the city as he walked and potentially someone who could be taken advantage of, no one accosted him.

Along the way to the Coalition building, which Garney said was some sort of Coalition Headquarters, he saw even more Adventurers moving up and down Glory’s Passage than he saw outside on the docks.  He knew they were Adventurers by the way they were dressed and the fact that they were armed, as well as many of them being of other races than the majority of the Netherines that comprised the majority of the residents of the city.  He also witnessed a fight in between two Charee Adventurers right in the middle of the Passage, which didn’t have a chance to more than begin before a contingent of Teglir City Guards appeared to break it up – which told him that the Guards’ presence wasn’t just for show or potential pickpockets.  An armed force inside the city, even if they were Adventurers and dedicated to helping to make the place safer, was potentially a security and safety risk.  He’d had enough experience with hot-headed and unsavory individuals back on Tarth to know that if it hadn’t been for the native Guards there to keep order, there would’ve been any number of horrible—and deadly—situations that might have arose.

On the whole, however, the people he observed seemed relatively happy, and any disorder was kept to a minimum.  They were simply people going about their everyday business, even if there were potentially hundreds of thousands of them along Glory’s Passage, which was something that he equated to the bustling city of New York back on Earth – though on what seemed like a larger scale.

It felt like it took both hours and seconds before they arrived at the massive Coalition structure at the end of the Passage.  Thaden did his best to keep himself from gaping at the two entrances into the building, each of which were large enough to pass a double-decker commercial jet through, but he could tell that he hadn’t succeeded from the glances of amusement he received from the Porcerean Party leading him there.  Regardless of his reaction, they didn’t stop and led him right up to right-hand entrance, only halting right on the threshold as they moved to the side to stay out of the way of the constant stream of people moving in and out.

The impression Thaden got from peering inside the building was a sense of vastness and open space that he imagined an airplane hanger must have.  The Coalition lobbies that he’d visited on Tarth, as well as the ones in Felith and Purbooth, had all been impressive in their own ways, either with their luxurious appearance or efficiency, but the Teglir Coalition lobby was in a category of its own.  While it wasn’t particularly luxurious, as in there weren’t crystal chandeliers or waterfall installations, there was a sophisticated tone to the materials and form of what was actually there.  It looked like a 5-star hotel lobby back on Earth, though it was lacking the ostentatiousness that would’ve made it feel like only high-brow, snooty visitors should be visiting.  Instead, it was warm and inviting without it being too much – a difficult mixture that was quite different than what he was expecting.

Soft rugs lined a marble flooring, showing a comfort and practicality that contrasted with the high ceilings that were decorated with tasteful artwork that was more “modern” than he figured it should be, and the dark wood accents everywhere gave a completely different vibe from the pearlescent stone exterior.  Magical lights illuminated the entire lobby, showing that it extended in either direction with a length that somewhat reminded him of some of the fancier airports he’d visited in the past, and there were comfortable-looking chairs, loungers, and couches in a variety of designs, which seemed to be able to accommodate pretty much any race that wished to enjoy them.

And there were quite a few different races that he’d never seen before, along with some that were becoming quite familiar.  There were too many walking around to pinpoint any at a glance, but he did see that while it appeared as though 90%+ of the city’s residents were Netherines, they only comprised about half of what he saw inside the Coalition building.  He wasn’t sure why this was, given that every single Adventurer in Felith had been Netherine, but he could only assume that as this was a major hub, more races were likely to travel to the city than to make their way out to some of the smaller towns scattered around the country – or the “Aroxis Empire,” as he’d recently learned. 

“This is where we leave you,” Garney announced after giving Thaden a few seconds to look around.  He waved toward the right side as he said, “We need to report what happened during the Quest and have it rescheduled for tomorrow.  You, on the other hand, need to head to the ‘New Arrival’ desk and check-in.”  Garney followed up this statement by pointing in the opposite direction.  “From there, they can see about finding you another Party to join, as well as assigning any Quests that you might be interested in.  If you need anything from us, just let the Coalition team here know, as they know how to get in contact.  Otherwise, I wish you the best and I hope to see you around sometime.”

“Thank you again for saving me back there on the river, Garney.  I really do appreciate all the help you’ve given me.”

Garney nodded, but didn’t say anything as he turned away with the others, before quickly disappearing within the crowd of Adventurers filling the lobby. 

Now that he was by himself, or at least with just Sadia in his head to keep him company, Thaden felt both relieved and vulnerable; he was used to going about the world by himself, as he’d learned on Tarth that he preferred to go solo, but since he didn’t have the same kind of defensive and offensive abilities on Plangea, that made him feel less… “whole”.  Until he had them back, he would need to join some Parties to grow stronger – which was why he was there in the Coalition building in the first place.

With a deep breath, Thaden made his way towards the direction that Garney had pointed, trying to look around or over the heads of the other Adventurers in his way.  At the same time, he couldn’t help but notice the wide variety of races he passed, which ran the gamut of fantasy races from mythology to those that were a bit more exotic; on the whole, though, everyone appeared “humanoid” with a number of arms and legs, a torso, and a head.  There weren’t any “crazy strange” races such as formless elementals, blobs of intelligent slime, or anything too “out there” – though someone that looked like a cross between a shark and a spider came close to being hitting that threshold.  Still, even though they had 6 arms and 2 legs, with a shark head on a chitinous body, they stood upright on those 2 legs, wore the armor of an Adventurer, and wielded a staff that it held with 4 of its claw-like hands.

He received some strange looks in return even as he observed the vast array of people in the Coalition lobby.  Most of it was probably because he was a Human, which he saw absolutely none of anywhere, but a part of it was probably because of his plain outfit, which stood out amongst the well-equipped Adventurers around him.  Even the clear Support Classes that he saw walking around, which – as he experienced on Tarth – were fewer in number compared to the other Classes, were usually wearing some sort of magical robe or other gear suitable for them.  Thaden was also by himself instead of grouped with a Party, which stood out as something unusual; there were very few people wandering around that seemed to be by themselves, and those that were, appeared quietly confident and visibly powerful.

Eventually, after about 15 minutes of looking around, Thaden finally found himself in line that led to a counter with “New Arrivals” in bold silver letters emblazoned along the wall.  Thankfully, while there were approximately 50 people in front of him, the line went quickly, which he learned was because they had a half-dozen Coalition receptionists working the New Arrivals desk to help get through the influx of people. 

“Hey, are you new here, too?” he heard from behind him as he slowly shuffled forward as the line moved.  Glancing back at who seemed to be talking to him, he had to look slightly down as the speaker was shorter than he was. 

Blinky {Densartis Faction}

Grome

Level 16

Standing at about 4 feet tall, Blinky the Grome looked like a short, old man that had thin, wispy hair that was combed straight back on his head, which only seemed to emphasize the long, pointy ears that stuck out to the sides approximately 5 inches from his head.  Upon closer inspection, he deduced that Blinky wasn’t actually old despite his first assumption, as the tanned, wrinkled skin covering his face appeared to be normal, and there was a youthful energy that emanated from his eyes.  The enthusiastic smile on his face completed his assessment that the Grome was actually fairly young.

Flicking his eyes down Blinky’s outfit, Thaden quickly determined that the Grome was likely a Scout Class of some sort, with the close-fitting, dark-grey cloth and leather armor he was wearing, along with the daggers sheathed at his sides.

“Of course he’s new here,” said another voice with clear exasperation, and he looked up to see an Aelveen standing behind Blinky.  Thaden panicked for a half-second before he realized it wasn’t one of the Aelveen from the Local Legion he’d been forced to meet in Purbooth, especially as this one was only Level 15 and didn’t look like either of them.  Rel’ba’shet was also decked out in full chainmail armor underneath with what appeared to be iron plates attached to hardened, dark brown leather.  A Fighter Class.  “He’s in this line, after all.”

“I know, Rel, but I was trying to be polite,” Blinky responded, his enthusiasm clearly not depleted by the words that came from the Aelveen.  “So, Thaden, where did you come from?  Rel and I decided to transfer to Teglir for a while because we’ve heard that this is the best place to grow.  While the Westfold Plains can provide quite a few Quests to complete, they’re not very diverse and are more suited to those under Level 10; Teglir is known for having Quests up to Level 100, as well as appealing to Badge Holders higher than Wood Rank.  Oh, and we also need to find some more Party members after out last one… fell apart.  They didn’t die, thankfully, but when Fienna got preg—”

“You don’t need to tell everyone our history, Blinky,” the Aelveen cut him off, and Thaden had to stifle a chuckle.  “But he’s right, we’re looking to join a new Party, as there weren’t any back in Hoprun – the town that we’re originally from, far to the north.  Does your Party need a Fighter and Scout Class?  We’re also willing to join a Raid Party for a while, if it’s necessary.”

Thaden shook his head.  “I don’t have a Party.  It’s actually why I’m here, as well.”

“Oh?  No Party?  Well then, why don’t you join us—”

The taller Aelveen cut Blinky off once again.  “No, Blinky, we need to join an established Party, not… a random ‘Human,’ whatever that is.  And especially not one that doesn’t seem to have any gear.  How many times do I have to tell you, we can’t be picking up every stray Adventurer we come across—”

“But he’s a Support Class!  We didn’t even have one in our last Party, so having him in our Party would be a good incentive for others looking to join!”

Thaden inwardly smiled at the back-and-forth between the two, even as he took another few steps ahead as the line continued to shrink.  He didn’t blame the Aelveen for not thinking he was a worthwhile Party member, as he didn’t appear competent without any visible gear, though he wondered how Blinky knew he was a Support Class.  It could be because he didn’t have a weapon on him, as every other Adventurer – other than Support Classes – had one accessible, either on their hip or in their hands, but without any other gear, it could be that he was simply storing it away.  Regardless of how the Grome knew he was a Support Class, he wasn’t wrong.

“How about this, Blinky?” he interrupted.  “If you two find a Mage and a Control Class that also need a Party, I’ll come along with you.  Otherwise, I’m going to rely on the Coalition to help me find what I need.”  He wasn’t sure why he said that, as he’d probably have better luck having the Coalition find him an appropriate Party, but he had a good feeling about these two Adventurers – despite the lack of confidence in Thaden that the Aelveen displayed.

Blinky didn’t hesitate.  “Deal!”

“Now just wait a moment—”

Before Rel’ba’shet could finish his protestation, Thaden heard, “Next!” – and found that it was his turn at the New Arrivals desk.

He nodded back at the two Adventurers as he made his way up to the Coalition receptionist that had called for him.  As he walked up to the counter, which he was pleased to see was at a much lower height than the ones he was used to in the Netherine branches, the Netherine receptionist wasn’t even looking at him, but was instead filling out the last of some paperwork, which Thaden figured was from the previous Adventurer. 

“Badge?” she asked with a bored voice, the word likely spoken so many times throughout the day that it barely had any meaning to her anymore. 

“Uh, I don’t have my Badge.  I need to get it replaced.”

“No Badge?  You need to go to Coalition Registration first, and only then come back here to New Arrivals.  NEXT!” she shouted, never once looking up from her paperwork.

Thaden didn’t move, however.  He had no intention of waiting in another line, only to come back to this one.  Instead, he cleared his throat.  “Actually, I believe I need to speak to whoever your Teglir Adventurer’s Coalition Branch Leader is.  I have something that they need to do for me.”

“You what?  Our Branch Leader, as well as our Vice-Leaders, are very busy individuals, and they don’t just talk to any Adventurer that comes in demanding that they do something for them.  You can always try to arrange a meeting at the Appointments desk, but I can’t help you here.  Now, if you don’t have anything else, there’s a long line of New Arrivals behind you, and I don’t have time to waste talking to a—” she finally looked up at him, “Level 15 Human.  Now, as I said before—”

Thaden saw in her eyes the moment she seemed to see his Coalition Badge Rank, which he’d been told in Felith was visible only by Coalition employees.  She froze stiff, with even her breathing stopped, as she stared at him as if he was some sort of ghost. 

“How about that meeting?  Do you think that’s possible now?” he asked.  When she nodded and started to open her mouth, he continued before she could say anything.  “I would appreciate it if you don’t cause a scene.”  Another nod was all he got before she stood up from where she’d been sitting down on a low chair.  She then turned and walked through a doorway behind her and was gone for only about 20 seconds before she was back, trailing another Netherine member of the Coalition behind her.  The newcomer looked annoyed, but a single look at Thaden caused him to jerk backwards for a moment, before he quickly composed himself and sat down where the first receptionist had just vacated her spot. 

A gap in the counter was abruptly raised and the original Netherine beckoned him forward.  A glance out of the corner of his eye showed that Blinky and the Aelveen he’d been talking to were at the receptionist next to him, and at their confused looks, he just winked in their direction before following his guide to the Teglir Branch Leader.

“For once, you didn’t cause a scene that’ll have the entire lobby talking.  Hopefully, you’ve reduced it to just a few people.”

He chuckled lightly at Sadia’s observation, agreeing with her.  See, I can learn. 

Now he just had to ensure that his relatively unusual arrival stayed only a minor curiosity rather than a full-blown mystery.  Thankfully, the Branch Leader should be able to accomplish that – whoever they were.

Plans for Jan 11-16

The release of The Affinity Collector went pretty well! Now that it's done I can finally focus on finishing the rest of Healer Arc 2, which I'm hoping to have completed by the end of January. I'm approximately halfway done with it, so it's definitely possible :)

Next week, I don't believe I have any other plans other than to write -- so I'm shooting for 10 chapters! The following Sunday, Jan 18th, I need to work with my cover designer on the first Healer Arc 2 cover (and title, I suppose), but I won't have to worry about that until I get closer to that.

Plans for next week:

Sunday-Friday: Writing Healer Arc 2

Have a great weekend!

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Thaden had visited the cities that had been created on the developmental world of Tarth, and at the time, he had considered them fairly massive when compared to the various towns that dotted the Region that he’d ended up in.  Unlike those cities, which apparently only had a few decades of time to be completely built and furnished by the natives before the Contenders arrived, the city of Teglir appeared to have been around a long, long time. 

It wasn’t that he saw old buildings or crumbling walls, because that was far from the case; everything he saw as the ship glided into the massive docks set up on both sides of the river showed that the it was all well-maintained without any visible cracks or signs of age.  Even as he now realized there were dozens, if not hundreds of boats and even ships larger than the Rivercat sailing or rowing past their vessel, the place seemed fresh and lively, as if this city was a new and up-and-coming place that was recently developed…

…if it wasn’t for definite feeling in the area that spoke of centuries, if not millennia, of history in the city.  It was something that he’d heard about people from the United States back on Earth experiencing when they visited Europe and saw the historic areas located there; with the US being relatively “new” as far as most of its infrastructure went, seeing something that was built 500 to 2,000 years before was a mind-blowing experience.

As for the city itself, he couldn’t even see all of it from the river.  Stretching off to what appeared to be the north and south with 30-foot-tall walls made of a dark-red stone that matched the reddish tint in most Netherine’s tiger-y fur, the city of Teglir actually straddled the river in a massive archway that elevated the center of the city over the east-flowing river at a height of 100 feet at its apex.  Multiple stone columns, each at least 15 feet in diameter, were anchored into the riverbed below, supporting the enormous archway, with them spaced out enough to allow all types of boats and ships to pass underneath without any trouble at all.  Instead of the archway over the river being a dark tunnel, as he would’ve assumed at first glance, it was lit up by numerous strips of light that hinted that the upper portion of the arch had slits cut into it; it was only when he looked at it with a keen eye that he realized that the strips of light illuminating the tunnel over the river somewhat mimicked the tiger stripes of the Netherines – who were apparently the ones who ruled this portion of the Densartis Faction. 

He only assumed that because, when he looked around, the majority of the people he saw walking around on the docks were Netherines, just like they were the majority of the crew on the Rivercat.  That didn’t mean that there weren’t other races, and he recognized quite a few of them as he looked around, but they were a great minority compared to the tiger-demons he saw all around the place.

The city itself extended approximately a mile over the river before it appeared to open up again, but he had the impression that the city was much wider than that.  Unfortunately, other than being able to see the docks and some random buildings that extended over the height of the walls, he couldn’t exactly see the layout of the city from his position.  All he could tell was that this city was much bigger and more-populated than any city he’d seen on Tarth – by a significant margin.

“Whoa.  Is this the capital of the Densartis Faction or something?” he blurted out, forgetting that Garney was standing next to him. 

“Teglir?  No, it’s not the capital of the Faction.  It’s not even the capital of Nethinia, where the Netherines originally relocated when they joined Plangea thousands of years ago.  It’s an important trade city, however, as the Fane River widens the further east you go, which allows for the rapid transportation of goods brought in from this portion of the continent.”  He paused in his explanation as he looked at Thaden with narrowed eyes.  “But you should know all of that, being from the area… correct?”

“Oh, uh, I knew a little bit of it, but I’m relatively new to the Faction.”

Garney’s eyes resumed their previous appearance; whether he was less suspicious after Thaden’s answer, he couldn’t tell.  “Right.  I see.  Anyway, the Netherine noble that runs this city, Baron Veridoon, is a fairly competent leader, which has led to this city expanding in its domination of local trade, as almost everything west of Teglir runs through the city before it reaches the rest of the Aroxis Empire.  Do you see that tower?” the Adventurer abruptly asked, pointing to a tall spire that Thaden could see even from the river, despite the fact that it appeared to be located in the center of the arch.  And not in the center of the arch near the edge, but in the middle of the city, which meant that it was incredibly tall to be able to see it from his location.  Thaden nodded, prompting Garney to continue.  “That’s the Baron’s residence, the largest compound in the city, but no one could argue that he doesn’t deserve it for the prosperity he’s brought to the city and its residents.”

He really seems to like this Baron guy; this is my first real experience with them, as there weren’t any in Felith as far as I know.  Whatever – it doesn’t really concern me, I suppose.  As long as I stay out of their way, I shouldn’t have to worry about them. 

“How many people live here in the city?” Thaden asked.

Garney thought about it for a few seconds before answering.  “I’m not real sure, actually.  If I had to take a guess, I’d say at least four million, but no more than six million.  But that includes the many farming communes located among the outskirts, as well as the dock workers.”

As Thaden glanced around, taking his eyes off the enormous monstrosity of a settlement, he noticed for the first time that the lands leading up to the city were cultivated and contained what appeared to be miles and miles of fields and grazing areas for livestock.  He’d missed a lot as he’d been focusing on his Advancements and whatnot, but now that he was actually paying attention, he could tell that there was a massive operation going on around the city. 

To the north and south, he saw hundreds of wagons moving into and out of the city as well as the warehouses near the docks, loading and unloading literal tons of trade goods that would then be shipped elsewhere – or had been shipped back to Teglir.  These wagons led off to the southwest and northwest, where there were likely more towns and cities where they would pick up more products, transporting them back to the city on a constant basis.  He briefly wondered why there were wagons and large ships at all, when Inventories were a thing, but then he looked at his own Inventory and deduced the answer quite quickly.  While it was bigger than it had been when he was Level 1, or even Level 3, he still couldn’t store too much in it at Level 15; based on how long it took the typical person to increase their Level and that the average person only reached Level 25 throughout their whole lives, that meant that their Inventories just weren’t large enough to transport much more than the essentials.

As for the size of the population, he could scarcely believe that the city held 4 million people.  If he remembered correctly, the city of Los Angeles back on Earth held that many people, though the entire county had more than twice that many, so he had trouble picturing that many people in Teglir.  Then again, he hadn’t actually seen the city properly, so he didn’t know if it was accurate or not, but he still thought that Garney was exaggerating at least a little bit.

“I see,” Thaden said with a touch of skepticism in his voice that he tried to smother.  Changing the subject, he asked, “How many Adventurer Coalition branches are in the city?”  With it being so large, he thought that there had to be dozens, if not hundreds, of branches; his experience on Tarth, and the cities there, told him that it was necessary to have multiple Coalition branches available despite them all being in the same city, as there were just too many Adventurers to handle them all in one, singular building.

“There’s only one.”

He wasn’t expecting that answer.  “What?  Only one?  How is that possible?”

Garney chuckled.  “More than one isn’t necessary.  You’ll see when you get there.”

“Does that mean it’s extremely large or that there aren’t many Adventurers?”

All he got was a smile in return instead of an answer.  “You’ll see.  I don’t want to ruin it for you.”

“My guess is that they have an extremely large building to handle the tens of thousands of Adventurers based out of the city.  It is highly unlikely that there aren’t enough Adventurers to justify multiple branches, so that has to be the explanation.”

Sadia had been relatively quiet in his mind since he’d been messing with his Advancements, as well as during his conversation with his fellow Adventurer.  Hearing her voice made him feel good, however, as he was feeling a bit dwarfed by the enormous city and the thought of walking into a place with millions of people was intimidating – even for him.

“Once we disembark, we’ll be heading toward the Coalition anyway, so you can come with us.  We have to report to them the reason why we were unable to complete the Quest, after all, though we’ll probably be sent out again tomorrow.”

Thaden nodded, even as the ship slid into a spot along the docks, a stone pier appearing along the left side of the vessel.  He eavesdropped as Demarco walked up to the captain of the Rivercat, who didn’t look particularly pleased, but he fortunately wasn’t raging like he thought would be the case after having to turn around.

“Most likely, we’ll be reassigned to take you up to Fanebridge tomorrow morning.  We apologize for not being able to complete this trip today, but the circumstances wouldn’t allow us to proceed safely without risking you, your crew, or your ship unnecessarily.  The Coalition will probably refund a portion of your fee because of the delay, but I can assure you that we’ll do our best to see you through entirely on our next trip.”

Thaden could tell the Rivercat captain was reluctant to say anything good considering the situation, but he did so, anyway – likely because of the refund that was mentioned.  “I appreciate you bringing us back safely, even if we weren’t able to complete our route.  I look forward to finishing it tomorrow, then.”

The words from both individuals seemed unnecessarily formal, but he supposed that such things were normal for those who did this kind of thing every day.  Regardless, once the exchange was complete, there was a slight bump as the ship knocked slightly against the pier, and Thaden watched two crew members quickly lower a gangplank off the side and onto the stone walkway down below. 

Garney put his hand on Thaden’s shoulder once again, patting it a couple of times.  “Let’s go.  We’ll show you to the Coalition and you can figure out what you’re doing from there.”  The hand left his shoulder a second later, and Thaden followed the other Adventurers down the gangplank and onto the pier, which was relatively empty – at least until he looked up along the main thoroughfare along the docks, which were filled with thousands of people moving large crates and other trade goods such as sacks of grains and what appeared to be cut and shaped timber, along with dozens of enormous, open-sided warehouses full of all matter of products. 

Sticking with Garney and the others as they pushed their way through the throng of people, Thaden barely heard the other Support Class ask, “So, what are your plans after this?  I’m sorry again that your Party was killed, an incredible tragedy no matter how long you’ve been in this profession, but are you determined to get back out there with a new Party?”

Thaden nodded, but Garney wasn’t looking in his direction.  “Yes, something like that.”

“Good.  Don’t let such a tragedy affect you too much.  It might sound callous, but I’ve seen too many good Adventurers lose their edge after they’ve lost a Party member, and I don’t want to see the same thing happen to you.”

Thaden thought that it was quite callous for the other Adventurer to say something like that, but he didn’t say anything.  Garney seemed like a good guy and likely only meant to be encouraging, though if Thaden was anyone else that had just lost a Party, he was pretty sure he would’ve pushed back against it.  As it was, he had more on his mind than to argue with the Porcerean, so he held his tongue.

Amongst the crowd, he saw more and more people of other races than the Netherines, though the tiger-demons still comprised at least 90% of those he passed.  For those that weren’t red-furred with black stripes and demon-looking horns, most of them gave Thaden the impression that they were Adventurers based on their outfits, though there were some that appeared to be part of ships’ crews.  There were so many people, though, that he had to mentally ignore all of their nametags, because the information overload was threatening to give him a headache.

Thankfully, his Celerity was high enough to allow him to keep up with Garney and the other Adventurers who had been on the Rivercat, as well as being able to avoid running into the people seeming to rush around all over the docks.  The crowd only seemed to increase as they approached the open stone and metal-banded gates leading into the northern part of the city, until they were forced to stop and wait their turn to enter.

Hmm… I don’t have my Adventurer Coalition Badge.  They weren’t able to give me a Platinum+ one in Felith, as they didn’t have access to any.  Typically, his Badge had normally been more than enough to enter any town or city on Tarth as it served as identification, though his experience in Felith showed him that it wasn’t necessary.  He didn’t know if such identification was required in Purbooth, as he’d been hauled off by the gate guards to see the people of the Local Legion before he could find out, so he didn’t know what was actually required – if anything.  Thankfully, he had a resource available right next to him that could answer his questions.

“Do they require any identification in order to enter the city?” he asked in a low voice, so that only Garney could hear him.

The other Adventurer pointed to the Iron Badge pinned to his clothes.  “Just your Badge if you’re an Adventurer.  There’s no fee for Adventurers – another benefit that came from Baron Veridoon being in charge.”

“And, uh, I lost my Badge?” Thaden asked.

“You lost your Badge?  Then, unfortunately, there is a small fee to enter: 3 Copper coins.  Once you get your Badge replaced, you won’t have to worry about the fee anymore.”

Only 3 Copper coins?  That’s not bad at all.

“I can do that.  Thanks.”

The line didn’t take long to deplete enough for them to enter, only about a minute or so, and Thaden watched as the Adventurer Party each flashed their Badges briefly toward one of the guards, who waved them inside with a quickness that indicated that Garney and the others were likely known to them.  Thaden, on the other hand, was immediately stopped as soon as he walked into range.

“Human?  I haven’t seen one of you here before.  Fee is 3 Copper, or the fee will be waved if you have a Coalition Badge.  Do you have a Badge?”

Thaden had already pulled out 3 Copper coins from his Inventory and handed them over to the waiting furry hand of the Netherine guard.  “I lost my Badge, and I’m on my way to get a replacement.”

“See that you do,” the guard said as he slipped the coins that he’d been given through a slot in a strongbox set up next to him.  “Nex—”

“Hold on, there.  Thaden, is it?  Come with me, if you would.”

Thaden experienced a mild panic as he seemed to be singled out, and he quickly worried that those individuals from the Local Legion had managed to get the word out about him.  He contemplated running, but decided against it, as all the guards were a higher Level than him and would be able to catch him quickly.  No use running or fighting my way out – I don’t have a chance.  I might as well just go along with whatever this is.

The one that had ordered him to follow was looking at him impatiently as he tried to figure out what to do, but after his brief indecision, he followed her to a structure near the gate that seemed to be built right into the wall.  He glanced back at Garney and the other Adventurers and shrugged helplessly at their questioning looks, before he entered what appeared to be some sort of guard barracks.  His steps faltered slightly as they turned down a hallway that had what appeared holding cells along both walls, but his escort didn’t stop.  The only reason he didn’t flee at that point, regardless of the speed of his pursuers, was that he wasn’t being literally carried like he had been in Purbooth by the Gate Guard there. 

Thankfully, the cells didn’t seem to be their destination, as the Netherine guard leading him opened a door at the end of the corridor that seemed to be difficult to open, and as she shoved it open with a creak that told him that it hadn’t been used in a while, she gestured for him to enter.  He wasn’t sure if he should be more frightened than relieved that he’d walked into a normal-ish office, though instead of a desk filled with paperwork inhabiting the space, there were only a number of bookshelves lining the walls with layers of dust covering them, looking like they hadn’t been dusted in years – but the glowing stone placed upon a metal stake in the middle of the room was what really caught his attention.  The guard closed the door behind her as she followed him inside, positioning herself across from him a second later as he stared at the glowing stone.  There was a potent energy emanating from it, though unlike the Codexical Access Point in the Coalition, he didn’t sense that anything bad would come from it.

For the first time, he looked at the name tag of the one who’d brought him there, as he’d been ignoring the deluge of names while he was within the crowd.

Parthena – Teglir Guard Captain {Densartis Faction}

Netherine

Level ???

“Thank you for following me without a fuss, Thaden,” she said as soon as she stopped moving.  “While this doesn’t occur very often, and in fact I haven’t seen an instance of this in at least three decades, every once in a while we have to deal with someone like you.”

“…Like me?  What do you mean?  A Human?”

She chuckled at the questions.  “No, it has nothing to do with your race – I couldn’t care less who you are.  What I’m talking about is your Faction – or lack of one, as it seems to be.  Can you tell me how you are able to disguise it?”

“I, uh, have never been a part of a Faction.  I arrived here only about 6 months ago, and was never part of one before that.”

Skeptical, Parthena shook her head.  It seemed as if his high Personality couldn’t convince everyone.  “I don’t believe that.  Fortunately, it doesn’t matter what you did to disguise your allegiance, as the Faction Assignment Terminal will reassign you, anyway.  Please touch the glowing stone in front of you.”

Uh, oh.  Is this going to be another Codexical Access Point situation?

As if hearing his thoughts, Sadia spoke up.

“You should be fine.  From what I understand, the Faction Assignment Terminal only partially interfaces with the Assimilation System but cannot access its resources, so if something goes wrong, you shouldn’t end up alerting the System.  Ignoring the small danger it presents, joining the Faction to enter the city is a necessary trade-off, and you might not attract attention from people who see your name tag and wonder why you aren’t with a Faction.”

Mentally thanking her, he took a deep breath and stepped forward, hesitating for only a second before he reached out and touched the glowing stone.  He prepared himself for some catastrophic failure to happen, nearly killing him like what happened when he touched the CAP back in Felith, but that didn’t happen – though there was a failure of sorts.

Determining Prior Allegiances…

ERRORIndividual not found_

Dissolving Previous Faction Assignments…

ERRORIndividual not found_

Assigning Faction: Densartis

Applying Visible Label…Done

Connecting to Densartis Network to apply pertinent restrictions…

ERRORIndividual not found_

Unable to establish connection

Faction Assignment incomplete!

As he quickly read through the messages, Thaden waited for the other shoe to drop as he expected the Guard Captain to question what went wrong.  However, as he took his hand off the glowing stone, he was taken aback at the smile on her face.

“See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?  Now we don’t have to worry about you betraying your new Faction, at least not while you’re within our territory.  As I’m sure you know, any actions that you might attempt to make that would directly affect Faction security or the well-being of any Faction noble is punishable by immediate death, enforced by the Faction Network connection you just joined.  Do you have any questions before you’re on your way?”

Yes… just not for you.  He shook his head.

“Very good.  Then, I’ll lead you back out and you can go ahead with your day.  Thank you for being an obedient member of the Densartis Faction.”

Obedient member?  What the hell does that mean?

The trip back out of the guard barracks went by in a blur, and before he knew it, Thaden was walking back through the door that led to the structure, seeing Garney and the others waiting for him there.

“Ah!  See, I told them it was probably just the problem with your Faction,” Garney said as soon as Thaden walked up.  “They’re pretty strict about that in the cities, as they don’t want any foreign Faction infiltrators sneaking in and causing harm.  Now that you’re officially part of the Densartis Faction, they don’t have to worry about you any longer,” he continued matter-of-factly.  “Are you ready to go?”  At Thaden’s nod, the Adventurer Party turned around and started to lead the way into the city, with him following in their wake.

Sadia… you and I need to have a talk when we get the chance.   

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Thaden stood along the railing around the rear of the ship, looking down at the water that passed underneath the vessel as the river gradually curved in a northeasterly direction.  Unlike what he’d experienced when he first encountered the waterway, the only living things inside the water were normal-looking fish that wouldn’t have looked out of place in any river on Earth.  Any sign of the monsters that had inhabited the forested area was completely gone, and the riverbed was only a couple of dozen feet deep, instead of the deep crevice that the Tentacled Stranglers of the Depths inhabited. 

In other words, it was relatively peaceful.

“I still can’t believe that worked.”

He smiled at the comment in his mind as he nodded lightly in acknowledgment.  He had to admit to himself that he’d had some doubts going into the whole act with the Strangler under his control tossing him around like a pool toy, as he wasn’t sure if it was “real” enough with the fact that his Physicality was high enough not to be hurt by the slaps against the water’s surface, but all of those doubts fell away as soon as he was picked up and dumped onto the deck of the ship. 

Whether it was his recent increase in Mentality, or perhaps some instinct that stemmed from his higher Personality stat, but when he’d seen – at a distance – the ship heading upriver, he intuitively knew that running wasn’t an option.  Theoretically, he could’ve avoided any type of confrontation by having his tentacled minions deposit him on the side of the river, where he could disappear into the forest, but he almost immediately discarded that idea.  He could keep fleeing, heedless of any specific objective other than to put some more space in between him and any potential pursuers, but that wasn’t what he wanted nor needed at the moment.  Instead, his current limitations and his original objective with the Adventurer’s Coalition came back to him at that point, which allowed him to recognize an opportunity when he saw it.

The heady feeling of taking control of so many monsters and going on a killing spree down the river had temporarily blinded him somewhat to the restrictions he was working under.  While his spells had thankfully worked against the Stranglers, he knew that he couldn’t always rely on that kind of situation to turn in his favor if he was to visit another dungeon – by himself this time.  He still remembered how helpless he had felt against the Gremklin Detonator in that dungeon he’d cleared with his Netherine Party; while he might be able to take control of a dungeon’s Boss now, that didn’t necessarily mean that he could actually clear a dungeon.  From his experience, the dungeon’s exit was typically inaccessible until the Boss was killed, and taking control of it didn’t count – because it was still alive and could be released from control at any time.  And he couldn’t think of any way for it to “off” itself, as that wasn’t something that was possible with his current spells, so he would essentially be stuck with controlling a Boss that couldn’t die – unless he got lucky and had some other controlled monsters that could actually do damage to it.  Based on the Gremklin dungeon, though, he wasn’t willing to risk himself if that didn’t turn out to be the case. 

So, instead of running around and trying to do everything by himself, Thaden needed a Party to kill the monsters that he couldn’t.  It was a significant change from how he’d operated on Tarth, where it was more of a hindrance than a help to be in a Party, as he could pretty much kill anything he came across by himself.  New world, new rules, and a new method of attack.

That, of course, didn’t mean that he couldn’t go back to his old style of killing monsters once he was powerful enough, but as far as he was concerned, that was a long way off.  That meant, as much as it wasn’t the ideal situation, he was going to have to rely on others to get what he wanted – which was why he didn’t run away when he saw the ship.

Instead, he decided to use them as a stepping stone that would bring him in contact with those that could help him.  Fortunately, he was confident enough in his Personality to get him through the introductions, as he’d had personal experience with how a high Personality stat tended to naturally—and positively—influence those around him.  It didn’t necessarily change their mind about him, but it made believing his words a little easier, making him seem a bit more trustworthy than he otherwise would be.  Originally, he was going to pretend that he’d just been unlucky and had been snatched up by one of the Stranglers, but once he was “saved” from the river and brought aboard, he changed his mind extremely quickly. 

Why?

Because one of the Adventurers on the ship, whom he assumed was a member of a Party that helped to protect the vessel from the monsters in the water, cast a spell on him that immediately put his hackles up.  His Psychic Resiliency Competency, which was relatively high, had flared-up and put him on his guard as he felt something trying to affect his mind.  It was at that point, as he psychically fought what was being done to him, that he quickly accessed his Competency Advancements and made some selections that would help him.  He hadn’t been sure what exactly the spell the one named Geordynn was doing to him, but he really didn’t like anyone trying to affect his thoughts or attempting to mind-control him.

That was his domain, after all.

Please select (5) Advancements for your Psychic Resiliency Competency:

Hardened Heart – All psychic abilities and effects attempting to influence you are reduced in effectiveness by a further 50%

Tethered Tease – All psychic abilities and effects attempting to influence you are reflected toward the psychic user at 50% strength

Psychic Edging – The longer that all psychic abilities and effects attempting to influence you are active, the less effective they will be at a rate of 1% every second

Emotional Baggage – All psychic abilities and effects successfully influencing you will also increase your Mentality by 1% of base Mentality every 30 seconds to a limit of 100%, lasting for up to 3 minutes after said psychic abilities and effects are deactivated

Polyamory – All psychic abilities and effects attempting to influence you are also shared with all targets within 30 feet of your location

Forced Abstinence – All psychic abilities and effects upon you are completely nullified, including those that originate from you

Size Matters – Psychic abilities and effects attempting to influence you from sources 50 Levels or above your own are completely nullified; psychic abilities and effects attempting to influence you from sources 50 Levels or below your own are tripled in effectiveness

Missed Connection – All psychic abilities and effects attempting to influence you have a chance based on Fortuity/2,000 to make you permanently immune to identical psychic abilities and effects used upon you in the future; this chance is evaluated every 10 seconds while the psychic ability or effect is active

Euphoric Auras – All auras you activate have an additional component of euphoric bliss, blunting the effectiveness of psychic abilities and effects attempting to influence every target within that aura’s range, immediately reducing the impact of psychic abilities and effects by 30%, while also gradually reducing its severity by 69%

Even as he mentally cursed himself for not doing it earlier, he quickly selected Hardened Heart, which reduced the effectiveness of anything trying to influence him by 50%, which had an immediate effect on what was being done to him.  It didn’t get rid of it entirely, especially as he felt the spell worming its way into his mind as it attempted to put him at ease, as well as inserting some stray thoughts that he was surrounded by good friends that wanted only the best for him.  Underlying it all was a sense that he should be completely honest with these friends, as they needed all of the information he could provide in order to help him – which he pulled away from instinctively, as he knew it was all false.  Still he couldn’t help but think that it would try to continue influencing him, so he slightly panicked and picked the Size Matters Advancement, as he figured these Adventurers were at least 50 Levels higher than him, which would entirely nullify what was being done to him.  He couldn’t see their Levels, as they came up as only “???”s, but they certainly felt strong.

It turned out that he was incorrect, because taking that didn’t do anything to stop the spell; instead, he now had an Advancement that was great against high-Level targets trying to influence him, but could be an issue once he was a higher Level.  Still, he couldn’t take it back, so he would have to live with it. 

Next, he took Psychic Edging, as it was the only other one that would further reduce the effectiveness of any psychic effects influencing him, though it would take a little bit to ramp up in potency at a 1% reduction every second.  Thankfully, he wasn’t too concerned with what was being done to him at the moment, as it didn’t seem like they were trying to mind-control him, otherwise he might have taken Forced Abstinence; he was glad he didn’t, though, because while his Spiritual spells focused on the spirits of his targets, they had a psychic component to them that would’ve been nullified entirely if he had selected that Advancement.  He wasn’t sure they would even work at that point.

He also didn’t take Euphoric Auras for that same reason, as it would reduce all psychic abilities and effects within range of any of his aura spells, and he intuitively knew that it would reduce the effectiveness of his own spiritual spells that would try and control his minions – and he couldn’t have that. 

That didn’t leave a lot to choose from for his last 2 selections, but he quickly dismissed Polyamory because he didn’t want to give away that he was sharing what was being done to him with everyone within 30 feet of him.  He also got ride of Tethered Tease for a similar reason, as he didn’t want to antagonize the Adventurers by reflecting the spell upon them.

That basically only left Emotional Baggage, which would gradually increase his Mentality the longer the psychic effects were on him, and Missed Connection, which had a very small chance to make him permanently immune to identical psychic spells or effects in the future.

By the time he was starting to answer questions, he felt the majority of the effects of the spell used on him disappear – but he knew that he couldn’t simply lie his butt off to these Adventurers.  For all he knew, they had some way to detect lies as well as making him tell the truth, so he kept his explanations relatively truthful, though he didn’t reveal much in the end.  As he had hoped, his high Personality stat had been enough to convince them to trust him, which he was fairly certain was aided by the fact that he hadn’t told any lies – he had just left a lot out and hadn’t explained a few things with further context.  If he was going to be joining more Adventurer Parties in the future, it would’ve been stupid to hide that he could control monsters, so he didn’t think lying about that ability would be beneficial; he simply made it not see quite as powerful as it really was.

Thankfully, they didn’t drill any deeper into his answers, as they seemed to accept what he’d told him with a minimum of suspicion.  In fact, it had worked out so well for him that he began to become suspicious, as it felt almost too easy to convince these Adventurers that he was telling the complete and utter truth.  Still, he wasn’t going to complain if it happened that he was brought somewhere without having to walk all that way, and he thought that going to a big city was the perfect place for him to blend in a little and find a Party in which to grow.  He glanced at the Party of Adventurers at the front of the ship, staring down into the water for any threats, and briefly considered wondered what it would be like to join a group like theirs, but he shook his head. 

From what little he’d overheard, it seemed like they were pretty much stuck doing this protection run because they were used to it and didn’t have any ambition to do anything else – which was quite contrary to what Thaden wanted.  He wanted to get stronger so that he could venture out from the area he was in, find Corinna, and—

The thought of Corinna made him pause in his thinking, as he brought something to the surface that he’d been trying to ignore up to this point. 

“Sadia?  Is Corinna even still alive?” he asked in a soft murmur, just barely audible to his own ears.  “If those from the Local Legion were telling the truth, then the people from Earth came here over 200 years ago.”

“Yes, and?  Oh, do you mean, ‘Did she die from old age?’  Then no, it’s not likely.  While people don’t exactly stop aging once they reach a certain Level and Physicality stat, bodily deterioration due to age slows down considerably, letting most people who have passed those thresholds to live for potentially thousands of years.  Of course, this threshold is different between races, and while I don’t have any specific information on a Human’s threshold, it’s most likely that most—if not all—of the Contenders from Tarth had already passed it.

“So, if you’re wondering if she died as an old woman, that’s a very, very small possibility.  Now, if you’re asking if she managed to survive all of the violence and danger that fighting on the Front Line presents, that’s an entirely different question.”

He nodded, thankful that she didn’t sugarcoat her answer.  He was happy to hear that she didn’t die over a century before because of old age, but having to fight monsters on the daily for centuries was a different matter.  It was entirely possible that she had been killed in a dungeon somewhere, or by an attack by some extremely high-Level monster, and he wouldn’t even know.  Then again, he felt it within his chest that she was still alive, even if he didn’t really have any proof of that being correct.

To take his mind off Corinna, Thaden turned back to the rest of his Advancements, as he didn’t want to run into another situation where he wished he’d pick them beforehand.  First, he revisited his Defensive Spellcasting Competency, and with his new understanding of what he needed to do to get stronger, he wavered back-and-forth between selecting Self-service Protection.  Now that he had the understanding that he’d be working more with Parties to become stronger instead of going it alone, the 66% increase in Mana cost for spells targeting his allies was a real concern.  At the same time, with his recent Level and stat increases, he could afford the higher Mana cost, as a 66% increase of 15% of his Mana pool would only bump that up to about 25% -- so it was possible that he could still maintain his controlling spells even with the changes.

The ultimate consideration he had to think about was if this would benefit him in the short term – because that was what he was concerned about the most.  Even with his increased Mentality and Mana pool, there would only be a handful of his older spells that he could cast with the 66% decrease in Mana cost, with the rest needing to wait until he had thousands more Mana that he had currently had access to.  At that point, once he actually had that much Mana, he figured he’d probably have access to some equipment that would help decrease his Mana costs, as well, so it might as well be a moot point having the Advancement in the first place. 

With all of these considerations going through his head, he reluctantly crossed Self-service Protection off the list.  Currently, it wouldn’t really benefit him, while it would make some of his other spells harder to use, so it wasn’t worth it – despite how incredible it was. 

In the end, with that off the table, his 8 selections were much easier decide upon.

Hardest Protection – All Defensive spells now protect from sources 30 Levels higher than before

Thickest Protection – All Defensive spells now prevent 300% more damage

Faster Protection – All Defensive spells now have a 50% permanent casting time decrease

Double Team – At the cost of double the per-second Mana cost for each spell, (2) channeled spells can be cast simultaneously

The Hardest Protection and Thickest Protection Advancements were each 3 Advancement selections, leaving him with 2 more to use on Faster Protection – as some of the defensive spells had lengthy cast times – and Double Team.  The latter Advancement was the most important of the ones he selected, because he could use it now; at double the per-second Mana cost (which was practically nothing to him), he could now use 2 Lesser Enthrall spells simultaneously – or even Lesser Enthrall and his newest channeled spell, Lesser Willful Concealment.

Lesser Willful Concealment (Channeled): Match your spiritual will against all hostile targets within range to conceal the physical, mental, and spiritual presence of caster and caster’s nearby controlled targets; concealment success is evaluated on an individual target basis instead of as a whole; any physical contact will break concealment.

Spiritual Will Concealment Success Rate: (20% per 2 Personality and 2 Mentality)/target Level

Range: 180 feet

Casting Time: Instant

Mana Cost: 5 Mana per second (while channeled)

Once his Defensive Spellcasting Competency Advancements were selected, there was only one more Competency to look through: Emboldened Leadership. 

Please select (5) Advancements for your Emboldened Leadership Competency:

Rubbing Off – In addition to Physicality, Celerity, and Mentality bonuses, each member of your party also receives an equal amount of additional Personality

Lucky in Love – In addition to Physicality, Celerity, and Mentality bonuses, each member of your party also receives an equal amount of additional Fortuity

Visible Charisma – All allies and targets within 90 feet of you are aware of your prowess, which is visible as an aural glow; as a result, they are emboldened by your greatness, increasing their Perceived Level by 30% of their base Level

Groupies – The more allies in your party, the higher their Perceived Level, up to a total of 60% of their base Level, while their temporary bonuses in Physicality, Celerity, and Mentality are reduced by an equal amount

Indecent Proposal – All allies within your party can choose to have their temporary Physicality, Celerity, and Mentality bonuses converted into Perceived Level, and vice versa, every 3 hours

Compatible Chemistry – The longer you stay in a party, the more they begin to mirror your greatness, increasing their Physicality, Celerity, and Mentality bonuses by 5% per hour up to a limit of 100%

Perfectly Paired Posse – If the number of living party members in your party, including yourself, total an even number, their Physicality, Celerity, and Mentality bonuses are increased by 66%; if the total number of living party members in your party is odd, their Physicality, Celerity, and Mentality bonuses are reduced by 66%

Aural Authority – Whenever a single-target spell is used on a party member, excluding yourself, there is a chance based on Fortuity/800 that the target will be have their highest stat doubled for 60 seconds, while the rest of their stats are reduced by 30%

Silent Voyeur – You may choose not to bestow a Perceived Level upon your Party members; if you choose to do this, they will not receive any bonuses to their stats

Exhibitionist – The higher the number of hostile targets within 270 feet, the higher the Physicality, Celerity, and Mentality bonuses, as well as additional Perceived Level, your party members will receive; while these bonuses and the additional Perceived Level start at 20% for the first hostile target and scale up by 30% with each additional target, these bonuses only affect those who are wearing or holding any equipment that do not provide bonuses to stats or grants any effects or abilities; in addition, all of these bonuses are negated if you are wearing or holding any equipment that provides bonuses to stats or grants any effects or abilities

The Emboldened Leadership Competency was originally granted to him as a reward for an Achievement, and what it did was grant his Party members a temporary increase in their Physicality, Celerity, and Mentality stats depending on his Competency Level.  What it also did was increase the “Perceived Level” of his allies, which affected dungeon access and rewards when killing monsters.  From previous experience in various Parties and Raid Parties on Tarth, these things only took effect if Thaden was the leader of the Party; the exception to that was the Visible Charisma Advancement, which automatically bestowed the Perceived Level on everything within 90 feet – including monsters.  He’d chosen Visible Charisma before on Tarth because he wanted the monsters he fought to be considered a much higher Level than they were, as he’d wanted to maximize his rewards…

…but that wasn’t his plan this time.  Instead, he would rather avoid any attention that a Perceived Level might engender among his Party members – which made the Silent Voyeur Advancement very attractive.  With it, he could choose not to have a Perceived Level granted to his Party members, but it would also take away any stat bonuses that they would normally be granted; in effect, he’d essentially turn off the Competency altogether.  Once he was stronger and could afford the attention, he could then turn it back on, so it was a no-brainer to choose it as one of his selections.

With 4 more selections, he went with Rubbing Off and Lucky in Love (so that his Party members could have bonuses to Personality and Fortuity as well as Physicality, Celerity, and Mentality), Indecent Proposal (so that his Party members could convert their bonuses and Perceived Level into each other), and Compatible Chemistry (so that his Party members would be even stronger the longer they were with him).  All of the other choices were dependent upon certain situations, and Thaden thought it was a better idea to have clear bonuses without having to worry about the number of people in his Party or the number of monsters they were fighting.  Over time, he expected to Level the Emboldened Leadership Competency up a bit, unlocking more Advancement selections, so if there was anything he couldn’t live without, he would pick it up later; that went for all of his Competencies, as he was sure to increase their Levels enough to be granted plenty of Advancement selections.

A hand landing on his shoulder startled him, and he turned slightly once he was sure his heart wasn’t going to burst out of his chest, seeing one of the Adventurers.

Garney – {Densartis Faction}

Porcerean

Level ???

The pig-like features of the Support Adventurer filled his vision, and he saw the filed tusks sticking out of the Porcerean’s mouth.  When he’d first seen them, as Demarco – their Fighter Class – picked him up out of the river and brought him onto the ship, he had immediately thought, “Orcs!” based on their appearance.  However, unlike the staple fantasy-style Orcs he knew from movies, games, and books, the Porcereans had more in common with Humans; take away their boar-like faces and three fingers and they were almost impossible to distinguish from a Human, especially from behind.  They had full heads of hair in various brown and black shades, and while it was more coarse than his own, from a distance it didn’t appear too much different.

“Sorry; you were so lost in thought that I didn’t think you heard me the first time,” Garney said after a few seconds. 

Thaden waved off the apology.  “No worries.  What did you need?”

“Nothing much,” the Adventurer replied with a smile.  “Only that we’ve arrived.”  The Porcerean gestured behind him.

“What?  Already?  But it’s only been a few hours—”

Thaden turned around, and for the first time since he’d arrived on Plangea, his breath was taken away at the sheer scale of the city spread out ahead of them.

The Affinity Collector is now available!

You can now pick up the first book in the Octaeteris Cycle series, The Affinity Collector, on eBook, KU, paperback, and hardcover!  

Amazon US: www.amazon.com/dp/B0G5LV2BM8

Amazon UK: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0G5LV2BM8

Amazon DE: www.amazon.de/dp/B0G5LV2BM8

The audiobook is now in production by Miles Meili, and I hope that you'll be able to hear it by the end of February or early March!

Two deaths, and one life that has an incredible advantage.

At only 8 years old, Weldin had just had his dual Affinities bestowed upon him by the Goddess Athera when he ended up in a Nexus Rift far exceeding his Level.  To make it worse, the Affinities he ended up with, Light and Energy, weren’t exactly the best when it came to offensive capability, and he struggled to kill any of the higher-Level monsters that stood in between him and his freedom.  The lack of a powerful Ability to defend himself, as well as a lack of worldly knowledge, eventually led to his downfall.

But that wasn’t technically the end of Weldin’s existence, as just as his mortal form succumbed to its fatal wounds and his soul slipped away, a soul from another world was slotted into the empty shell to take over his abandoned body.  This new soul was from Earth, and with it came a plethora of knowledge that could take advantage of his Affinities, in ways that his current world had never seen before. Even more than possessing otherworldly knowledge, the introduction of a new soul into Weldin’s body had seemed to initiate some other capabilities, such as the unique ability to unlock additional Affinities. 

Now, all he has to do is clear a Nexus Rift where everything can easily kill him if he makes a mistake, navigate a world where those in power want to possess him because of his unique Affinities, and somehow survive an Academy full of 8-year-olds who have just learned that they have incredible magical powers – all so he can progress his personal quest to collect all of the Affinities he can.

This story contains LitRPG progression mechanics and stats, as well as isekai/portal fantasy elements.  Contains no sexual content or harems.

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 16

Chapter 16

“See anything yet?  They usually start up around here, don’t they?”

Garney looked up from his position along the bow of the Rivercat where he’d been focused on the water below, only to see the ship’s captain nervously looking around at the Adventurer Party he had hired to escort them to Fanebridge to deliver a shipment.  The route was a common one that happened every other day, but each trip always required protection from the dangers that lurked along the riverbed.  Garney, as well as his Party, had made the trip thousands of times over the years, as they basically had a lock on the Coalition Quests issued to help escort the shipments. 

It was an easy gig, provided a steady income, and gradually granted them the PICK they needed to slowly advance in Level.  Unfortunately, they’d all maxed-out their Rank Progress years ago, stopping at Iron Rank, as the Quests no longer gave any RP to move up – but Garney and his Party were more than happy with the arrangement.  They all spoke of eventually moving on to challenge themselves in the future, perhaps in another decade or so, but they’d also been saying that for years – so he doubted it would happy anytime soon.  The Quest was just too easy to give up for the dangers that dungeons presented, and none of them had any ambition to head to the Front Line where the Legions fought monsters on a daily basis, so they were content with what they had.

The hardest part of the job was dealing with new ship captains that had heard horror stories about the route up to Fanebridge, as they were always nervous and tended to get underfoot more than they should.  Of course, he couldn’t exactly yell at them to shut up and stay out of the way, as that was a surefire way to lose access to the Quest in the future, so he’d become quite adept at calming them down and having them focus on something else.

“There’s nothing yet, but not really surprising.  We’re still on the edge of where we typically begin to see some action, so there’s no reason to worry about it.  My Party and I have done this route thousands of times; you’re in good hands.”  He pointed toward the aft section of the ship.  “Why don’t you keep an eye on the water behind the Rivercat, just to make sure that nothing is sneaking up on us.  If you see anything suspicious, call out and we’ll come investigate it with you.”

The captain, a Netherine that looked almost as nervous running his ship as he was taking a route known to be hazardous, nodded a half-dozen times before he took off towards the rear of the ship, where he stared overboard with an intensity that Garney hoped would distract him for a few hours, at least.  As for the rest of the crew, some of whom the Adventurer recognized from operating other ships that had made this run multiple times, they simply kept on working as if they didn’t have a care in the world.  That was how it was supposed to be, as far as Garney was concerned; the crew ran the ship, while the Adventurers handled the danger along the way.  It wasn’t their responsibility to worry about something they couldn’t do anything about.  I just wish the captains shared that same mentality.

Garney turned back to his position, glancing at his fellow Party members who smirked and rolled their eyes at the antics of the captain.  He grunted in amusement, but he didn’t say anything, because he didn’t need himself or the others distracted.  He’d been telling the truth that they were right on the edge of where they typically saw dangerous monsters in the river, and he didn’t want to miss anything.

Of course, once someone had traveled this route at least a few hundred times, they began to learn that the river wasn’t really that dangerous – if you knew what to watch out for.  The smaller aquatic monsters that filled a good portion of the river were basically a non-issue, as they typically didn’t attack the ship directly.  Because they had to use large oars to row the ship up the river, the oars were at risk of being bitten or sliced apart when they dipped into the water, but that was why they had someone like Garney around to stop that from happening.  As an experienced Illusionist Support Class, he was able to extend a channeled aura that camouflaged the underside of the ship, including the oars that passed through the water, until most monsters lower than Level 20 couldn’t even detect that the ship was there.  He didn’t have it active yet, as there was no point keeping it running when it would drain his Mana keeping it running.  He could keep it up for a while, as it was a relatively inexpensive spell, but it strained his body and mind to channel it for more than an hour at a time without a break.

Of course, sometimes those monsters still detected the ship or the oars, either because they got lucky and noticed it or they were physically in the way and bumped into something, so they had other members of their Party that handled those issues.  First, there was Demarco, their Shieldwarper Fighter Class, who wielded his dual shields with an expertise of long practice; they weren’t just for defense, though, as he could sling them with deadly accuracy, before warping them back to his arms with an application of his abilities.  Then there was Nevena, an Arcane Slinger, able to throw any object imaginable at high speeds after enhancing them with her power; she typically used simple rocks that would explode upon contact with her target, which rippled through the water with a deadliness that was difficult to deny. 

Needless to say, with them watching out for any of the smaller monsters in the river that wanted to cause problems with the vessel, they could eliminate most threats within seconds all by themselves.  But it wasn’t the Gators or Swordfish that swam around that was the major problem they would face; instead, that distinction belonged to the Tentacled Stranglers of the Depths. 

Those monstrosities were the main source of the warnings that ship captains were given before they set out, as the long, durable tentacles that emerged from the nightmarish blobs at the bottom of the riverbed could wrap around a ship and rip it in half within seconds.  It was a real danger that had to be considered, at least it was in the past, but nowadays they had learned how to handle them without too much trouble.

How?  Well, some of the time, Garney’s illusions helped to camouflage them enough that they could slip by without calling attention to themselves.  It wasn’t reliable, however, as the Stranglers were too high of a Level to be easily fooled.

Instead, their secret weapon was Geordynn, their Control Class Party member and expert Befuddler.  It was an odd name for a Class, Befuddler, but the way Geordynn was able to use her spells to confuse or even change the thoughts of a target was unmatched as a technique to bypass the Stranglers without them being an issue.  The tentacled monsters weren’t exactly the smartest of opponents, as they relied mostly on their instincts to snatch their prey with their appendages before strangling them to death and feeding their large maws, but that was precisely why a Befuddler’s spells were perfect for them.  Geordynn’s spells typically caused the Level 50 monster’s instincts to go wild, as it was convinced that prey was tantalizingly near it, and it spent the time the ship would pass along the surface snatching at invisible victims with its tentacles.  It was a simple and easy solution to getting up the river without risking the ship.

After all, they were hired to bring the ship, its crew, and its shipment to Fanebridge safely – not to kill everything in their path.  That didn’t mean that they couldn’t kill the Tentacled Stranglers if the need arose, only that they usually didn’t need to.  Inevitably, every other trip – on average – saw that very circumstance happen, when everything they did to avoid contact with one of the Stranglers failed, and they were forced to fight it.

That’s where Lorach came in.  As the Mage Class of the Party, he typically had a light workload on these trips up and down the river, but when it came time for him to act, he pulled his weight – and then some.  With his Bursting Shocker Class, he specialized in sudden and powerful spells that did a significant amount of damage in a short time, though he didn’t have a lot of staying power; he was more of a “throw all my Mana at something as fast as possible to kill it” type of people, so his Class worked perfectly for this kind of work.  Wielding the power of lightning that not only paralyzed everything it hit but then exploded upon contact, Lorach took one look at a hostile Tentacled Strangler, sent everything he had at it in one massive burst of shocking energy, and he fried the hell out of the target.  If it didn’t die immediately, it was usually so damaged that the rest of the Party could finish it off within seconds, but Lorach had become quite good at making his attacks more of a one-shot spell rather than leaving anything for the others to clean up.

Afterwards, he would practically collapse as he drained his entire Mana pool with just the singular spell, and his Mana also regenerated slowly afterwards for the course of an hour.  This limitation was the reason they didn’t simply tear their way up and down the river with Lorach killing everything in their way, as it just wasn’t possible with the exhaustion he felt afterwards, as well as the slow Mana regeneration.  Lorach had other spells that didn’t cost his entire Mana pool, but they did less damage and weren’t as effective, which would then give the monster a chance to fight back and put the ship at risk.  In the end, as they had other ways to deal with the majority of the threats they faced, there really wasn’t any reason to risk the ship by trying to kill everything in their way.

As Garney switched his attention back to the job at hand, focusing on the refreshingly clear water below them to know when he should start activating his illusionary aura, he began to wonder if the ship’s captain wasn’t wrong to be concerned.  He glanced again at the others, this time in concern instead of shared annoyance at the captain’s nervousness, and he could see similar signs that his Party was also slightly unsettled. 

There really should’ve been at least some monsters by this point.  The first leg of their journey up the river was almost always quiet, as the land around the river was open farmland that gradually turned to rolling plains; after about 200 miles, however, the first trees began to make an appearance, which typically signaled the start of the danger that they had to really look out for.  However, they had left the edge of the forest behind them by about a mile, and yet there was not a single sign of an aquatic monster as of yet.  Garney couldn’t remember a time when they hadn’t seen at least one monster shortly after hitting the tree line, so this was highly unusual.  When another mile passed and there was still no sign of any monsters, he knew that something was up.

“What’s going on?” he muttered, which was overheard by Demarco next to him.  The Shieldwarper looked up and was about to open his mouth, when Nevena interrupted him.

“Look!  What’s that?” she asked as she stood up, pointing ahead of them further up the river.  Garney’s eyes snapped over to where she was pointing, while at the same time preparing to cast his aura.  He hesitated to do anything, however, as he witnessed a sight that had him questioning his sanity.

A strange-looking individual appeared to be caught by a large tentacle rising up from below the water, the familiar appendage of a Tentacled Strangler wrapped tightly around his torso as he was slammed down forcefully upon the surface of the water one way and then another – as if the monster was attempting to beat him up rather than kill and then eat him.  It took a few seconds for Garney to catch a sight of the nametag over the individual’s head, but once he did, he knew it was probably already too late for the individual based on his Level.

Thaden

Human

Level 15

What was strange about the figure, other than being of a race that he’d never heard of before, was that he didn’t appear to be part of the Densartis Faction.  It had been many, many years since he’d seen anyone without a direct connection to the Faction, though that probably had more to do with the fact that he didn’t leave the area he’d been living in for decades rather than those types of people not existing, but it was still extremely strange.

It was enough of anomaly that he questioned what he was seeing – and immediately worried that they were walking into a trap.  That was because the last time he’d seen someone without a direct tie to any Faction they had been a bandit, someone outside of the bounds of Faction control.  He quickly peered around at the nearby shores, trying to discern if there were other figures waiting to ambush while they were distracted, but he didn’t see or sense anything; if they had been camouflaged by some sort of illusion, he would’ve sensed it, but that didn’t meant they weren’t using a different method to hide their presence.

“Aaaahhh!”

The scream brought his attention back to the scene unfolding ahead of them in the river, only to catch the sight of the Human figure being launched downstream as the tentacle released him.  That alone was strange, as he’d never seen a Tentacled Strangler release a victim once they had a hold of it, but when he saw the genuine fear and pained look on the flying individual, he couldn’t help but believe that it was real.  Whether or not this was a trap, as he watched this “Thaden” crash into the water approximately 300 feet ahead of the Rivercat with a big splash, he called back to the captain.  “Faster!  We have someone overboard!”

It took longer than he liked for the crew to respond, but he felt the deck under his feet lurch slightly as the ship shot forward, closing the distance between them and the figure in a matter of seconds.  Demarco had already thrown a rope over the side and was repelling down it in order to grab the flailing figure, even as Garney witnessed a cluster of tentacles rapidly moving toward them.  “Lorach!  Can you kill it from here?”

“A little closer and I should be—oh, no.”  The note of panic in his voice caught Garney’s attention, and he saw his Party member flinch at something that he was seeing.  It only took him a second to look under the water to see what worried him, and he felt himself taking more than a single step back.

“Back!  Reverse immediately!” he screamed, and for a wonder, the captain listened to his words and didn’t hesitate for more than a second.  The Rivercat’s oars quickly stopped their forward progress and rapidly started pushing them backwards; aided by the natural quick flow of the river, they moved backwards much faster than they’d been progressing just a few seconds before, and he could see that they just barely able to keep their distance between the ship and the tentacles coming after them.

After a chase that lasted until he could see the edge of the forest, he saw beneath the water as the Tentacled Stranglers came to a stop, as the riverbed began to become shallower.  It was commonly known that the Stranglers only stayed in the depths that came with the proximity of the forest, and he breathed a sigh of relief as they emerged safely from what could’ve been the death of everyone on board the ship.

Now that they had escaped from certain death, Garney turned toward the exhausted-looking figure that was dripping water onto the deck of the ship, his back up against the railing where Demarco had deposited him after pulling him up from the fast-flowing river.  A quick glance at Thaden showed him that while his cheap, worn clothing had been ripped apart in multiple places, he didn’t appear to actually be injured – which seemed like an impossibility given what he’d seen.  Unless he’s a healer of some sort?

Geordynn knelt down next to him, and Garney could see the flash of energy envelop the Human as their Control Class cast a spell on him.  While a Befuddler was an expert on confusing targets, they were also adept at getting the truth out of people by manipulating what they wanted their targets to experience while answering questions.  We’ll get the answers we need one way or another.  He added his own illusions a few seconds later, which would hopefully put this Thaden more at ease once he started talking.

“Hey, Thaden, are you alright?  Do you need any healing?” Geordynn asked, gently touching him on the shoulder.  His head snapped upright and looked at her, seemingly only now realizing that he was no longer in the water.

The Human immediately shook his head a few times.  “No, I’m fine.  Just tired.”

“I’m very glad to hear that.  Now that you’re safe, I have a few questions for you.”

Thaden had a clearly thankful smile on his face, which had skin that was a light brown color – likely from being out in the sun for long periods of time.  Garney also couldn’t help but see how scrawny he appeared, as if he hadn’t eaten well lately – or it could simply be how his race appeared.  He’d never heard of a Human before, after all, and had no others of that race in which to compare this Thaden person.  “Thank you for saving me.  I’ll answer whatever questions you have.”

“You’re very welcome.  Now, I have one very important question for you that needs a very truthful answer.  Can you do that for me?”

“Of course.  You saved my life, after all.”

The more the Human spoke, and even as he simply sat there dripping on the deck of the Rivercat, the more Garney began to think his suspicions were completely unfounded.  There was just something about this Thaden fellow that elicited trust because he seemed entirely honest; he had already come to the conclusion that the Human had simply ran into an unfortunate circumstance and was lucky that the Rivercat and Garney’s Party had arrived when they did to save him.

The exhausted-looking Human nodded.  “I can do that.”

“Well, then, can you explain to me who you are, why you were in the Fane River, and why – for the System’s goodness – were there eight Tentacled Stranglers of the Depths attacking you?”

Thaden was silent for a second, though it seemed less as a hesitation and more of a marshalling of thoughts, before he responded.  “I’m Thaden, and Adventurer like you, I assume.  As for why I was in the river and why there were so many of those Stranglers around, it’s because I was controlling them.  Or, I should say, I was controlling them; it turns out that they don’t really take kindly to such influence, and one of them decided to take their frustration out on me.  I can’t remember much of what happened after it began flinging me around, though.”

Garney and his Party stood or knelt next to Thaden in silence at the proclamation of impossibility he was spouting, but for some reason, the Illusionist believed what he was hearing – as far-fetched as it seemed.  Finally, after what felt like hours but was only a few seconds, Geordynn asked, “You were… controlling them?  How?”

“Oh, it’s just a trick of my Class, that’s all.  After my Party was recently killed near here, I had no other choice but to try to find my way back to civilization on my own; unfortunately, I ran into the river unexpectedly, and I was forced to control some of those tentacled monsters before they killed me.  Sadly, because of the Level difference, my control was tenuous at best, and barely a restraint at worse, but I was hoping to live long enough to get to the other side of the river before I lost complete control.  Obviously, that didn’t work out so well for me, as you no doubt saw.  So, again, thank you for saving me.”

“You’re Party was killed?  Where are you from?”

There was a slight hesitation at this point from the Human, though Garney thought it was likely of being reminded once again of his Party being killed.  “I’m from Fanebridge.”

Geordynn looked at each of them, silently telling them that Thaden was telling the truth as far as she could tell – which was wild.  Still, Garney had to agree that it seemed as if the Human was being completely honest; as a result, he didn’t have any further suspicions about ambushes or traps.  Their Control Class patted Thaden on the shoulder one more time, this time consolingly.  “I’m sorry to hear about your Party.  And I’m also sorry about Fanebridge, but we’ll have to wait to take the trip up there for at least a day or so, once the Tentacled Stranglers disperse; it’s too dangerous to navigate up the river until then.”

Garney nodded in agreement, even as Thaden shrugged helplessly.  “That’s… alright.  I don’t really have anything there for me anymore, anyway.  So, where are we going?”

It was strange that someone living in Fanebridge wouldn’t know the closest city downriver, but he let it pass because the Human was clearly still emotionally and mentally affected by the loss of his Party.  Geordynn answered him quickly, likely sensing the same thing that Garney had.  “We’re heading back to the city of Teglir, which is located approximately 200 miles downriver.  I’m sure you’ll be able to fit in well enough there to start over, if that’s what you want to do.”

“The city of Teglir?  Yes, I think that’ll work just fine.”

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 15

(As a heads-up, this is the final chapter of Healer Arc 2 Book 1 for my $2 Patrons until the book is completely written; at that point, I'll gradually release all the chapters leading up to its publication on Amazon.)

Chapter 15

“Are you sure this will work?” Thaden asked, glancing over at Sadia who was back in her giant squirrel form. 

She spread her hands to her sides and moved them up and down with her palm up, as if to say she wasn’t sure.  “Probably.  I always seemed to confuse pursuers in those movies you watched back on Earth, so I figured it couldn’t hurt.”

Currently, they were traveling down the river in relative comfort as he controlled all 8 of the Tentacled Stranglers of the Depths, with one of them holding 5 of the large appendages nestled together and flat against the surface, creating a relatively stable platform where Thaden and Sadia could sit or stand.  At the moment, Thaden was sitting down next to his companion, who was comfortably sitting on her back squirrel legs, and he could feel the rough, blubbery skin of the dark-grey tentacles beneath him.  They were firm yet squishy, with a texture that reminded him of very fine sandpaper – which explained how they were able to inflict so much damage on whatever they snatched up with their appendages.

Only one of the Stranglers was required to keep them afloat and moving down the river, using its other tentacles to literally carry itself across the riverbed like some freakish spider, so the others were available to act as defenders.  As they progressed eastward down the river, they encountered many more Gators, Piranha, and Swordfish, as well as a number of other varieties of aquatic monsters, though the greatest threat continued to be hostile Stranglers – but his own force of Stranglers was more than enough to handle everything they came across.  While his minions couldn’t actually attack and deal damage because they only had Dominate Spirit controlling them instead of Befriend Spirit, they could still grab ahold of everything in a defensive manner and then leach Health from them – which was more than enough to kill them after a while. 

They didn’t even stop while they picked up more of the monsters to leach Health, as they were able to snatch their meals along the way; once they were dead, he discovered that he could instruct his minions to extract loot for him since they were touching them, though most of the materials – and even some weapons and equipment that was suited for other Classes, and therefore useless to him – ended up getting dumped because he couldn’t hold them in his Inventory.  Still, his store of coins quickly increased, which was better than holding onto stuff that did him no good at the moment.

So, being safe from the dangers beneath the water of the river, Thaden had made the decision – with Sadia’s input – to travel along it instead of going to the other side and continuing through the forest like he had been doing.  She had thought that if anyone was chasing them, such as those people from the Local Legion, then they would have difficulty tracking them through the water.  He understood what she meant about making it harder to track through the water, but that typically referred to losing a scent if dogs were coming after someone – he had no idea if it would work on people who might have some sort of magical tracking method.  Nevertheless, it was still a good idea, and they could move fairly swiftly over the water, even when they had to slow down a little to kill the Tentacled Stranglers in their way.  Fortunately, the further east they went along the river, the fewer monsters in general that they encountered, until they were moving at a rapid pace without any major obstacles.

Thaden had decided to head downstream instead of toward Fanebridge, mainly because he didn’t want to head toward someplace anyone tracking him would likely figure he would go.  He might be a bit paranoid, as he didn’t even know if anyone actually was following him, but he would rather err on the side of caution than be caught out when he least expected it. 

“Well then, do you have this under control while I look at some things?” he asked.

She nodded instead of answering, and Thaden immediately dove into his message feed – and was rocked backwards at the sudden influx of information and energy that flowed into him from multiple sources, causing his body to feel like it was being ripped apart.  He was glad he was sitting down, because he nearly blacked-out from it all hitting him at the same time, but he’d fortunately had experience with such things in the past and was able to hold back the unconsciousness that threatened to drown him while he processed it all.  When he finally managed to recover from his body and mind being assaulted by some significant changes, he looked at what had caused it all.

You have slain a River Gator – Minimal – Level 10!

You have received 3.0 PICK!

PICK reward altered based on 1 party member(s) as well as Level disparity!

You have received 12.0 PICK!

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

You have received 15.6 PICK!

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

You have slain a Tentacled Strangler of the Depths – Medial – Level 50!

You have received 50.0 PICK!

PICK reward altered based on 1 party member(s) as well as Level disparity!

You have received 200.0 PICK!

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

You have received 260.0 PICK!

Spiritual Spellcasting Competency has increased to Level 1,458!

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

Spiritual Spellcasting Competency has increased to Level 1,612!

Support Spellcasting Competency has increased to Level 31,524!

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

Support Spellcasting Competency has increased to Level 31,526!

Extractions complete!

Loot obtained:

5 Gold, 43 Silver, 13 Copper coins

(Other loot abandoned)

Congratulations for simultaneously controlling 150 or more targets while as a Support Class!

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

Bonus reward: 900.0 PICK, +10 Personality

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

Bonus reward: 1,170.0 PICK, +13 Personality

World First Achievement: +50 Mentality, +100 Personality

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

World First Achievement: +65 Mentality, +130 Personality

Congratulations for simultaneously controlling 300 or more targets while as a Support Class!

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

Bonus reward: 9,000.0 PICK, +100 Mentality, +200 Personality

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

Bonus reward: 11,700.0 PICK, +130 Mentality, +260 Personality

World First Achievement: +30% success increase to any spell or ability where Personality reflects the outcome, +500 Personality

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

World First Achievement: +39% success increase to any spell or ability where Personality reflects the outcome, +650 Personality

Congratulations for solo slaying a monster 9 or more Levels above your own!

Achievement received: Lone Wolf II

Bonus reward: 90.0 PICK, +10 Strength

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

Bonus Reward: 117.0 PICK, +13 Strength

Congratulations for solo slaying a monster 27 or more Levels above your own!

Achievement received: Lone Wolf III

Bonus reward: 900.0 PICK, +50 Strength, +30 Celerity

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

Bonus reward: 1,170.0 PICK, +65 Strength, +39 Celerity

I can see why it almost knocked me out!  That’s… a lot.

Calculating it altogether, he received +78 to his Strength, +39 to Celerity, +208 to Mentality, and a whopping +1,040 to his Personality stat because of his Achievements – which was a huge change to his existing stats.  He also received another bonus trait from Why Aren’t You A Control Class? V that increased his chance of success for any spell or ability that relied on Personality by 39%, which – when coupled with his Ultimate Spiritual Domination Advancement of an 80% chance of success – made him pretty much unstoppable.  Of course, resistances and Level disparity still played a part in reducing his chances of success, even if it was over 100%, but for the most part he shouldn’t have to worry too much against targets within 50 Levels or so of his own. 

He thought it was slightly odd that he didn’t receive a World First Achievement for at least Lone Wolf III, given that it was for solo killing a monster 27 Levels above his own, but he supposed that the world was extremely big and there had to be some powerful individuals out there that could accomplish such a feat.  In fact, once he thought about it for a moment, he realized that it would be even more strange if someone hadn’t been able to do that before him.  Now, whether or not they reached the next tier of the Achievement was something else entirely, and he was looking forward to finding out.

As far as PICK went, while he’d gained quite a lot from his Achievements, most of his current total had come from killing so many monsters in the river with his minions.  With everything far above his Level, he received bonuses because he was by himself as well as from the Level disparity, which was then increased by his Class bonus trait – leaving him with just over 37,000 PICK.  It seemed like it should be more, but everything he’d seen so far pointed to the fact that he was receiving only about 90% of what he received on Tarth, so it was more like the equivalent of 370,000 PICK if he was still on Tarth – which would’ve been enough to shoot him all the way up to around Level 50 on Tarth…

...but on Plangea, the result was quite different.  When he calculated how far it would get him, he estimated that he could push one of his Classes up to Level 17, or bring them both up to Level 12 with a little bit leftover.  That’s just ridiculous.  It’s going to take me forever just to get back up to Level 100.  Then again, he had to admit that he wasn’t doing too bad for only having unlocked his second Class a couple of days ago, as he understood that it usually took most people a year or longer to get to Level 15 with their combat Class – and the time only increased after that.  Completing Quests from the Coalition helped to supplement the PICK earned from killing monsters, but it was still a grind for 99% of the population.

Before he spent his PICK, Thaden asked Sadia a question he’d been wondering about.

“You know about the Contenders being transferred here after their developmental world, correct?”

“Somewhat,” she replied quickly, “but not everything.  What do you want to know?”

He thought about how he wanted to phrase it.  “I understand from what you said earlier that highly evolved Classes are superior than non-evolved or even low-evolved Classes, but are there any disadvantages?”

“What do you—ah, I think I know what you’re asking,” she said, glancing at him and seeming to extricate what he was getting at from what he said.  “Yes, there are definitely some disadvantages, though most people don’t see them right away.  First, and this applies to you significantly because of your current Level, those who arrive here with evolved Classes from a developmental world do not unlock any additional spells or abilities in those Classes until they’ve exceeded the Level they managed to receive on the developmental world.  For you, that means you’ll have to Level-up Fortunate Catastrophe more than 550 times before you’d start to see some additional spells, so the only real reason to Level it up is for the extra stats it would give you.

“Secondly, and more importantly, you cannot evolve your Class again until the next threshold – which in your case would be Level 1,701, something which is a long way off.  For the other Humans that moved on from Tarth, I don’t believe any of them managed to reach Level 567 for their fourth tier evolution, so they would get there eventually, but I don’t have enough information to know how likely it is that they’d reach ever reach it.

“Does that answer your question?”

It does, unfortunately.  He nodded before he turned back to his PICK and his Classes.

If what Sadia said was true, and he had no reason to disbelieve her, then Leveling his Fortunate Catastrophe Class was currently only really good for the stats that it provided.  To be fair, the stat increases for each Level of his powerful Class was incredible, as it would give him +10 to Physicality, Celerity, and Mentality, as well at +50 to Fortuity for two-thirds of the Levels, but it would also take away 60 Personality for each 3 Levels he raised it.  With his recent bonuses from Achievements, that wasn’t that big of a deal – at least not yet – but it also wasn’t ideal for operating his other Class.  If it was just the stats he was considering, he’d push all of his PICK toward his Fortunate Catastrophe Class to get as strong as quickly as possible, but now that he knew he wouldn’t be getting any more spells from the Class for a long time, as well as no new Class evolutions, he had to consider some other options.

With his second Class, Novice Enthraller, the stat increases were pretty much pathetic compared to Fortunate Catastrophe – but its ability to still evolve as he reached certain Level thresholds, as well as obtaining additional spells that would expand his available repertoire, had a much greater weight to him at the moment.  While he’d made some significant progress toward being able to cast more of his spells with some additional Mentality, thanks to his recent Achievements, he was still a bit away from casting most of them.  He’d have to check to see if some of them were now low enough of a Mana cost to cast, but he was fairly certain that the most important of them would still be out of reach for quite a while.  For instance, while he now had around 2,500 Mana in his Mana pool, he thought that some of the least expensive spells were around 3,600 Mana, but something like Celestial Wild Health Leach (which was the main way he did damage to monsters back on Tarth) required over 30,000 Mana per cast.  His defensive spells were even more of a Mana hog, if he remembered correctly.

As a result of that understanding, he decided that it would be smarter to spend most of his PICK on his new Class.  That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to spend anything on Fortunate Catastrophe, because he still needed to keep working on building up his Mentality, at least, but he would rather acquire new spells and work toward evolving his new Class.

First, he 8,700 PICK into his Fortunate Catastrophe Class, bringing it to Level 9 and acquiring 2 additional spells selections as well as some much-needed stats:

Physicality +60

Celerity +60

Mentality +60

Personality -120

Fortuity +300

The stat increases (and decrease) were what he expected, and just as Sadia had told him, while he received more spell selections, there was absolutely no new spells for him to pick from.  With his remaining PICK, he spent 28,200 of it on Novice Enthraller, leaving him with just over 300 PICK to spend later, and he brought his newest Class up to Level 15.  While the stats he received couldn’t compare to his other Class, they were still welcome:

Physicality +8

Celerity +8

Mentality +24

Personality +36

But the most important part of Leveling up the new Class were the spells, of which he received another 4 spells selections – though he didn’t really need them, given that he had more spell selections than he knew what to do with them in his back pocket.  Needless to say, he picked up every single spell presented to him at Level 6, Level 9, and at Level 15; unfortunately, there was no new spell at Level 12.  In addition, now that he had more Mana at his disposal, he also upgraded his previous spells up to Lesser strength, improving them significantly.

Lesser [Weak] Enthrall (Channeled): Battle the spiritual will of a single target and temporarily control them through magical enthrallment; enthralled targets can only be used to passively defend or activate non-damaging abilities; can only Enthrall targets up to 4 [even or lower] Levels higher than caster.

Spiritual Will Battle Success Rate: (20% [10%] per 1 Personality and 1 Mentality)/target Level

Number of Targets: 1

Range: 60 [30] feet

Casting Time: Instant

Mana Cost: 12 Mana per attempt; 3 Mana per second (while channeled)

Lesser [Weak] Subjugation Aura (Reserved): Lesser [Weak] Subjugation Aura reduces the spiritual will of all hostile targets within range, making it easier to bend them to the caster’s will.

Spiritual Will Battle Success Rate Increase: 20% [10%]

Range: 60 [40] feet

Casting Time: Instant

Mana Cost: 35% [25%] of Mana pool

Lesser [Weak] Health Siphon (Single Cast): Lesser [Weak] Health Siphon transfers Health from a single caster-controlled target to a single secondary target; cannot siphon more than 60% [50%] of a caster-controlled target’s Health.

Siphon/Healing Amount: 60 [5] Health

Range: 60 [30] feet

Casting Time: 1 second

Mana Cost: 50 [10]

Lesser [Weak] Sacrificial Backlash Aura (Reserved): Whenever a target dies while still under your control and is within range of your Lesser [Weak] Sacrificial Backlash Aura, all other non-controlled hostile targets within range will receive a spiritual backlash stack that will reduce their stats while they remain in range of your Aura.  Stat reduction cannot surpass stack quantity limit (60% [50%]).

Stat Reduction (per stack): 6% [5%]

Stack Quantity Limit: 10

Range: 120 feet

Casting Time: Instant

Mana Cost: 30% [20%]

Lesser [Weak] Minion Regeneration (Single Cast): Grants a single controlled target continuous healing energy that replenishes Health for a limited time.

Healing Rate: 9 [2] Health every 5 seconds

Duration: 60 seconds

Range: 60 [30] feet

Casting Time: Instant

Mana Cost: 50 [10]

The biggest impact, as far as he was concerned, was with his Enthrall spell, which now allowed him to control targets up to 4 Levels higher than his own.  With his 200% bonus to spell efficiency when he focused on multiple targets, he calculated that instead of only Level 19 targets (since he was now Level 15), he would be able to control Level 57s – as long as they didn’t resist his spell.  That meant that the Tentacled Stranglers were now able to be controlled even without Dominate Spirit, which made it much safer to confront them without an army of minions protecting him.

In addition his previous Enthraller spells improving, the spells that had been altered from Fortunate Catastrophe – such as the aforementioned Dominate Spirit – had also improved when his Mentality stat shot up.  He estimated that once his Mana pool passed 2,000 Mana, the Mana cost for all of them bottomed out at 15% of his Mana pool, while the casting time, range, and effectiveness of the spells improved.  They were gradually returning to their original states as Celestial-strength spells, but were perhaps only about halfway there.  He had a feeling that once he passed another Mana threshold, perhaps around 5,000 or so, all of those spells would return to “normal,” though he was hoping that since they synergized with his new Class, they would maintain some sort of Mana cost discount.  Celestial Dominate Spirit, for instance, was originally a Single Cast spell instead of Reserved as it was at the moment, and it cost 90,000 Mana to cast it; he was hoping that it would stay as a Reserved spell, especially since it currently didn’t have a duration that would run out.

In all, he received 6 new spells from his Novice Enthraller Class Leveling-up, each of them seemingly exploring more aspects of his Class, and he picked up the Lesser-strength version of each of them since he now had the Mana to cast them.  He was looking forward to trying them out once he had the chance, but he barely had time to check his updated Character Report and his stats before his attention was pulled away once again.

Thaden

Primary Class – Fortunate Catastrophe

Primary Class Level – 9

Secondary Class – Novice Enthraller

Secondary Class Level – 15

Progressive Internal Combat Knowledge (PICK) – 306/2,500

Adventurer Coalition Rank: Platinum+ 705/810 RP

Health – 1,680/1,680

Mana – 3,370/3,370

Physicality – 168

Celerity – 129

Mentality – 337

Personality – 998

Fortuity – 412

Secondary Support Spells:

Lesser Health Siphon (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Lesser Minion Regeneration (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Lesser Health Reinforcement (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Lesser Life Cooperation (Reserved) – 1 Access Slot

Lesser Explosive Recuperation (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Secondary Spiritual Spells:

Lesser Enthrall (Channeled) – 1 Access Slot

Lesser Subjugation Aura (Reserved) – 1 Access Slot

Lesser Sacrificial Backlash Aura (Reserved) – 1 Access Slot

Lesser Spiritual Absorption (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Lesser Enthrallment Infection (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Lesser Willful Concealment (Channeled) – 2 Access Slots

This time, he didn’t need Sadia to warn him that he needed to pay attention, because he was in between screens when he saw the large boat rowing up the river in the distance.

“So, what do we do about that?” he mumbled to himself in surprise, as he hadn’t expected any sort of transport to be moving along the river, given how it had been infested with monsters before he came.

“I don’t know, but you better think fast,” Sadia replied.  “If they haven’t seen us yet, they will soon – and I’m not sure how you’re going to explain the fact that we’re using a monster to transport us down the river.”

Thaden chuckled at the sight they had to present, as the tentacles were just barely above the surface of the water; to anyone a little further away and unable to see them, it probably looked like they were floating along on nothing.  However, his humor evaporated after a few seconds of contemplation about what they were going to do, as he had been caught off-guard by the appearance of other people.

Like she said, I better think of something soon.  Otherwise, this is going to be a very awkward conversation with an unknown number of individuals.

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 14

Chapter 14

It took Thaden a few seconds to shift his mindset away from his Competency Advancements to the larger world around him, but once he was able to comprehend what he was looking at, he immediately understood why Sadia needed his attention.

“Where did this come from?” he asked, confused, while he climbed down from the back of the large wolf.  As soon as he was one the ground, Sadia shifted back to her normal squirrel form with a simple thought from Thaden.  He was used to communicating with her in that form; for some reason, it felt more “normal” talking to a giant squirrel than a wolf.

“Going through the perusal of those maps you glanced at in Felith, I think this was marked on one of the maps, but this is much bigger than what was depicted,” she responded.

Thaden nodded in agreement as he surveyed the scene.  The trees they had been passing through came all the way up to the banks of a river that abruptly cut through the forest, preventing them from continuing on their way.  It wasn’t a stream or even a small river, however, but one that he estimated was approximately 300 feet wide, with a water that was amazingly pure, allowing them to somewhat see that it was at least 50 feet deep toward the center, if not deeper.  That meant they couldn’t necessarily ford the river with any ease, as they would be swept downriver; he wasn’t the best swimmer, but with the speed of which the current was flowing, he was worried about being pulled underneath the water if he wasn’t careful.  Even if he managed to stay afloat, crashing into rocks that he could see sticking up here and there, along with forest debris, was a real concern, as well.  He wasn’t as durable as he used to be on Tarth, so such things could greatly harm, if not kill him.

“Can you take a form that could fly us across?” he asked after a moment of contemplation.

She shook her squirrely head.  “No; it’s already stretch to carry you on my back, but I’d have to be the size of bi-plane to carry something of your weight, which I’m not capable of doing.”

“How about something like a dolphin, then?  You could swim me across.”

Sadia shrugged.  “That’s possible, I guess, but there’s a problem with doing that.”

“What’s the problem—oh.”

It only took a second to see the issue.  With the water being remarkably clear, he was able to see deeper into the river than he would normally be able to.  As such, he noticed a number of monsters swimming around, just waiting for prey to enter the water, or even to move up to the river’s shore to get a drink.

River Gator – Minimal

Level 10

Mutant Piranha – Minimal

Level 11

Cruel Swordfish – Minimal

Level 15

Each of the monsters looked like they would be a challenge, especially the pair of Cruel Swordfish that had long, serrated noses that appeared capable of slicing entirely through his body without much issue.  Still, he thought that he could probably get past them with Sadia’s help, as she could likely swim pretty fast.  Unfortunately, given his low Level, Weak Enthrall wouldn’t work against any of them, as even with his Spiritual spellcasting bonuses, it couldn’t target anything Level 10 or above.  It was possible that something like Dominate Spirit might work, but the casting time for that meant that he’d likely only have once chance of it working – and it wasn’t guaranteed if he didn’t have them already Enthralled.  In addition, he’d have to get closer to them for his wide-area bonus trait to be in range, meaning that he’d be in the water before he started casting, given that most of them appeared to be just outside the range even if he was right next to the water.

But it wasn’t even these monsters that concerned him.  Instead, near the edge of what he could perceive in the water was a large mass sitting on the riverbed, and while he couldn’t see it clearly, he was still able to see its nametag.

Tentacled Strangler from the Depths – Medial

Level 50

Even as he stared at the mass, he saw something dark extend from it in a flash before it enveloped one of the River Gators leisurely swimming around beneath the surface.  In less than a second, the Gator had been ripped away from where it had been and pulled back toward the large mass of the Tentacled Strangler, before the meal disappeared completely from his sight. 

Ooh, that’s not good.

Thaden had just run into his main concern when he considered delving through dungeons by himself.  He’d already proven that he was able to handle almost any number of lower-Level monsters through the use of his Spiritual spells to enthrall or dominate them, but the problem came when he was forced to face something outside of the range that Weak Enthrall could affect.  Instead, the only way to win against something like that was to amass a large enough army of weaker minions to take down the stronger monsters.

Unfortunately, he didn’t believe that, even if he managed to control all 30 or so low-Level monsters he saw within this particular part of the river, it wouldn’t be enough to significantly harm the Tentacled Strangler of the Depths; he’d already seen it basically consume an entire River Gator in a few seconds with one of its tentacles, and he didn’t know how many of those appendages the stronger monster had at its disposal.  The difference in Level was just too great to think that a weak army 30+ Levels beneath the horrific monster would actually succeed in killing it.

“Can we move up or down the river and then cross there?” he asked, wondering if they could simply go around the problem.

She shook her head.  “Before I called for your attention, I looked to see if it was clear; unfortunately, I saw even more of these Tentacled Stranglers another 500 feet in each direction.  I don’t believe that’s enough space to squeeze through them, as they seem to be able to move quite quickly.”

“So, we can’t fly above them, we can’t swim around them, and we can’t swim through them.  Where does that leave us?  Do we turn around and go back?  Move upstream or downstream and hope to find a bridge or another way across?”

Sadia thought about it for a second.  “I would advise that we don’t turn around.  I don’t know when those people from the Local Legion will learn about us leaving, but if they’re determined to find us, going back will only bring us closer to them.  We might be able to find a way across if we go up or downstream, but if I remember the maps correctly from your memories, I don’t believe we’ll find anything upstream for about 100 miles when we arrive at Fanebridge.  Downstream is a gamble, as I don’t remember there being anything marked on the map, but it’s possible that there is a bridge or a ford somewhere.”

Neither of those were good options as far as he was concerned.  The first would simply bring them back to where the road they had been following before eventually led, while the second could have them moving along the riverbank for hundreds of miles without any way over it.  As he looked around, he remembered his Beaver minions, wondering if they could somehow use their skills to build some sort of dam or makeshift bridge, but he doubted they could do something like that – or at least not easily or swiftly.  Could I build a raft?  And then float downstream while trying to paddle my way across?  Would a few logs camouflage me enough from the monsters inside the river to succeed?

He doubted a raft would work; plus, he’d never made one before, and even if he did so, he doubted he could create it in less than a few hours.  He really didn’t want to waste that much time while time was at a premium.

Thaden shook his head at the problem before him, wondering what solution would be the most likely to work.  He was wracking his mind, considering multiple scenarios, before Sadia interrupted him again.  “I believe you’re overthinking this.”

“What do you mean?”

She spread her hands in a gesture of helplessness.  “What is it that you usually do when the odds are against you and you’re faced with the impossible?  Think about it and then just do that.”

“Really?  What kind of advice is that?  Just do that?  What am I supposed to do, control every monster in the entire river—?”  Thaden cut himself off, as he realized what he’d just said.  Huh.  I wonder if that might just work?

“What is it?  Did you think of something?”

He nodded, as he started contemplating what he was about to do. 

“This is probably really stupid, but when am I doing anything different, right?” he chuckled, as he began to describe what he was planning to Sadia.  She smiled while she shook her head, but she didn’t say anything to stop him.  “Let’s do this, then.”

With a deep breath, Thaden stepped one foot into the river.  Almost instantly, he could feel a change come over the water, or at least the monsters within the river, as one of his bonus traits came into effect.  Previously, while traveling over the land, any hostile monsters within 3 miles would immediately be attracted to his location and would attack – but they were spread out far enough that it wasn’t that big of a problem.  The monsters within the river hadn’t acted the same, however, as he was located outside of their domain; since he wasn’t in the water and accessible, he wasn’t necessarily invisible to them, but they weren’t immediately forced to head toward his direction. 

It was something he had thought about when he considered Sadia swimming him across to the other side, but once he put his foot in the water, he realized how naïve he had been.  All of the monsters that had been nearby immediately swarmed toward him, and he sent his Beavers into the water to act as a blunting force while he waited for the newcomers to approach – which didn’t take long at all.  As the first bunch arrived near enough to be within his range, he dropped both controlling Reserved spells he had on the Beavers and replaced them with Celestial Spiritual Enhancement Aura – which, at a cost of 45% of his Mana pool, increased his spiritual spell effectiveness.  Originally, the bonus increase in effectiveness was only 25%, but with his other spell effectiveness bonuses of 100%, that 25% doubled to 50% -- which was just enough of a bonus that it would push the threshold for Weak Enthrall from being able to affect targets at Level 9 to Level 10.5 – which he hoped would round up to Level 11.

He found out pretty quickly that the round-up to Level 11 wasn’t a guarantee, as it seemed likely to go either way on a whim; fortunately, his Fortuity was playing a role in his success, and all but one of the Piranhas were caught within his Weak Enthrall when he cast it upon everything within range.  As soon as he took control of the majority of the monsters heading toward him, he used his Beavers, as well as his new Gators and Piranhas, to target the Swordfish that he was unable to affect with Enthrall.  He didn’t need to kill them, only delay them long enough so that he could cast Celestial Dominate Spirit; they did just that by throwing themselves in the Swordfishes’ paths, swarming around them until they couldn’t move.  His minions took a ton of damage as they were sliced up by the nose of the Swordfish, but he multi-cast Weak Minion Regeneration on them and healed them with Weak Health Siphon to keep them all alive. 

While all of this was happening, he kept an eye on the Tentacled Strangler of the Depths, but all the monster did was extend approximately 20 tentacles in his direction, as if straining to reach him; it didn’t move closer from where it was on the riverbed, only moving up and down stream, as if it didn’t care to move into the shallower water.  The tentacles were long enough that he nearly left the water, but they stopped approximately 20 feet away, to his relief; based on how far they extended, he realized that if he had gone into the water with Sadia swimming him across, he would’ve been snatched before he was even halfway to the other side of the river.

When his Superior Dominate Spirit casting completed, successfully dominating everything within range – including the Swordfish – he cancelled his Enthrall spell just in time for another batch of aquatic monsters to arrive from both directions in the river.  Because every hostile monster within 3 miles was now heading toward him, he was planning on taking control of most of them for the next stage of his plan. 

What he hadn’t exactly planned for, however, was for the other Tentacled Stranglers further up and down the river move toward him, as well.  He saw them moving along the riverbed, staying in the lowest depts in the center, but he didn’t have any time to focus on them – because he had his hands full with casting Weak Enthrall and then Celestial Dominate Spirit on the Gators, Piranha, and Swordfish that were constantly arriving by the minute.

Thaden started feeling a little bit of strain on his mind once he had a little over 100 monsters under his control, but he had increased his Mentality since the last time he had tried to control so many of the Gremklins in the dungeon; as a result, he found that he could handle quite a few more.  A few minutes later, as he continued the process over and over as more of the aquatic monsters arrived, the strain began to seriously affect him once he reached a little over 300 of them, and he nearly fell to his knees as it began to overwhelm him.

“That should be enough, Thaden,” Sadia said from next to him, and it required all of his concentration to focus on her words.  “I think you’ve hit your limit.”  He simply nodded and looked down into the water, barely able to see past the veritable army of aquatic beasts that were now filling that portion of the river.  With a herculean effort, he began the next stage of his plan as he ordered all of his new minions to attack the assembled Tentacled Stranglers down below. 

Almost immediately he felt a reduction in the strain on him as, once he actually directed his controlled monsters to attack the Level 50 Stranglers, the tentacles started to fight back by snatching up his minions.  A few of them died immediately, but he’d cast Weak Minion Regeneration on all of them, and the ongoing effect managed to heal most of them that didn’t die upon the first attack. 

He wasn’t actually trying to kill them, however – because that would be asking too much.  Instead, he something else in mind.

With a nod toward Sadia, she jumped into the water ahead of him; at the same time, he mentally changed her form into the same dolphin he was thinking about before.  She hit the water and began swimming around, and Thaden leapt forward into the deeper part of the river; Sadia swam underneath him and he grabbed ahold of her upper dorsal fin, and she began pulling him even further into the swiftly flowing water.

Theoretically, Thaden’s army of controlled monsters might be enough to distract the Tentacled Stranglers long enough to make it to the other side – but he had a much stupider idea.

When he felt he was in range, approximately a third of the way across the river, he dipped his head under the water and recoiled at the absolute chaos that was occurring below the surface.  His eyes widened as he witnessed an entire dozen of the Tentacled Stranglers, more than he expected, tearing into his forces, with each of them holding and strangling the aquatic monsters with their tentacles – and his sizeable army was shrinking by the moment. 

Without a second to waste, he began casting a second Celestial Dominate Spirit spell, his eye on the original Strangler that had been there from the beginning – but he made sure that the spell would target every target within 180 feet.  Thankfully, it appeared as if the larger masses of tentacles had their “hands” full with killing Thaden’s minions, and while they didn’t exactly ignore him, they had a single-minded focus on eliminating the victims already in their grasp.  Even with Minion Regeneration keeping them alive longer than they normally would be, his forces were diminishing by the second, and when one died, the next one would be snatched up in no time at all.  His previous 300+ minions had been reduced to half of that number in a matter of 20 seconds, and the rest were on the way out. 

Come on!  Hurry up!

His spell didn’t listen to him, but whether or not his Fortuity had a hand in the outcome, but the last 100 or so monsters under his control managed to just barely hang on by the time his spell went off as he canceled the previous Dominate Spirit spell.

Thaden immediately felt the strain come back as he successfully connected to 4 of the Tentacled Stranglers down below – as well as each of the surviving lower-Level monsters still swimming around.  Fortunately, Sadia could feel the strain and began directing the remaining Gators, Piranhas, and Swordfish to attack the other 8 Stranglers to distract them, while Thaden directed his newest acquisitions to do the same.  While his new, terrifying minions were outnumbered, they had an advantage that the other Stranglers did not.

They had a dedicated healer keeping them alive.  With an immediate cast of Weak Minion Regeneration and then multiple casts of Weak Siphon Health to keep those that were being injured alive, he began to see some results.  It was frankly a chaotic mess of tangled tentacles attacking each other down below, with snake-like appendages being ripped out of their main bodies – which appeared to be enormous blobs of dark blubber with a tooth-filled maw right out a nightmare – and his smaller forces were ripped to pieces in the melee. 

At that point, the hostile Stranglers surrounded his controlled minions, thinking to overwhelm them, but for every tentacle that was ripped apart or out of their bodies, they were regenerated within seconds as they shot out of the body again as if nothing had happened.  His healing was powerful, especially when all of his bonuses were added up, but it was going to be a lengthy battle if he didn’t do something about it; Dominate Spirit only allowed them to leach Health, after all, and that was limited to a portion of Thaden’s own max Health.

Fortunately, after Sadia had directed all of the smaller minions to start attacking, she took over the healing while Thaden began casting Dominate Spirit once again to target all of the Stranglers, dropping the Spiritual Enhancement Aura to regain some of his Mana pool back.  Normally, after failing to dominate a monster with Dominate Spirit, there was a backlash that would drain his stats; thanks to his Haunted Nemesis Advancement, however, that backlash was transferred to the targets of his spells.  In addition, there was normally a cooldown after failing, or even succeeding, before he could try again, but his Karmic Balance Advancement – the same one that tripled his casting time – negated any cooldowns; therefore, there was nothing preventing him from casting it again.

This time, when the spell finally completed, he caught an additional 4 Stranglers in his controlling net, which was pretty much the limit to what he could handle because of their high Level – and that was even with all of the smaller monsters having been destroyed during the conflict.  With the advantage of numbers, as well as the reduction in stats that 2 failed backlashes had upon the remaining Stranglers, his own tentacled minions began leaching Health from the monsters, using their appendages to tie up the hostile monsters, not doing any damage by that means, but essentially just making sure that the enemy couldn’t fight back.  With their tentacles essentially wrapped in knots, they were helpless as their Health eventually wore down after nearly 10 minutes of Health leaching.

As the last hostile one died, Thaden couldn’t help but smile as he resurfaced from watching and breathed out in relief.

He’d done it, even if it had been stupidly close – but that was the way he seemed to operate most successfully.  Against the odds, he had a way of coming out on top, one way or another.

The Affinity Collector chapters taken down

As mentioned last Friday, I have taken down all of the chapters for The Affinity Collector/8 Year Story to comply with KU guidelines. If anyone was still reading it, message me and I'll get you a copy that you can continue reading.

Plans for Jan 4-9

I hope everyone is having a great New Year!

I was only able to get 1 chapter done today because it was a bit more involved with creating some spells and whatnot, and it was about 50% longer than my typical chapter. Still, I'm happy with how the story is going and my progress, and I'm shooting for a late February release for it on kindle.

Next week, I have the release of The Affinity Collector! That means that, on Monday, I'll be taking the chapters for the "8 Year Story" down to comply with Kindle Unlimited rules; if anyone is still reading them, let me know and I'll get you a copy that you can read.

I'll be writing on Sunday-Tuesday, while Wednesday is for the release -- so I'll likely not have a chapter that day. I'll have more promotion for it Thursday and Friday, so probably only 1 chapter each of those days. After next week, I shouldn't have anything else major releasing, so I'll be able to concentrate on finishing my current story.

Plans for next week:

Sunday: Writing

Monday: Writing/Take down 8 Year Story/The Affinity Collector chapters from Patreon

Tuesday: Writing/start promos for The Affinity Collector release

Wednesday: The Affinity Collector releases! No writing

Thursday-Friday: Writing/Promos for The Affinity Collector

Have a great weekend!

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Thaden seemed to have gotten away from the town of Purbooth without the members of the Local Legion stopping him, but he wasn’t going to let his temporary success get to his head.

“When they find that you’ve left, it’s more than likely that they’re going to come after you.  I would suggest putting as much distance between you as possible.”

Obviously, he agreed, as he didn’t want to risk them finding him and questioning him again about his origins.  He was lucky to have escaped their attention once, but he wasn’t going to rely on that happening again.  At least, not until he could actually defend himself; once he had regained the ability to cast most, if not all, of his existing Celestial-strength spells, there wasn’t much that anyone could do to him – as far as he knew.  Based on his experience thus far, it was going to be a while until that happened, however.

Once Thaden was about a mile away from the town, jogging to cover some ground but also conserving his strength instead of running flat-out, Sadia emerged from the CAMP and bounded along by his side. 

“Until we get some distance, I would advise staying away from any populated areas,” she told him.  “Which means abandoning the road and cutting across the countryside.  In addition, if they are going to try and follow you, you’re going to need to find a way to cover your tracks.” 

Logically, that made sense, but despite spending the majority of his time on Tarth – and even in Felith – out-of-doors, he was no expert in tracking or camouflaging his movements.  His overwhelming power had normally been enough to protect him, so he hadn’t really spent any time learning such things.  He glanced back at the dirt road that they were currently traveling down, and while he’d already professed no expertise in his tracking ability, he could clearly see the footprints he was leaving behind. 

The area around the road was filled with long grasses and bare dirt, with a few scattered hills dotting the landscape.  He was fairly sure that if he took a detour away from the road, his tracks would be even more obvious to those who were looking for such things.  In the far distance, where the road appeared to lead, there was the beginnings of a forested area, which he thought he might have a better chance to provide a way to leave the road without shouting to anyone looking that he had passed through the area.

It only took about half an hour before they began to pass through the first few trees marking the edge of the forest, and it was only a few more minutes before he came to a stop.  “Does this look like a good place to leave the road?” he asked, looking around.  While there were some forest debris on the ground, it appeared as if he might be able to navigate his way through it without leaving too many tracks. 

Sadia had a different opinion.

“Probably, but I remember how you moved through forest on Tarth; you were like a dog with the zoomies, rushing through everything without a care about what you ran into.  You’re going to have to learn how to navigate your way through the brush without breaking every other bush, overturning rocks, or scuffing the bark off of exposed roots—”

“I have a better idea,” he said, interrupting her as he looked intently at his companion, as well as at the tracks that she left behind her – or more specifically, the very faint traces of her passage.  “I don’t have the time nor the inclination to learn any of that stuff – but it looks like you already instinctively know what you’re doing.  So, how about I hitch a ride on your back and—”

“Absolutely not – you’re too heavy!” she immediately said as she cut him off. 

Thaden smirked at that.  “Are you calling me fat?”

“Yes.  More accurately, this form isn’t exactly made for transporting anyone on my back.”

It seemed like there was a simple solution for that.  “Well then, what do you suggest for a form?”

A few minutes later, Thaden was uncomfortably holding onto the neck fur under his fingers as he did his best to stay on the back of a large silver wolf.  It was hard to get used to, as Sadia tended to move in unexpected ways as she sped through the forest, and it was all he could do to squeeze his legs together and hope not to fall off.

“For the record, you’re still entirely too heavy, but at least you’re not breaking my back like you would if I was still a squirrel,” she grumbled, and Thaden smiled.  He was actually somewhat surprised she had agreed to carry him, as it wasn’t something that she would’ve done on Tarth; for one, he hadn’t really needed the assistance, and two, he wasn’t even sure if she was capable of it back then.  Something about her new existence in the Condensed Adaptable Mimicry Plate had given her a physical permanence that she hadn’t had before.

“I appreciate you helping to carry my fat a—”

“Shh.  We have company.”

Sadia abruptly came to a stop in between two trees, and it was only luck that he was able to hold on instead of being flung over her head.  Rather than complain, once he recovered from the abrupt stop, Thaden hunched down along the length of her back and looked around for whatever she thought she had noticed.  He didn’t have too long to wait before what she had apparently sensed crashed through the bushes ahead of them.

A dozen overly large beavers surged toward him in a wave, each of them a deep brown color with streaks of dark-green markings along their backs.  He estimated that they were each the size of a labrador retriever, and their incisors were at least 6 inches long and pointed with sharp-looking tips; the claws on their pancake-sized paws were tearing up the forest floor as they crossed the distance.

Forest Beaver – Minimal

Level 6

Thaden didn’t panic, fortunately, and immediately instant-cast Weak Enthrall with it focused on a wide-area effect.  Even though they were 3 Levels higher than his own highest Class Level, all 12 of the Beavers immediately froze as they fell under his spell and, therefore, his control.   

“Wow, that’s… cheating.  You know that, right?” Sadia said as soon a she saw that the immediate danger had passed.

Thaden shrugged.  “Yep, I know.  Unfortunately, I can’t really do much with them other than use them as meat shields or as targets to siphon Health from to heal.  I’d have to use something like Celestial Dominate Spirit in order to have them deal damage.  Or even Celestial Befriend Spirit, which I haven’t tried yet because I was worried that if it didn’t work, I would be unable to harm them later.”

“And you can’t cast those without a lengthy casting time, right?  If I remember correctly, you originally used your Spiritual Guardians to protect yourself while you cast it, didn’t you?”

“That’s right.  I could do that again, I suppose….”

“Why?”

Thaden was confused about what she was asking.  “Why what?”

“Why are you making things harder than they should be?” she asked, and while he couldn’t see her face, her tone revealed her exasperation.

“What do you mean?”  He generally had no idea what she was talking about.

She huffed, which sounded funny coming from a large silver wolf.  “You do know that any target that you Enthrall is under your control, right?”

“Uh, yes?”

She continued after his response.  “And therefore their spiritual will is suppressed, meaning that they can’t participate in another battle of spiritual wills?”

“I guess?”  He still wasn’t sure where she was going with this.

“You do know that a target can have more than one Spiritual spell on them simultaneously, don’t you?”

Suddenly, he understood what she was trying to tell him.  “Holy crap.  Can I be that stupid?”

 “You said it, not I,” she responded smugly, but Thaden ignored her as he began casting something that he hadn’t tried before: Celestial Befriend Spirit.  The spell was designed to control a target that was essentially like a private defender, but the difference between that spell and his others was that the target could actually attack hostile enemies in defense of Thaden.  The major caveat was that it couldn’t attack its own kind, though it could still act as a meat shield; that meant that if he was able to “befriend” one of the Beavers, they wouldn’t be able to attack another Beaver, but anything else was fair game.  As he’d mentioned to Sadia, the reason he hadn’t used it before was because if he failed the battle of spiritual will with a target, then that target would have all future spells and damage done to it by him or his allies completely negated, making it nearly impossible to kill. 

But with the Beavers currently under his control via his Weak Enthrall spell, at least from what Sadia was implying, they couldn’t fight his Befriend Spirit spell at all.

A relatively short time later, his spell had completed its cast, and he felt its effects fall over every Beaver that he’d targeted with the wide-area effect.  He had been slightly worried that it wouldn’t work for all of them, as one of the notes on the spell’s description had been that he could only have one friendly bond at a time, but apparently he had gotten around that restriction once again because of his cheat-like Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait allowing him to envelop multiple targets with his spells.

When he had first been able to cast Celestial Befriend Spirit after he received his new Class, it had required 95% of his Mana pool to keep it going; after reaching 420 Mana, the cost had reduced by 40%, meaning that it only required 55%.  That meant he could cast another reserved spell, such as Celestial Dominate Spirit, which had been reduced from 80% of his Mana pool to only 40%.

As Sadia had mentioned, the process worked exactly as she had suggested.  He now had both Befriend Spirit and Dominate Spirit on all dozen of the Beavers, meaning that they would attack hostile targets in defense of Thaden (as long as they weren’t also Beavers), and leach Health from those targets to heal themselves.  If he fought other Beavers, he thought that the Health leach would still work, if not a full on attack, which could be a problem, but the situation with them was a much better outcome than he expected.

“Thank you, Sadia.  I can’t believe I didn’t even think of that before.  I’m glad you’re back.”

“I don’t know how you survived without me,” she replied, the smugness heavy in her tone.  “And I’m glad to be back, too, Thaden.”

With a minor army of Forest Beavers now at his disposal, he ordered them to fan out ahead of them as they continued through the trees.  They weren’t quite as fast as Sadia by herself in her wolf form, but the extra protection was worth it as they began encountering more monsters the further they progressed through the forest. 

At first, they only faced a few Level 4 and Level 5 Razorfoot Boars.  These were easy to kill, as Thaden had a total of 21 Mana available to him after his Mana pool was reduced by 95%, meaning that he could cast Weak Enthrall on them to freeze them in place, before his Beaver army annihilated them within seconds because they couldn’t fight back.

“That’s quite unfair, but I suppose fairness doesn’t really matter when it comes to monsters, does it?” Sadia commented after she witnessed the slaughter.

He agreed, especially after he acquired PICK for the first time as a solo Adventurer. 

You have slain a Razorfoot Boar – Minimal – Level 5!

You have received 1.5 PICK!

PICK reward altered based on 1 party member(s) as well as Level disparity!

You have received 4.5 PICK!

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

You have received 5.9 PICK!

That’s more like it.  While 5.9 PICK wasn’t a massive amount, especially when he needed 400 PICK to reach Level 3 in Novice Enthraller and 700 PICK to reach Level 4 in Fortunate Catastrophe, it was a whole lot better than the 0.1 PICK he’d been commonly receiving from the monsters in the last dungeon. 

The influx of PICK was a heady feeling, and he knew he needed more. 

Thankfully, the forest provided plenty of targets.  More Boars were accompanied by Trap Spiders, Strangling Bushfiends, and even some additional Beavers – all of which were below Level 10.  Only a few times when he encountered some of the Strangling Bushfiends, which were stationary monsters that looked like oversized bushes and had branches as strong as iron that they would whip out to strangle their victims, did his Weak Enthrall fail because they were Level 9.  Fortunately, Beavers were uniquely qualified to tear apart the Bushfiends with their razor sharp teeth, and with their ability to leach Health, there was very little risk of them dying.  Even better, once he was able to land a Weak Enthrall on them after multiple casts, he was able to use Weak Siphon Health from the Bushfiend to both reduce its Health and heal any of his Beaver army that had taken some damage.

His acquisition of PICK was helped by gaining another Achievement, one that was similar to one he’d acquired on Tarth.

Congratulations for solo slaying a monster 3 or more Levels above your own!

Achievement received: Lone Wolf I

Bonus reward: 10.0 PICK

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

You have received 13.0 PICK!

He debated adding to his Beaver army with what he encountered in the forest, but after he saw how effective his little minions were despite there only being a dozen of them, he decided to take advantage of the feast of PICK instead, as that was more important to him at the moment.  Unfortunately, after a short time, he was forced to abandon most of the materials he acquired from extracting it from the corpses, as his Inventory was still relatively small even after it had grown bigger with his Level-ups, though his coin total steadily increased. 

In what felt like no time at all, he had acquired enough PICK to raise his Novice Enthraller Class up to Level 3, which he did immediately once it was available.

Level up!  You are now a Level 3 Novice Enthraller!

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

Mentality +2

Personality +3

(1) Spell selection choice

Yes!  “Let me know if anything needs my attention; I’ve got a new spell to look at,” he told Sadia, who quickly agreed as they continued through the trees in a northeastern direction.

Please select (127) spells from the following selections:

Weak Sacrificial Backlash Aura (Reserved)

Lesser Sacrificial Backlash Aura (Reserved)

Minor Sacrificial Backlash Aura (Reserved)

Weak Minion Regeneration (Single Cast)

Weak Minion Regeneration (Single Cast)

Weak Minion Regeneration (Single Cast)

Lesser Enthrall (Channeled)

Minor Enthrall (Channeled)

Lesser Subjugation Aura (Reserved)

Minor Subjugation Aura (Reserved)

Lesser Health Siphon (Single Cast)

Minor Health Siphon (Single Cast)

Spells not selected will be available during your next spell choice selection

The first thing that he noticed about the spell list was that the higher-strength versions of his current Enthraller spells were available in Lesser and Minor strength.  While it was tempting to upgrade them at this time, as he had more than enough spell selections at his disposal, he decided against it at the moment because his Mana pool was still a bit tight.  Perhaps when I reach the next Level that lets me choose some more spells I’ll be in a better position.

As for his new spells, there were only a pair of them that showed up for him to choose from, so he took the time to look at them.

Weak Sacrificial Backlash Aura (Reserved): Whenever a target dies while still under your control and is within range of your Weak Sacrificial Backlash Aura, all other non-controlled hostile targets within range will receive a spiritual backlash stack that will reduce their stats while they remain in range of your Aura.  Stat reduction cannot surpass stack quantity limit (50%).

Stat Reduction (per stack): 5%

Stack Quantity Limit: 10

Range: 120 feet

Casting Time: Instant

Mana Cost: 20%

As he looked over the spell’s description, Thaden didn’t hesitate to pick up the Weak version, as while the Lesser and Minor strengths allowed for a higher stat reduction limit of 55% and 60%, respectively, it wasn’t worth the extra Mana cost reserved to maintain them.  He figured that it might be a good method to soften up stronger monsters if he had some of his army to spare, but he didn’t necessarily need the spell at the moment.

Moving on to the second spell, he smiled as he saw that it was exactly what he was hoping to acquire at some point.

Weak Minion Regeneration (Single Cast): Grants a single controlled target continuous healing energy that replenishes Health for a limited time.

Healing Rate: 2 Health every 5 seconds

Duration: 60 seconds

Range: 30 feet

Casting Time: Instant

Mana Cost: 10

The Lesser- and Minor-strength versions healed even more Health every 5 seconds, but they also cost more – and he was all about conserving his Mana at the moment.  With his spell effectiveness bonuses, he didn’t really need better spells at the moment, as Weak Minion Regeneration was more than enough to handle the monsters he could control, anyway.  He remembered his original Regeneration spell had been a staple of his original Class, and while this one was only able to target his controlled minions instead of himself, it was well worth obtaining for the continuous healing alone.  It would make using Weak Health Siphon so much easier, as it wouldn’t matter if he used up his controlled monsters’ Health, because it would be replenished shortly thereafter.

Once he selected the spell, he closed out the screen while he considered how the combination of spells the Novice Enthraller had access to worked so well together.  It was truly a powerful Class, with spells that made it easier to Enthrall targets, make others weaker, and then use whatever they actually controlled as constantly replenishing healing sources.  The mixture of crowd control mixed with healing was incredible – and his own bonuses helped to make it even more of a cheat-like Class.  It wouldn’t be nearly as effective if he couldn’t convert his single-target spells into ones that could affect wider areas, and his high Competencies and their Advancements made them even stronger.

As his awareness came back to the area around him, he realized his army was killing another Razorfoot Boar, this one being Level 8, and Sadia was taking care of it without a problem.  It was as he saw the Beavers moving around as if under direction that he realized that his companion could control them just as easily as he could, which made sense because she could also cast his spells; she was essentially an extension of him, though she was also her own individual, as well.  It was a strange combination, but it certainly worked to both their advantages.

Since she seemed to have everything covered and he felt safe in her hands, or paws as it was, Thaden decided to go through the rest of his Advancements that he’d been putting off.  He hadn’t thought that they really applied all that much, given that he wasn’t using his Defensive spells, was the leader of a Party, or encountered anything that really required his psychic protections, but now there seemed to be ample time to go through them.

Please select (8) Advancements for your Defensive Spellcasting Competency:

Faster Protection – All Defensive spells now have a 50% permanent casting time decrease

Longer Protection – All Defensive spells now have a 66% permanent duration increase

Thicker Protection – All Defensive spells now prevent 66% more damage

Harder Protection – All Defensive spells now protect from sources 7 Levels higher than before

Extended Protection – All single-target Defensive spells now extend to protect an additional target

Disease Protection – All Defensive spells now temporarily protect against Burning, Charmed, Poisoned, and Sleep afflictions

Rejection Protection – All Defensive spells now give the recipient a 100% bonus to hit accuracy on their next strike

Double Team – At the cost of double the per-second Mana cost for each spell, (2) channeled spells can be cast simultaneously

Abstinence Protection – Upon preventing damage, all Defensive spells now grant the protected 10 seconds of immunity to all damage, followed by 60 seconds where they cannot be protected by any spells or effects that reduce or negate damage

Self-service Protection – All spells the caster casts upon themselves now require 66% less Mana to activate or maintain, at the cost of all spells cast upon allies requiring 66% more Mana to activate or maintain

Bigger Is Better – Every member of your Party must have at least 3 Defensive spells that you cast active upon them at all times; if this is true, those Party members will receive an additional 50% increase in effectiveness to their active defensive spells and an additional 30% to their maximum Health; if this is not true, they will suffer a 50% decrease in effectiveness to their active defensive spells and will have their maximum Health reduced by 30%

The Morning After Protection – Exactly 9 hours after any Defensive spell cast on any target is fully used or the duration expires naturally, it will be reapplied for free with a 300% increase in effectiveness, regardless of the target’s distance from the caster; can only apply one instance of a particular Defensive spell at a time; multiple reapplications will override the existing spell in place

Fortunately, it was fairly easy to eliminate some of the choices for his Defensive Spellcasting Competency Advancements.  The first was Extended Protection, as he could already cheat by selecting multiple targets from his Fortunate Catastrophe Class bonus traits.  Rejection Protection was also not very useful, as while a 100% bonus to hit accuracy was nice, he didn’t necessarily rely on such things to kill his enemies; he would rather use overwhelming force, or as happened to be the case lately, overwhelming numbers.

Abstinence Protection was crazy powerful, as it granted 10 seconds of damage immunity, but the 60 seconds where they were completely vulnerable was a no-go – so he skipped that, as well.  While he had picked up Bigger Is Better when he was on Tarth, he also decided to skip it for now because he was thinking about utilizing his controlling spells more often than he did before, and trying to balance all of the defensive spells on an army of minions was too much work.  Perhaps when he had another opportunity to pick an Advancement, he would pick it up if it turned out to be a beneficial effect, but for now he passed on it.

Disease Protection hadn’t turned out to be necessary on Tarth, mainly because he had enough Psychic Resiliency to handle half of the afflictions listed on the Advancements, while he also had Support spells that would clear the others away without any trouble.  He figured that, by the time he could actually cast some of those defensive spells, he wouldn’t have to worry about it—

—until he saw the Self-service Protection Advancement.  He had forgotten this particular one, mainly because his Mana pool had rarely been an issue before, but now when he saw it, he knew he had to have it.  A 66% decrease in Mana cost to activate or maintain his spells was huge.  How did I not look at this before?  What made him hesitate before picking it, however, was the fact that it said, “All spells,” and that his spells targeting allies would increase in cost by 66%.  He immediately realized that it would affect his Spiritual spells that allowed him to control his minions, as that would mean they would then be his “allies”.  While that wouldn’t necessarily break what he was doing, it would certainly complicate things.  For one, it would immediately make it impossible – with his current Mana pool, at least – to maintain both Dominate Spirit and Befriend Spirit simultaneously, as both of their reserved Mana costs would increase by 66%. 

Still, it seemed like it would be worth it, especially since it meant he would be able to access many of his spells sooner rather than later.  Most, if not all of them, were still a ways off even with the Advancement, but it meant the difference between accessing them at Level 25 and Level 50 or above. 

But then he looked at the Double Team Advancement, which allowed him to cast 2 channeled spells simultaneously, at the cost of double the Mana cost per second.  Being able to cast Enthrall twice, or using Enthrall with another channeled spell – of which he had plenty of once he had access to them – was also a massive advantage he had trouble passing up – but doubling the Mana cost could prove to be a problem if they were already being increased by 66% by the Self-service Protection Advancement. 

He wanted both, along with Thicker Protection and Harder Protection (and their subsequent tiers), as they would allow him to prevent even more damage, but he decided to hold off on choosing anything for the moment.  He found that he could minimize the window that popped up as long as he didn’t begin spending his selections, and he was glad that he did, because a second after he decided to put off the decision until he thought about it a little longer, Sadia spoke to get his attention.

“Thaden?  I think I’m going to need your help for this.”

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 12

(Only 1 chapter today; I forgot that I had to do some end-of-year accounting this morning)

Chapter 12

The destruction of Felith didn’t happen in a vacuum.  Unlike the “native” citizens that inhabited Tarth, who were implicitly instructed – or ordered – to essentially take whatever disasters befell them without reaction, the world of Plangea was a real community that didn’t simply pass off the obliteration of one of their towns without doing something about it.  The Netherine ruling body, or at least the governing organization that oversaw the land that Thaden and Sadia were traveling through, wasted no time in reacting to the situation.  That was made completely clear when Thaden walked up to the gate leading into the nearest town just past the jungle where he’d spent the night, with Sadia having retreated back into the CAMP.

“Where are you coming from, stranger?” one of the Gate Guards asked as Thaden was stopped with a spear across his path.

Distracted by his growling stomach, he only realized after he spoke that he probably should’ve lied about his origins.  “Oh, uh, Felith.  Though it’s not—”

Moving faster than he could easily follow, the large Netherine guarding the gate grabbed his left arm and practically picked him up.  “You’re coming with me.”

“Whoa, what’s going on?  Let me go!”

The Guard, whose name was Chowlin, didn’t say anything as he manhandled Thaden like he was an unruly toddler.  Looking to see what Level he was, all he got were question marks, so he was at least Level 14 or higher – which made him too strong to easily escape from.

“That was not the smartest idea to mention Felith, Thaden.”

Sadia’s mental communication was a welcome backdrop to what was happening to him, as he was comforted by the fact that he wasn’t alone.  Still, he couldn’t help but acknowledge that she was right, but he couldn’t exactly communicate with her while he was in the Guard’s custody.

As he was practically dragged and pushed through the town, dozens of its residents watched with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension in their gazes and movements, and he could hear more than a few of them whispering behind his back.  Most of what he heard were questions about who Thaden was and what he’d done, but just as many also questioned his race; despite living in Felith for half a year, knowledge of Humans probably hadn’t spread all that much.  Unfortunately, that hinted that there weren’t any Humans nearby, either as new residents or as Front Line forces fighting the main threat of the Adversary; it also meant that it was unlikely that Corinna had ended up in the Densartis Faction – but he wasn’t going to let that disappoint him, as he knew it was only a very slim possibility from the beginning.

“Where are you taking me?  I didn’t do anything!”

His questions and complaints fell on deaf ears, however, as he was brought to a familiar-looking building near the center of the town.  As he caught a glimpse of the exterior of the Adventurer’s Coalition building, he noted that it appeared almost identical to the one that had been in Felith, with only slight color differences and perhaps size; he couldn’t get a complete look at it, but it seemed a little bit bigger than the one that used to exist in the town that had been destroyed.

Thaden was dragged behind the Guard as the Netherine pushed through the doors leading into the Coalition, but Chowlin didn’t stop.  Instead, he was forcefully brought toward the right-hand side of the lobby, where he could see some doors that led… somewhere. 

“This doesn’t look good.  Whatever you do, don’t mention anything about what happened within the Coalition there with the Codexical Access Point.  If they’re looking to link you to what occurred, that’ll likely tip them off.”

What?  Who?  What is going on?  It seemed as if Sadia had finally figured out what was happening, but she couldn’t actually hear his thoughts to answer his questions.  Despite that, he trusted her to have his best interests at heart, so he elected to follow her instructions.

Chowlin wasted no time pushing through one of the non-descript doors, literally lifting Thaden through the entryway with fur-covered hand practically engulfing his upper arm.  It was slightly painful being handled like that, but his Physicality was now high enough not to let the pain turn into actual damage; instead, it was more uncomfortable than anything.

Thaden was plopped down in front of the Gate Guard as the larger Netherine came to a stop.  Before he could fully grasp his surroundings, he heard the uncommunicative Guard say, “Says he came from Felith,” and then released his arm.  Thaden glanced behind him to see Chowlin already retreating, exiting out the door they’d just past through, before closing it behind him.

Turning back to the front, he froze as he realized he was in a relatively small room, perhaps 30 feet in width and length, though it was approximately 20 feet tall from floor to ceiling.  He also immediately noticed that he wasn’t alone – and for a wonder, he wasn’t suddenly surrounded by tiger-demons.  Instead, 3 of them were of races that were familiar to him, while the other 2 were completely brand-new.

A quick glance at the 5 individuals showed that all of them were much higher Level than him, at least according to the questions marks he saw, as well as their equipment.  In short, they were dressed for war.

Darvo – Densartis Local Legion {Densartis Faction}

Orbrion

Level ???

Zarin – Densartis Local Legion {Densartis Faction}

Heliothrope

Level ???

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

Aelveen

Level ???

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

Aelveen

Level ???

Narden – Densartis Local Legion {Densartis Faction}

Charee

Level ???

The Orbrion, Darvo, stood approximately 5 feet tall, but he was built like a truck with how stocky and sturdy he appeared.  A cyclops-like singular eyeball stood out as the most impactful of his features – unless one counted the stone-like skin that covered his entire body, including his completely bald head, or the oversized nostrils that looked like deep tunnels that led into the abyss.  He – at least, he thought it was a he – was wearing a set of dark leather armor that appeared extremely well-made, and it exuded an energy that indicated that it was filled with quite a few stat increases and other bonuses.  There was also a metal rod hanging off his belt, which told Thaden that Darvo was most likely a caster of some sort – possibly a Control Class.

Zarin, on the other hand, was most definitely a Fighter Class.  The Heliothrope stood twice as tall as Thaden with a spherical-shaped head, so around 12 to 13 feet tall, and the blue-skinned and hairless figure had 6 arms arranged in pairs down either side of its lengthy torso.  It wore absolutely nothing that could be classified as clothes or armor, and only a fur-lined loincloth was present to protect its dignity.  It did have numerous bracelets, rings, and necklaces, however, all of which gave off a feeling of power that indicated that they made the massive figure extremely strong.  How he knew the Heliothrope was the Fighter was due to the 6 assorted weapons it held in its hands, each of which appeared to have been well-used through many battles.

As for the other 3, a pair of them were Aelveen, a race that he’d met on Tarth.  Tall and lithe, with pointed ears and impossibly gorgeous features, the Aelveen looked just like typical elves from fantasy lore.  Bat’la’hera was clearly a woman, and she was wearing a sleek dark-green robe that hugged her body in all the right places; an accompanying crystal staff in her hand practically screamed Mage to anyone with eyes.  Loc’ra’toda was male and was wearing some sort of dark cloth clothing, with no sign of any armor, but he also had a pair of what looked like some sort of sharp-edged brass knuckles wrapped around his fingers.  He could only assume that they were a Scout Class – though they were unlike any that he’d seen before.

The last of the group was a Charee, the “natives” of Thaden’s particular Region back on Tarth.  With ruddy, almost orange skin and three eyes, they were a mixture between the Orbrion race and the Elves, at least in terms of how humanoid they appeared, but the Charee were probably the ones he was the most comfortable being around, as he had lived with them for nearly 2 years while on Tarth.  While the Aelveen were certainly more familiar to the typical Human from Earth, at least in recognition from fantasy lore, their unnatural beauty was more than a bit unnerving to Thaden.  Even after working with a few of them on Tarth, they still made him uncomfortable.

Based on what he figured the Classes of the other people in the room were, Thaden assessed the Charee as a Support Class.  They weren’t wearing a robe, though, and instead was wearing a pair of grey overalls with a plain dark-blue shirt underneath it, along with heavy black work boots and a dark visor that covered all three of his eyes. 

He had no idea how strong they were based on their Level, but he figured they were at least Level 40 or 50, if not higher.

“Thaden.  Level 3.  What is a Human doing here?” the Aelveen Mage suddenly asked as he was continuing to look at the assemblage of people around him. 

Thaden was momentarily taken aback at the sudden question, but the inflection that Bat’la’hera used sounded like she knew who the Humans were.  “You, uh, know of the Humans?” he asked instead of answering.

“Of course.  The Humans of Earth completed their developmental period 209 years, 6 months, and 4 days ago when they were assimilated into the System.  The Densartis Faction was unable to acquire a lot from the Auction, but I have personally worked with Humans on the Front Line a total of 14 times since they first arrived.  As far as I aware, there are no Humans living inside the Faction’s territory, so I ask you once again: What is a Human doing here?”

“Did she just say 209 years?  How was that possible?”

Thaden wondered the same thing, but as much as he wanted to collapse to his knees in shock after learning that it had been more than two centuries since the developmental world of Tarth had been completed by the Humans, he did his best to keep his composure.  There was a significant increase in the aura of danger he felt coming from a few of the other individuals in the room, as if they were becoming impatient with him.

“I, uh, arrived about 6 months ago.”

“How did you get here?  The closest Faction border is over 8,200 miles from this location.”

He shook his head at the sheer size of the Densartis Faction, but he answered as truthfully as possible.  “I actually don’t know.  I was found dead in the jungle nearby and was lucky enough to be Resurrected by some passing Netherines.”

The Mage glanced at the overall-wearing Charee, who nodded almost imperceptibly.  Uh, oh.  Some sort of lie detection ability or something?  Crap.

“Where did you come from before you arrived here?  What Faction do you belong to?”

Trying to figure out how to answer without triggering a lie, he gave himself two seconds of thought before he responded.  “I came from Tarth, and I don’t belong to any Faction.”  He debated saying he came from Earth, or even mention the city he’d been in before being transferred away, but that wasn’t technically where he’d been before he arrived.  

Thankfully, his response got another nod from the Charee.

“Tarth?  Isn’t that one of the developmental worlds?” the other Aelveen interjected his question, his voice just as musical-sounding as the Mage. 

Bat’la’hera nodded.  “You are correct.  But it was damaged after its last use, and I don’t recall hearing that it had been inserted into rotation yet.”

“Then… how?  He must be lying.”

Narden, the Support Class, cleared his throat.  “My Assessment is that he is hiding something, but he’d telling the truth about where he’d from – and the fact that he doesn’t belong to any Faction.”

The Aelveen Mage turned her attention back to Thaden and seemed to pierce him with her eyes, as if she was staking him against the wall.  “What are you hiding, Human Thaden?”

“Tell them about what happened to Felith.  Not your involvement, of course, but describe what you saw and heard from your old boss.  I have a feeling that they were sent here to investigate what happened, so try to deflect them away from your origins and have them focus on their mission.”

What Sadia said made sense, so after a few seconds of hesitation, as well as swallowing a few times in dramatic fashion, he finally responded.  “I’m, uh, not hiding anything about myself.  I just didn’t want anyone knowing about what I saw in Felith, in fear that they would think that I had anything directly to do with it.  In truth, I feel responsible for the deaths of my friends and my Coalition Party, because I wasn’t strong or fast enough to get back to the town before they died and the Felith was destroyed.”

There.  I admitted that I saw Felith, and even told them that I feel responsible – which is the truth – but hopefully that will deflect any suspicion from me.

The Party from the Densartis Local Legion – which was something that he would be asking Sadia about later – was silent for a few seconds before the aura of danger than he’d felt becoming increasingly oppressive since he walked in began to subside.  Even the Aelveen Mage’s face softened somewhat from the severe appearance it had before, as she suddenly seemed to realize they were antagonizing a Level 3 Human that couldn’t possibly have been responsible for what happened to Felith.  He could only be thankful that his Personality stat had been bumped up past 1, otherwise he was half-convinced they would’ve tortured him for the information they desired from him.

“I understand,” Bat’la’hera said in a softer tone.  “Why don’t you start from the beginning and tell us what you know.”

At Sadia’s prompting, Thaden did just that.  He told them that he had gone with his Party to a dungeon to clear it, and on the way back, they felt something was wrong back in Felith.  As a Level 3 Support Class, which he freely admitted he was (though not the specific Class), he couldn’t keep up with them, which they accepted immediately; he recalled when he sensed his Party members die, which was when he approached the town fearfully and cautiously.  He described the scene that he observed when he arrived before recounting the conversation he had with Regiven outside in the fields, as well as how he was unable to save the Netherine from the burning acid-like attack that he’d suffered.  He then admitted fleeing before checking to see if anyone else was still alive, as he feared that the massive lizards that had done that to the town would come back. 

“He’s telling the truth,” Narden said, confirming for the others that Thaden’s tale was accurate.  He inwardly sighed in relief, as it was difficult straddling the line between truth and concealing some incriminating information.  Thankfully, the Charee didn’t mention that he was still hiding something.

“This doesn’t make any sense.”  Startled at the voice that sounded like a bunch of rocks being ground against each other, Thaden glanced at Darvo as he continued.  “There haven’t been any report of any breakthroughs coming from the Front Lines, and for Scorching Quizards to show up at Felith, which is more than 1,000 miles from closest point where they might have slipped through, it’s practically impossible for them to have been here without some sign that they were trampling over the land.”

It seemed the others agreed, because they didn’t say anything to refute the Orbrion’s claim that it was impossible.  The Aelveen Mage tapped her long, delicate-looking fingers against her chin in thought; after a few seconds, she pointedly looked at Thaden again.  “You said that they attacked the Adventurer’s Coalition building first?”  Thaden nodded.  Fortunately, she didn’t address the next question toward him, but instead looked at her Party members.  “Why would they do that – and then leave after killing everything within range of the town, disappearing without a single trace?”

As they began to discuss potential reasons, the other Aelveen, Loc’ra’toda slipped up next to Thaden without him even seeing him move.  “You can go now,” he said abruptly, which made Thaden jerk in surprise.  “Thank you for your assistance in this matter.  Please stick around Purbooth for a little while in case we have any other questions.”

Thaden could only nod in response, not trusting himself to say anything, and turned to leave.  He half-expected to be stopped at some point, but he managed to open the door and pass through it without any delay, and he closed it behind himself.  Letting out a deep breath, he centered himself before he walked out the door of the Coalition as quickly as possible without running.

“You should probably leave as soon as possible.  You don’t need them looking into you further.”

Thaden nodded, as her thoughts aligned precisely with his own.  First, I need some supplies, food, and a perhaps some more clothes, and then I’m out of here.  With a list in his mind, he got to work on it as soon as possible.

                    *

“I think the only way we’re going to find out why they were here is to get back out there and look for them.  They can’t have completely disappeared; there has to be some trace that we missed.”

They had been discussing and arguing for hours about what to do about the mission they had been given by the Local Legion Command, but no matter how many times they went around in circles, they still hadn’t come to a concrete decision.  Bat’la’hera sighed as she sat down and leaned back in her chair, still slightly worn out from the rapid pace they’d taken to arrive in the middle of the night, only to spend most of the night and the morning searching for any sign of the culprits. 

At least we have a little bit more information on what it actually was that destroyed Felith – if that Human could be believed.  Thankfully, it was extremely difficult to lie in front of someone like Narden, so she could only assume that he was telling the truth.  But then that meant that there were Scorching Quizards here, which was an impossibility in and of itself, as the monsters were typically Level 120 or even higher, and it didn’t sound like these were an exception with how quickly they devastated the local area.

But then… where are they?  And why Felith and the Coalition building there?

She felt like she was missing a piece of the puzzle somewhere, but the problem was that she didn’t know what the puzzle piece even looked like.  Perhaps that Human will have remembered something else that might help.  We’ll have to ask him later… and perhaps look further into why a Human is here in the first place.

Bat’la’hera started rubbing her temples as she closed her eyes, the stress of the last day starting to get to her.  More and more it seemed as if this mission was doomed to failure, because if Loc’ra’toda hadn’t found any trace of them before, it was unlikely he would find any if they went back to check again.  They were going to have to wait until the Scorching Quizards started destroying other towns, which was a horrible thought, but they really didn’t have any other alternative unless they received some new information soon.

She opened up her eyes as she heard the door to the Coalition lobby open, only to see a pair of hesitant Netherines that were part of the Coalition’s staff pushing a cart laden with food inside.  While the Local Legion wasn’t technically affiliated with the Adventurer’s Coalition and was instead closely connected with the Front Line forces, as they shared the same pool of people, the Coalition treated the members of the Local Legion with respect – because when disaster struck, it was the Legion that swooped in to save the day.  They were small in number, but they were an important part of the defense of the Faction, even if they didn’t always directly fight the powerful monsters that the Front Line forces did every day.

“I apologize for the interruption,” the Purbooth Coalition Leader announced with a slight bow in their direction, as she directed her subordinate to start laying out a number of plates and bowls for the Local Legion Party.  “I figured you were all hungry, so I wanted to make sure you kept your strength up for whatever you’re doing next,” she said respectfully, but with a confidence that told Bat’la’hera that the Coalition Leader was confident of her own authority inside her building.

“You have our thanks.  I have to admit that I could go for a tasty repast,” she responded, nodding her head in mutual respect.  She was the nominal leader of her own Party, just as the Netherine across from her was the leader of this Coalition Branch.

It didn’t take long before everything was set out for them, though even before everything was arranged, the Local Legion was already digging in.  Even Bat’la’hera felt the pangs of hunger touching her as she realized she hadn’t eaten in nearly a day, as there had been more important matters to deal with. 

As the Coalition Branch Leader and her subordinate were leaving, she saw the older Netherine turn back at the door.  “By the way, I hope our important visitor was able to help you earlier.”

Bat’la’hera was immediately confused.  “Important visitor?”  She looked at the others, wondering if she had missed something.  “Who are you talking about?”  All of them looked as confused as she was.

“Oh, you know, that Human fellow.  Thaden, I believe his name was.” 

She looked at Narden, and she could see his eyes widen in shock underneath his visor.  “Thaden?  Yes, he was… somewhat helpful.  But why did you call him an important visitor?”

“Oh!  I apologize, I forgot that those from the Local Legion can’t see our Coalition Ranks.  Thaden is an important visitor because his Rank is the highest I’ve ever actually seen in person.  Platinum-plus, in fact.  I hope you treated him appropriately for his Rank.”

What?!  Despite her high Mentality stat, it felt like her mind had just slammed into a wall she hadn’t seen.  When she could finally think again, she was relieved to see that only a second or so had passed.  “Are you sure?  You couldn’t be mistaken?”

“Oh, no, it was quite clear to us when we saw him walk out.  In fact, I’ve already reprimanded Chowlin, the Guard on duty at the gate, for physically assaulting such an important member of the Coalition.  Thankfully, I don’t have to worry about that kind of thing happening with the Local Legion.  Do I?”

She didn’t hesitate to answer.  “No, you do not.  We didn’t even touch him.”  The last thing they needed was difficulty with the Coalition right now, especially when they might need its help to complete their mission.

“That is great to hear!  Let me know if you need anything else,” the Coalition Branch Leader smiled at them with a mouth full of sharp teeth, before closing the door behind her.

Bat’la’hera swung toward Narden, while she felt Loc’ra’toda practically disappear as he rushed outside.  She intuitively knew he would be looking for the Human to ensure that the individual was still in town like he’d been advised.  Of course, that was before they knew about his Rank in the Coalition.  “How did we miss that?  And what else did we miss?” she asked.

“I… don’t know.  Either he was strong enough to trick my Visor, or he was actually telling the truth.  What I do know is that we need to ask him some more questions.”  She nodded in agreement.

A few seconds later, Loc was back, coming to a stop next to her with a few ragged breaths.  “He’s gone.  Left out the west gate hours ago.”

Great.  Another mystery – and I don’t like mysteries.  What are you hiding, Thaden?

“Well then, we have to find him,” she told her fellow Aelveen.  “He’s our only lead right now, and we can’t let him get away.” 

She then addressed the rest of the Party. 

“Get ready to leave.  We have a new objective.”

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 11

Happy New Year!

Chapter 11

It wasn’t the first, and likely wouldn’t be the last, time that he’d spent the night in a tree to keep him safe from the denizens of the jungle.  The biggest difference between his experiences before and his most recent night was the size of the trees he had to climb, as the ones in the jungle were a bit smaller than he was used to and so therefore he had to pull three of them together to create a stable place where he wouldn’t crash back to the ground.  It was far from the most comfortable sleep he’d had, especially considering his most recent stay with the Coalition’s provided room, but it was at least safe.

The reason it was so safe was that Thaden hadn’t seen a single monster – or mundane animal – since he entered the trees.  The events in Felith had evidently scared everything away to the point where nothing living wanted to stick around within a dozen miles of the now-destroyed town. 

Waking up to the morning’s light, he looked around his perch and was able to finally see clearly past where he’d had to stop the night before as it became too dark to navigate safely.  Looks like I’m near the edge.  The trees started to thin not more than 100 feet away from the direction he’d been traveling, but he had no idea what he’d find after that; he had glanced at a bunch of maps consisting of the nearby lands while in the Coalition, but he honestly couldn’t remember exactly what was up this way because it hadn’t been important at the time.  What he vaguely remembered was that there was another town somewhere this direction, but he didn’t know precisely where it was located.

As Thaden unstrapped himself from the trees, having used some vines as a makeshift rope the night before, and then began to climb down, he couldn’t help but think about the decisions he had made the day before.  Of course, his decisions were entirely dependent upon a number of factors, but he felt a bit more confident about his path forward now that he’d had some time to really think about it.

But before he did anything or made any final decisions, there was something very important that he had to do.  As he reached the jungle floor, Thaden reached into his Inventory and pulled out his Condensed Adaptable Mimicry Plate, holding the shiny metal square in his hand as he looked at it for a few seconds.

He had wanted to do this the previous day, but he was more concerned about putting as much distance as he could in between himself and Felith, so he had instead pushed himself to travel as far as he possibly could without stopping.  Now, though, he felt relatively safe enough to take the time to play around with his CAMP – which was the only physical object he had leftover from his experience on Tarth.

Extensive practice with a number of Adaptable Mimicry Plates allowed him to attach the Condensed version to his Explosive Healing Ring, and in less than a second, the CAMP had disappeared from his hands as it seemed to melt into the accessory still on his hand.  Thaden immediately felt the effects of the Plate as it went to work, and he looked at the Ring once again to see that it was working. 

Explosive Healing Ring (+CAMP)

Rarity: Uncommon

Class Restrictions: Support

Level Restriction: 1

+2 (+10) Mentality

+9% (+45%) increase in Support spell casting speed

As advertised, the CAMP quintupled the effects of the Ring, granting him not only an extra +10 to his Mentality, but an extra +45% increase in Support spell casting speed.  The latter didn’t mean as much to him as the Mentality did, but he also wasn’t going to complain about being able to cast his Support spells at a much faster rate.

More important than the extra stats, however, was the secondary effect that the CAMP – hopefully – provided.  Back on Tarth, when he received a bunch of the normal Adaptable Mimicry Plates as a reward, he hadn’t known that they also came with a “special” friend that was imprinted just for him.  Initially, it had manifested as a sexy succubus that immediately wanted to call him “master” and made him extremely uncomfortable; after learning that he could change the shape of his new friend, he instead turned her into a giant squirrel approximately the same size as he was.  Sadia, at least at first, had been somewhat the same as the succubus had been, but as he allowed her to completely mesh with his memories, she quickly morphed into a vital companion that immediately understood the hardships he’d been going through. 

Sadia wasn’t just a companion, though; she was a friend that had helped him immensely, both in the way she was able to cast his spells alongside him, and the way she was able to provide context and information that he otherwise should’ve known from his Training.  She kept him sane when he was on his own, which was unfortunately most of the time, and ever since he’d arrived on Plangea, not a day went by when he didn’t miss her presence by his side.

Thaden waited for something to happen, for Sadia to show up now that he had attached the Plate to something, but nothing happened.  He even removed and then reattached the CAMP multiple times to see if that would make any difference, but nothing seemed to work.  With a sigh and a hope that she would eventually manifest after a little more time, he took a single step toward the edge of the jungle—

—and a giant squirrel suddenly appeared in his path, staring at him.

“Well?  What are you waiting for?  You don’t have much time before you’re transported from Tarth.”  The familiar sound of Sadia’s voice rang out in the jungle, flowing into his ears like a pain-relieving salve.  He had been so worried that she was gone for good, and yet she had appeared just as she had been when he last saw her.  “Hurry up and process that PICK, or else you’re not going to have enough time—”

He was confused at what she was talking about at first, but then he remembered the last time he’d seen her.  At that time, just before the System found him and transported him into the equivalent of a dimensional holding cell, he had been about to process the massive amount of PICK he’d acquired from killing a whole bunch of World Bosses on Tarth – which was dangerous, as it had been so much that his body had felt like it was going to burst from the energy that infused it.

“Wait.  Where are we?  What happened?  Did it work?  I can’t remember anything past when you were about to use your accumulated PICK…,” she continued in a distracted voice as she glanced around him at the jungle.  “And why are you wearing that?  Did—why are you Level 3?!”

“It’s so good to see you Sadia,” Thaden said in response, not answering her questions.  “You have no idea how much I missed you?”

“Thaden?  What is going on?  None of this makes any sense.”

He sighed, before leaning up against the nearest tree.  “Well… a lot happened, actually.  Too much to explain verbally, in fact.  I’d advise you to read my memories.”

She stared at him in confusion for a few seconds, before she suddenly dematerialized, and he felt a surge of something uncomfortable in his mind, as she started rifling through his memories.  Thankfully, she was quick, so the feeling didn’t last more than a few seconds, and then she was back, standing across from him with her arms crossed. 

“It seems like I missed a lot.  What I don’t understand is what happened, though.  There’s a gap between you being on Tarth and then being resurrected by those Netherines here on Plangea.”

“What?  Really?  You can’t access any of those memories?”

She shook her head.  “Nope.  I would assume that you went through the Faction Auction and ended up here on Plangea, where you were then killed – but that doesn’t explain much of anything.”

Thaden was afraid of that happening.  Numerous times on Tarth, Sadia had been denied seeing certain things that were outside the scope of the System, and was even forcibly prevented from telling him things that would’ve explained some things.  She was technically a product of the System, after all, and while she had proven time and time again that she was on his side and not some secret agent inserted into his life to keep tabs on him, it seemed as though there were still some things that were kept from her.

“I see.  Let me tell you what happened, then.”  Thaden then quickly recounted his experience about being taken by the System, where he was then given his evaluation for how he’d done while in the developmental world of Tarth, and then told some of what would happen next – for the rest of the Humans, at least.  For himself, he was to be eliminated now that he had been in the System’s hands, but he had ended up somewhat tricking the Assimilator assigned to get rid of him.  By applying his massive amount of PICK he had saved up from killing so many World Bosses, he had caused something to rupture, and while he thought that might have been the end of him, Thaden had actually ended up on Plangea as a corpse.  The rest of it after he was resurrected was already known to her.

“That’s… crazy, Thaden.  There are some parts of what you just told me that I can’t seem to recall, but I think I understand the gist of what happened.  Essentially, the System took you away and tried to kill you, but then you exploded from an overload of PICK energy – and somehow ended up Plangea, where you ended up surviving somehow.  Is that about right?”

“Pretty much.”

She shook her head in mirthful exasperation.  “You did it again, Thaden.  You survived against odds that should’ve permanently killed you – but I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised.  You did the impossible countless times while on Tarth, after all.”  She smiled a squirrely grin at him.  “And now you did it again with the bestowal of a second Combat Class.  That is so impossible that there isn’t even an Achievement for it, as it’s literally not possible for the System to intentionally do that.  How you managed to get it and have everything operate smoothly, so far, is a miracle.”

“Thanks.  I think.  Anyway, do you think you’re all caught up on my situation?”

Nodding, Sadia said, “I believe so.  And while I don’t want to add to any blame that you might be placing upon yourself, I have to agree that what happened to Felith was most likely related to what happened with your aforementioned second Combat Class.  The impossibility of it, along with the Codexical Access Point needing to borrow some of the System’s resources – which are already stretched thin throughout Plangea – led to the System’s response.  Even if it’s part of my original design to be completely loyal to the System, even I can’t deny that it looks like the System somehow pointed some very powerful monsters toward the town in order to eliminate any trace of the problem it experienced.

“On the other hand, I don’t believe it knows who you are.  As you’ve heard, the System only has a very light personal touch upon the world of Plangea, as it is mainly focused on holding everything together and developing the next influx of races throughout the universe.  From what I can tell, now that I’m out of the closed-off world of Tarth and have connected at least partially to the overall System, the System doesn’t have enough awareness here to actually investigate who you are.  It was probably given a warning about what happened, and instead of letting the problem become worse, it decided to eliminate anything related to it rather than have further issues down the road.

“Of course, this didn’t work out for it in the end, because you are extremely hard to kill.  Still, I doubt it knows you’ve survived, and you should keep it that way.  I don’t believe simply having your Rank identified is enough to get its attention, as it won’t cause any errors or pull away some of its resources.  That being said, I can’t guarantee that your presence in the Coalition won’t cause enough of a stir to attract attention, so you need to be very careful.

“And no matter what you do, you should stay away from using any other Codexical Access Points.  That means that your plan to use it to find Corinna isn’t likely to happen – even if you don’t use it yourself.  I wouldn’t put it past the System to put a trigger on anyone related to you from Tarth, because you evidently set it back immensely by what you did at the end, and it likely wants to ensure that none of your activities had carried over to Plangea.”

Thaden slowly nodded, having somewhat figured this was the case after thinking about it the day before.  “So, what do you suggest I do?”

“There’s only really one choice.  You need to get stronger, so you need to use the Coalition to Level-up.”

“Even if it means…?”

“Yes.  Even if it means you inadvertently call attention to yourself and put those around you in danger.  I’ve looked at your spells and what you’ve done with them so far, and the combination of your bonus traits and everything else is amazing, but you can’t do it on your own – at least not yet.  Once you’re strong enough to somewhat handle yourself, you should abandon the Coalition altogether.”

“And then what?” he asked, but he was fairly certain he knew what she was going to say – because it was what he was thinking, as well.

She smiled again.  “You already know.  You’re going to the Front Line.”

It was inevitable that he would be going there, especially when he learned a little bit about the Front Line from Arthrax.  The older Netherine hadn’t known all the much about it, but what he knew was enough to comprehend the basics. 

From what he understood, the world of Plangea was divided into 2 major sections that were based on the danger they presented.  The first was what was considered “peaceful,” at least as far as that term applied to a world that frequently saw dungeons and monsters pop up randomly to threaten the population.  These “peaceful” sections comprised approximately 70% of the entire world, and they also supported more than 98% of the population.  The Adventurer’s Coalition branches throughout the world were largely able to handle any dungeons and monsters that showed up, acting somewhat like a localized militia that went on Quests to keep the peace.  Felith, as well as the surrounding area, was located in what was considered a “peaceful” section, which was why they were entirely unprepared for the System’s attack that obliterated them.  They didn’t typically face anything that was a real threat – because anything capable of that level of destruction was found in the “Front Line” section of the world.

The “Front Line,” at least according to Arthrax, was where all the major fighting against the Persistent Adversary took place.  Every Faction, including the local Densartis Faction, had armies of powerful individuals that held the line against the threats found outside the borders of the “Peaceful” sections.  What exactly they fought against, Thaden didn’t know, but he suspected it was similar to the last few Developmental Phases he’d experienced on Tarth, with increasingly more powerful monsters, dungeons that required Raid Parties, and NESTs that continuously produced evolving monsters. 

What he did know about the Front Line was that they had their own organization separate from the Coalition, and they had frequent contact with other Factions in order to coordinate their defenses.  So, if Thaden was to ever discover where Corinna had ended up in the massive world of Plangea, it would likely be through the Factions’ organization – or so Sadia seemed to think.  He wasn’t entirely convinced, however.

“How do you know Corinna is part of the forces on the Front Line?” he asked.  “What if she was sent to help bolster the Adventurer’s Coalition?”

Sadia paused for a second before responding, and he could tell that she was searching for something related to the world and the System.  “Because that’s where all of those from the Auctions end up.”

“Really?  Why?”  He was fairly certain that all of them would’ve had their Level reduced by 90%, so anyone coming from a developmental world like Tarth likely wouldn’t be strong enough to handle themselves where the most dangerous monsters were located.  They would have to spend some time getting stronger as part of the Adventurer’s Coalition – or so he thought.

“Do you know why the Developmental Worlds and the Auctions are so important?  No you don’t, because you weren’t told any of that.  Fortunately for you, I now have access to some of that information.

“The Developmental World isn’t just to help prepare new races for their introduction to the Assimilation System.  Instead, it’s about developing individuals to help join the fight against the Adversary; more specifically, it’s designed to take advantage of evolved Classes once they arrive on Plangea.

“Your Novice Enthraller Class, for instance, is a relatively powerful Class – but it is still an unevolved Class.  Once you reach Level 21 in it, you can evolve it to a First Tier Evolved Class, similar to your old Lifewarden Class.  For most people, though, reaching Level 21 is difficult because it takes a long time; it is essentially the equivalent to Level 210 back on Tarth, as PICK accumulation is around a tenth of what you experienced in the developmental world.  To acquire a Second Tier Evolved Class, individuals would have to reach Level 63, or Level 630 on Tarth – and while possible, it would still take most people decades, if not longer to reach that point.

“You, as well as those who are acquired through the Auction, have even higher Tier Evolved Classes, with yours being Fourth Tier and I believe most of the other Humans being Third Tier.  Think back at your experience in Tarth.  Do you remember how much more powerful each Evolved Class was compared to the previous Tier?  That is what the Factions fight over when it comes to the Auctions after a developmental world completes its process.  A Fourth Tier Evolved individual at Level 70 is probably three times as strong as a Second Tier individual at Level 140; it absolutely makes a huge difference.  That’s why all incoming people from a developmental world are sent straight to the Front Lines, even if they are a lower Level than many of those who have been there for decades.  They are needed to ensure the Adversary is held back from advancing into the Factions’ territory, and they cultivate these individuals as a valuable asset.  So, to answer your question, there is no doubt in my mind that Corinna was sent to the Front Lines – and therefore you must go there to find her.”

Thaden had to admit that it made sense with the Evolved Classes, as his own was basically a cheat at his current Level.  Of course, he was a bit hampered by the fact that he couldn’t cast many of his spells, but that would change over time as he acquired a larger Mana pool.

“The Front Line, then.  Are you sure they’ll take me in, though?”

Sadia giggled.  “Of course.  You just need to get to the point where you can show them what you can do, and you’ll have them begging for you to join them.”

“Will I have to join a Faction, though?”

She nodded.  “Yes.  But unlike everyone else that is part of a Faction who are restrained by System oaths and conditions, I have a feeling that they won’t really be much of a hindrance to you.”

“I think you’re probably right,” he said with a smile.  “Well, that’s for the future; I need to get stronger first, and standing around all day won’t accomplish that.  Let’s get moving and find another town – because I’m starving.”  As if to punctuate that statement, Thaden stomach growled as he led Sadia out of the jungle. 

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Thaden didn’t hurry.  As much as he probably should’ve hoofed it after his Party left him behind, to theoretically join them in finding out exactly what was going on, the fact that he was moving toward where he felt the whiff of the System heading made his steps hesitant.  Who could blame him, though, given his past relationship with the all-powerful entity?  It was the System that had ultimately attempted to kill him on multiple occasions, had imprisoned him beneath a sea, and had taken pains to eliminate any trace of him from the minds of his fellow Human beings… so, yeah, he wasn’t really enthused about having any further dealings directly with it.

Before he arrived on Plangea, he had been told that the System had a fairly hands-off approach to the massive world, unlike how it had acted on Tarth; as a result, he thought that he was relatively safe from its manipulation.  As he slowly approached Felith in the far distance, he still felt the slightest hint of the System’s overwhelming power, but it was so much more faint compared to the metaphysical weight that it had on Tarth that if he hadn’t known it for what it was, he might have missed it.  Even before he could see the town in the distance, he couldn’t feel any trace of its presence still lingering; it was as if the System had simply brushed the area with a giant feather of its power, whereas on Tarth it had used a sledgehammer to enforce its will.  In other words, the System’s presence was a mere shadow of what he knew it was capable of; it arrived and left so quickly that it was like a figurative drive-by. 

Thaden didn’t know what that meant, but he figured it couldn’t be good.  In his experience, the System’s direct involvement, even if this was the merest hint of it, never had a positive outcome – at least not a positive outcome for himself.  

When he estimated that he was approximately 2 miles away from Felith, as it was just over a ridge and down in a shallow valley, he his Party sense suddenly screamed some warnings.  Pulling up his Party list, he saw Harven’s name sudden grey out, meaning that he had died, followed quickly by Scarven.  A few seconds later, Unarven’s name copied them, and no more than 10 seconds after that, Warven suddenly went dark.  After their names on his list was the word (Resurrectable)… for all of a few seconds, before even that disappeared.

What… What happened?  They’re all permanently dead?  How?

With each permanent death of his Party members, he felt a small surge go through his body and mind; it wasn’t exactly a physical or even a mental effect, but something else that seemed familiar.  Stopping in place, he opened his Character Report and saw something odd.

Fortuity – 112

He was frankly flabbergasted at the sudden increase in his Fortuity, which had been at 51 just a few seconds before.  It wasn’t until he recalled the bonus traits that his Fortunate Catastrophe gave him, and he considered one in particular:

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

It wasn’t something he’d actually had apply before, as by the time he had taken the new Class, he hadn’t been in a Party with anyone that had permanently died.  There had been plenty of people he knew that permanently died around him, but they hadn’t actually been in his Party at the time; apparently, the bonus trait distinguished between friendly targets and allied targets by them being in his Party, which was an interesting distinction. 

The sudden shock of his Party being wiped out froze Thaden in the middle of a field, on his way to top the ridge ahead of him so he could see Felith.  As his body refused to move with the fear of what he might find beyond the barrier between him and the town, his mind coldly calculated the 120% increase in his Fortuity due to his Party’s deaths and found that the result perfectly matched his new Fortuity stat of 112.  He felt like he should feel something about the deaths of the Party members with whom he’d just completed a dungeon; if he was being true with his own feelings, he abstractly felt horrible that they had died, but he also knew that he wasn’t responsible.  It was something that he’d had to learn while in Tarth, as he had been the inadvertent impetus that had caused many deaths, but the ultimate responsibility had either been at the hands of the Assimilation System or the Persistent Adversary.  He had spent too long blaming himself for things that were out of his control to fall back on doing that to himself, though he had to constantly remind himself not to fall into that pit again.

So, it was with a struggling conscience that he closed the distance between himself and the top of the ridge, where he crawled the last dozen feet so as not to silhouette himself against the sky.  Once he moved the last few feet and laid down in a spot to give himself a good vantage point, he looked down into the valley and felt his breathing hitch at the sight before him.

Previously, the town of Felith had been a relatively modest town that housed hundreds of Netherines and a smattering of foreign visitors, with dozens of buildings behind tall walls that helped to keep it safe from the threats present in the local environment.  The most danger that he’d seen threaten the town was one time when a large pack of two dozen, starving, Level 10 Longfang Wolves assaulted the gate, attempting to force their way inside, but the town’s Guards and a dozen Adventurers were able to stop them from doing much more than chewing a few holes in the gate before they were eliminated.  Most days, nothing ever came within miles of the settlement, as anything hostile seemed to recognize that it was a place where they would immediately be killed; even if they traveled within those few miles, they were usually identified and eliminated by Quests issued by the Coalition to ensure that the town was perfectly safe.

Nothing could’ve prepared them for whatever had attacked this time, however, as the entire town of Felith had not only been trampled by something big enough to knock down the walls as if they were made of toothpicks, but had also been able to burn everything within sight.  If it hadn’t been for the plethora of massive footprints that had trampled the fields outside the settlement, he would’ve thought that some sort of orbital airstrike had taken out the town, as the destruction was so complete that it appeared targeted with some sort of high-tech munitions. 

He was far enough away that he couldn’t see anything too clearly, but he had a good enough vantage point to see that not a single building was still standing.  For the objects that he thought he might’ve once recognized, they had been practically obliterated, with only the remnants of the walls still visible.  A few lingering fires still burned inside the town, creating thin pillars of smoke that rose into the air, but practically any wood that had been inside the settlement had been burned to ash, leaving only collapsed stone rubble scattered around, though even that had been damaged enough that nothing was in one piece anymore.

What was even worse, as far as he was concerned, were the massive footprints leading to a number of spots outside in the fields where specific areas had been charred down to the dirt.  He wasn’t sure what they were, at first, before he noticed in one of the closest spots a few scraps of torn cloth and a half-melted hunk of metal that he thought was a scythe, just like the one he had used to help harvest wheat. 

Whatever had come to the town of Felith had deliberately ensured that there weren’t any survivors left behind.

What did this?  Was it the System?  If so, then why?

It didn’t make sense, and as he stared at the absolute devastation that used to be the town that he’d spent the last 6 months living within, he wasn’t sure where to even start looking for answers.  In addition, even if it was a bit selfish considering that hundreds of Netherines had just lost their lives in whatever horrific attack had just occurred, he realized that he now no longer had a place to stay.  That thought then led to a flash of melancholy as he considered Arthrax, the only real “friend” he’d made since he arrived; based on where he remembered the house he’d rented a room from was located in the town, it was more than obvious that it had been obliterated along with everything else around—

Movement in one of the fields nearby caught his attention, as he saw some stalks of wheat moving counter to the gentle breeze that flowed through the valley.  His eyes locked onto the spot, waiting for some other sign of movement.  It can’t be one of whatever did this; the footprints left behind look like they’re the length of a mid-sized sedan.

Finally, after a few more seconds, he saw movement again, along with a brief glimpse of something larger within the wheat.  It only took a few seconds to deduce that it might just be someone who had managed to escape with their lives; another quick look around the place didn’t reveal any massive monsters waiting around for him to make an appearance, so he decided to take a chance.  He wanted answers, and if someone was still alive, they might just be able to provide them.

Staying low to the ground, as he didn’t necessarily want to flaunt the fact that he was there, Thaden quickly scrambled down the other side of the ridge.  He nearly fell a few times as he awkwardly made his way down into the valley, but he managed to somehow keep his feet as he reached the edge of the wheat fields.  As he got closer to where he had seen the movement before, he looked for some sign that it was actually a person moving around and not a monster of some sort, and by the time he was within 50 feet, he was finally close enough to catch a glimpse of red and black-striped fur semi-camouflaged in the stalks.

Regiven – Field Foreman {Densartis Faction}

Netherine

Level 11

He recognized the name immediately, as it was his former boss when he worked out in the fields.  He swiftly navigated his way through the wheat stalks, heavily disappointed because he half-expected it to be his friend, Arthrax, that had seemingly escaped from the town before it was destroyed, and arrived at the side of the clearly struggling Foreman. 

All disappointment at the survivor not being his friend evaporated when he saw the state of his old boss.  From the waist down, Regiven’s lower half was just gone, and the Netherine was dragging himself forward by his upper arms.  The permanent-looking grimace of pain on his face was evident, as was the smoldering flames that seemed to be continuing to consume his body. 

“Who—Thaden?” the Field Foreman asked when he approached, hissing in pain before panting excessively in exhaustion.  “Run!  I don’t know where they went, but it’s too late for me….”

“Regiven!  What happened here?  What did this?”  Even as he asked the questions, he could see whatever energy that the Field Foreman had used to allow him to drag himself that far had given out as he collapsed on his back.  Thaden searched for a way to heal him, but the only healing spell he had access to was Weak Siphon – which needed a secondary target that he had control of in order to essentially transfer Health.  He looked around briefly, but he already knew that he wasn’t going to find anything alive; any monsters that might have been within range of the town had likely been scared off by whatever had caused so much death and destruction.  It was possible that there might be someone still alive within the town, but now that he was even closer to it and had a better view, he highly doubted it.

The constantly burning effect that had taken his old boss’s legs had already crept up to his stomach – and it didn’t look like it was going to stop.  Just before it reached his chest, where it would consume his lungs and heart, effectively killing him, Regiven wetly coughed a few times before painfully responding to his questions in broken sentences that seemed to strain the Foreman’s body and mind.

“Damn the Adversary!  They came out of nowhere.  Massive, green-scaled lizards.  Taller than the walls.  Name and Level unknown.  Knocked down the walls to get inside.  Odd.  Attacked the Coalition first.  Spit burning acid.  Tried to flee.  Moved too fast.  Splashed on my foot.  Thought I could make it—”

The burning effect appeared to accelerate as it reached Regiven’s chest, rapidly burning through his lungs and then his heart, killing him in an agony-inducing wave of destruction.  And there was nothing Thaden could do, as he had no way to heal him.  As he knelt down next to what remained of the corpse of his former boss, he threw himself backwards as the burning acid that had ate through the rest of the body suddenly burned brightly and flashed over the remains, consuming it within a second. 

When it was done, there was nothing left of Regiven but a pile of ash.  Even if he was able to cast Celestial Reanimation on the corpse, which he couldn’t because his former boss’s Level was too high, there was nothing left for the spell to target.  The Field Foreman was essentially gone, wiped from existence so thoroughly that there was no chance of him being brought back by any means. 

Standing back up, he looked toward the demolished town and debated looking for any other survivors, but he decided against it; the odds of anyone being alive in the rubble was slim-to-none.  Whatever had done this had been extremely thorough, as if specifically instructed to ensure nothing survived or was able to be resurrected.

Rather than stick around, as he didn’t know if they would come back to ensure that the job was complete or to finish off any potential survivors, Thaden took off toward the northeast.  From what he’d seen from the ridgeline, none of the footprints left behind by the monsters that destroyed Felith seemed to come from or left in that direction, so he hoped that meant it was the safest.  Of course, toward the northeast was another jungle-like environment similar to the one he had been found inside when he arrived on Plangea, but he’d rather brave those dangers rather than run into the massive, green-scaled lizards that his former boss had mentioned.

As he jogged toward the distant tree line, desiring to put as much distance between him and the once-bustling town of Felith, Thaden couldn’t help but think about what Regiven had told him before he died.  Those things knocked down the walls – and then went for the Coalition building first?  Why?  Unfortunately, he suspected he knew, and it sent chills down his back while also pinging a sense of remorse within his mind.  It was because of me, wasn’t it?  What happened with the Codexical Access Point had caused it to access additional resources from the System, which probably alerted it to my presence.  Then again, it might not have actually known it was me; it might simply have reacted to an anomaly and sought to wipe it out, just like it tried to do to me on Tarth. 

Or perhaps it was the fact that I was a Platinum+ Rank in the Coalition that alerted the System that something was wrong?  Maybe when I registered with the Coalition again, it triggered a review?  I honestly don’t know; it could be a multitude of things that caused this to happen, because I highly doubt that this was all simply coincidence.

And Regiven thought this was the Adversary that did this?  No, it was the System all the way.  I don’t know how it did this, but it definitely seems like something that it would do to clean up a mess before it became an issue – and I have personal experience with being on the receiving end of such treatment. 

Thaden refused to blame himself for what happened, even if he felt the guilt of likely being the reason it occurred in the first place.  In the end, it was yet another reason why he didn’t trust the System to have the people’s – that it professed to protect – safety and best interests at heart.  Yet, no one seemed to see this, as they were all too brainwashed by the System to question what it did to “save” them.

It was an old gripe he had about the System, however, and it didn’t really help him at the moment.  The System and its problems would have to wait, because Thaden had his own personal problems at the moment, which he needed to concentrate on before he could complain about things that were largely out of his control. 

The first problem he had to address was what he was going to do next.  Originally, his tentative plan after gaining his second Class was to stick around Felith for a while and use the Coalition to Level-up until he was self-sustaining once again.  Once he was strong enough to venture out on his own, hopefully with access to many of his Fortunate Catastrophe spells as he gained more Mana, he would use the Coalition’s resources to search for Corinna and find out where she might have ended up in the massive world of Plangea.  Once he discovered that, he would then find her, try to convince her that she actually knew who he was (as the System had wiped the memories of the other Humans on Tarth, so she didn’t know who he was), and then potentially resume the relationship they had before.

It might have been a pipe dream, as he had no way of knowing if she would even feel the same way about him that he thought he did for her; he wasn’t even sure if he actually loved her or not, but based on the ache in his heart after losing her to the System’s memory-altering shenanigans, he thought it was a fair assumption that he had stronger feelings toward her than he cared to admit.  But even if he managed to convince her that they had a relationship before, that didn’t mean she would instantly “fall back in love” with him.

Still, it was a goal that he could focus on at the moment, as any other plans about investigating the System and the Adversary, as well as the mysterious organization that had managed to infiltrate the developmental world of Tarth, were so far outside of the scope of his abilities at the moment that they weren’t even on his radar. 

But with this recent development with Felith being destroyed and the Coalition being targeted, he was a bit wary of interacting too much with the Adventurer’s Coalition.  While he wasn’t planning on initiating any Error-inducing problems with another Codexical Access Point, he wasn’t sure if simply interacting with the members of the Coalition – who seemed to be able to detect his Rank at a glance – would alert the System that he was nearby.  Based on what he’d heard about the System not paying as much attention to Plangea on the whole compared to Tarth, it was unlikely that simply being identified as having a Platinum+ Rank would trigger a reaction from the System, but he was paranoid enough about it now that he wasn’t sure if he wanted to chance it. 

Therefore, Thaden had to find another way to get stronger that didn’t involve the Coalition quite as much.  He briefly considered doing what he did in Tarth and delve through dungeon after dungeon solo, but there were a few problem with that.  First, he didn’t know where the dungeons were located, as the Coalition had millions or even billions of teams constantly searching for any new dungeons that sprung up around the world.  He might get lucky and find some, but then he didn’t know if he would actually be able to clear the dungeon because it might be too high of a Level. 

Which brought him to his second issue, which was actually completing a dungeon on his own.  His first experience with a dungeon on Plangea proved that he couldn’t do it all himself, at least not yet, as he was basically helpless against the Gremklin Detonator Boss.  It was more than likely that he’d run into the same problem in any other dungeon, which meant that he was a bit hindered in his capabilities running dungeons by himself.

These thoughts were primarily on his mind as he trotted through the edge of the trees delineating the jungle environment, an area of relative safety compared to the devastation he’d left behind. 

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The extraction process was done quickly upon the numerous corpses around the final cave, despite there being hundreds of them, and soon enough they were heading into the only place that hadn’t been explored as of yet: The place where the Boss had broken through the wall.  The darkness inside it had retreated somewhat, allowing them to see that it led to a much smaller cave, which had the familiar wavy distortion along the backwall that signaled that it was an exit – meaning that they wouldn’t have to travel all the way back up in order to leave.

There was a small box made of splintery wood and rusty iron placed up against the side wall, which appeared to be the only dungeon clearance reward that they would get from the actual dungeon itself.  Inside the box were a number of silver coins, enough for each of them to receive 5 coins each, which wasn’t a bad haul, but there was something even better that Warven picked out of the container.

Explosive Healing Ring

Rarity: Uncommon

Class Restrictions: Support

Level Restriction: 1

+2 Mentality

+9% increase in Support spell casting speed

Whether it was his Fortuity taking affect once again, despite it being so low, or just simple luck, but the only piece of gear that had dropped through the entire dungeon was something that only he – out of the Party – could use.  Everything else, even the items extracted from the Boss, had only been crafting materials; while the ones from the Gremklin Detonator had been “Rare” and likely worth more, they didn’t actually help him.

“Do any of you mind if I take it?” he asked, eyeing the Ring in Warven’s hands.

The Netherine glanced at him before seeming to come to a decision.  “If you forfeit the materials from the Boss, as well as these extra silver coins, you can have it—”

“Done!”  Thaden didn’t even let Warven finish, as he wasn’t going to argue.  He would finally have something that worked for him, and while it wasn’t much, it was at least something that he thought he might be able to actually attach his Condensed Adaptable Mimicry Plate.  And if he was really lucky, then his old friend Sadia might just make an appearance.

Quickly handing over the automatically apportioned materials he’d received after it was extracted, the Party leader handed over the Explosive Healing Ring, which Thaden slipped on automatically.  The doubling of his Mentality was like a cooling salve spreading through his mind; he hadn’t realized how strained it had become after all of the enthralling and dominating that he’d been doing.  While it didn’t eliminate every trace of the stress that still lingered, he could tell that it had made a significant difference.

Thaden debated placing the Mimicry Plate on it now, but eventually decided to wait until he was alone.  If Sadia did end up showing herself, he didn’t want to freak out the other members of his Party and risk them killing her as soon a she showed up – in whatever form she ended up being.  The last time he had seen her, she had been in her giant squirrel form, which he had mentally changed after their initial meeting where she was some sort of seductive succubus; but after arriving on Plangea and with the changes that were done to the multitude of Plates that he used to have into its new condensed form, he had no idea what to expect if—when—she came back.

Instead, he followed the others out of the dungeon exit, passing through the wavy transitionary plane until they were outside.  As he looked around, he noticed that only a short time had passed while they had been inside, perhaps only 2 hours in total, so they had plenty of sunlight left to return to Felith.  He also couldn’t help but notice that they emerged from the dungeon only about 20 feet around the side of the hill where they had entered – and that the entrance had faded away completely.

“So, when we clear a dungeon, it disappears forever?” he asked, looking at the spot where the entrance had been not that long ago.

Unarven nodded.  “Essentially, yes.  They pop up frequently, however, and it is rare when a day goes by without another showing up somewhere near.  From what we’ve heard, the same dungeon might be established again a few decades down the line, as if they are being cycled through, but we haven’t actually witnessed this yet.”

That was interesting to hear about, as Thaden thought that meant there was a limited number of dungeon varieties that could be created by the Persistent Adversary – though that number was likely in the millions, or even greater than that. 

After learning that, he didn’t really have any other questions; instead, he was eager to return to town after their time in the dungeon.  He felt exhausted, despite not actually doing any fighting himself, and he figured it was a combination of physical and mental exhaustion; his stats were still pathetically low, so it wasn’t that much of a surprise. 

As they began to travel back toward Felith and he thought about the bed that awaited him that he was renting from the Coalition, Thaden finally began to peruse his notifications.

You have slain a Gremklin Swarmer – Minimal – Level 2!

You have received 0.1 PICK!

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

You have received 0.1 PICK!

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

You have slain a Gremklin Detonator (Boss) – Minimal – Level 6!

You have received 1.8 PICK!

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

You have received 2.34 PICK!

Spiritual Spellcasting Competency has increased to Level 1,418!

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

Spiritual Spellcasting Competency has increased to Level 1,425!

Extractions complete!

Loot obtained:

6 Silver, 88 Copper coins

298x Gremklin Sinew (Common)

23x Gremklin Gas Vial (Uncommon)

You have completed the minimum requirements for your assigned DUNGEON MAINTENANCE  Quest!

You may return to the Adventurer Coalition to choose another Quest, or attempt to complete the Bonus Completion Requirements for this DUNGEON MAINTENANCE Quest for even more rewards!

You have received 2 silver, 5.0 PICK, and 2 Rank Progress up to Copper Coalition Rank!

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

You have received 2 silver, 54 copper, 6.5 PICK, and 3 Rank Progress up to Copper Coalition Rank!

You have completed the full bonus requirements for your assigned DUNGEON MAINTENANCE  Quest!

You may now return to the Adventurer Coalition to choose another Quest!

You have received 5 silver, 20.0 PICK, and 5 Rank Progress up to Copper Coalition Rank!

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

You have received 6 silver, 45 copper, 26.0 PICK, and 7 Rank Progress up to Copper Coalition Rank!

Congratulations for simultaneously controlling 30 or more targets while as a Support Class!

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

Bonus reward: 30.0 PICK

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

Bonus reward: 39.0 PICK

Congratulations for simultaneously controlling 60 or more targets while as a Support Class!

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

Bonus reward: 60.0 PICK

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

Bonus reward: 78.0 PICK

Congratulations for simultaneously controlling 90 or more targets while as a Support Class!

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

Bonus reward: 180.0 PICK

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

Bonus reward: 234.0 PICK

World First Achievement: +15 Mentality, +50 Personality

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

World First Achievement: +20 Mentality, +65 Personality

Congratulations for clearing your first Minimal difficulty dungeon!

Achievement received: Dungeon Clearance I

Bonus reward: 10.0 PICK

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

Bonus reward: 13.0 PICK

PICK requirements met!  100/100

Increase Class Level? Y / N

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

The deluge of information wasn’t a surprise, and was something that he had become used to while in Tarth, so he managed to take it all in without stumbling or running into something – for which he took great pride in being able to handle it.  Once he looked through it all, he discovered that he had earned a total of 674 PICK from the moment he left Felith, which included killing nearly 3,000 monsters inside the dungeon as well as the Achievements and Quest completion.  Only the Why Aren’t You A Control Class? Achievements were a surprise, and they also provided a massive amount of PICK to him, totaling more than everything else he’d done combined.

But what made it even better was the bonuses from the World First Achievement for reaching the third tier of the Why Aren’t You A Control Class?  An additional +20 Mentality and +65 Personality was huge at that point, and as he felt the stat changes flow through him, his mind soothed even further than before – to the point where he couldn’t detect any more strain.  Thankfully, the changes weren’t so dramatic, like they would be if they were physical in nature, to knock him out, though he did become slightly weak in the knees for a few seconds while the changes took place.

When it was all done, he couldn’t help but be surprised that he had actually received a World First Achievement.  When he had been on Tarth, he had received so many “Contender World First Achievements” because the developmental world was technically new, so he was the first to do many different things; given that Plangea was huge, contained hundreds if not thousands of worlds all smashed together into one massive planet, and likely had hundreds of billions of people, if not trillions, to have actually gained a World First Achievement was hard to believe.  The fact that he didn’t receive the World First for controlling 30 or 60 targets while a Support Class meant that at least one person in the world had been able to accomplish that many targets, but they had apparently been unable to reach 90 targets – which made him wonder why?  Is it really that difficult?  I mean, I’m only Level 1, after all.  Or am I just that much of a cheat because of my powerful Class?

The thought of only being Level 1 made him realize that he’d earned more than enough PICK to Level up.  He checked the pertinent section of his Character Report to check for sure.

Thaden

Primary Class – Fortunate Catastrophe

Primary Class Level – 1

Secondary Class – Novice Enthraller

Secondary Class Level – 1

Progressive Internal Combat Knowledge (PICK) – 674/100

Adventurer Coalition Rank: Platinum+ 705/810 RP

Health – 10/10

Mana – 240/240

Physicality – 1

Celerity – 1

Mentality – 24

Personality – 66

Fortuity – 1

He was absolutely correct, as he quickly found out; when he looked at his stats, he was also happy to see that his new Mentality also provided him 240 Mana.  With his new Mana pool, he was fairly certain he could now use Celestial Dominate Spirit and use Weak Health Siphon to heal at the same time, meaning that he was no longer stuck using one or the other.  Even as he considered his Dominate Spirit spell, something told him to check it again; once he did, he quickly noticed that something about it had changed.

Whereas it had previously required a total of 80% of his Mana pool to keep it running as a Reserved spell, it had now reduced to only 60%; a quick check of his other synergized spells showed the same 20% reduction, making them even easier to use in conjunction with other spells.  He wasn’t exactly sure why they had changed, but he suspected it was the increase in his Mana pool; it was possible that with every 100 Mana he had access to, it would make the spells less expensive to use.  They weren’t any more effective than they were before, only cheaper, but he thought it was possible it could change as he continued to increase his Mentality. 

Now that he knew he had enough PICK, he began the Level-up process; there was no reason to wait, now that he was out of the dungeon, as any increase in his stats was vital at that point.

PICK requirements met!

Increase Class Level? Y / N

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

Thaden mentally selected “Y”, but instead of immediately sending his PICK toward increasing his Level, something else popped up.

Please select Class:

Fortunate Catastrophe – Level 1 – 100/100

Novice Enthraller – Level 1 – 100/100

When he only had a single Class on Tarth, he hadn’t had to choose anything – the PICK simply went toward increasing his Personal Level.  Now that he had 2 Classes, however, it seemed as if he had to pick which one he wanted the PICK to go toward; he figured he might be unique in this respect, as from what he knew, he was the only one with only two different combat Classes (as everyone else had profession-type Classes as their second), so he hadn’t been warned about this.

He went ahead and selected Fortunate Catastrophe, as he was fairly certain that it would provide the most stat improvement.

Level up!  You are now a Level 2 Fortunate Catastrophe!

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

Physicality +10

Celerity +10

Mentality +10

Personality -30

Fortuity +50

This sudden influx of stat changes did make him stumble and fall as his body was suddenly flooded with Physicality and Celerity, both of which had been only at 1 before his Level-up.  He was only partially aware that Warven had stopped the Party and helped him to his feet, asking him a question.  He shook his head a few times to clear it and tested his body once he was upright, before answering what he thought was the question he was asked.

“Sorry about that; I’m fine now.  I was just increasing my Level.  The changes were… extensive,” he said, which was an understatement now that he’d been able to evaluate the changes.

“Alright.  Let’s get moving, then; at the same time, let me know if you need anything.”

Thaden winced when he saw that he had received -30 in Personality; he’d forgotten that the Class was primarily a solo-focused class, which impacted his relationships with other people.  Still, it was worth it to him to have a stronger body, as he no longer felt like a weak punch would kill him instantly. 

He had only used 100 PICK to get to Level 2 in his Fortunate Catastrophe Class, so he decided to use more to become even stronger.

PICK requirements met!

Increase Class Level? Y / N

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

Please select Class:

Fortunate Catastrophe – Level 2 – 400/400

Novice Enthraller – Level 1 – 100/100

As he suspected, he could allocate his PICK to whatever Class in which he had enough PICK to increase.  He hesitated for a moment over raising Fortunate Catastrophe again, but he had a hunch that it followed the same stat-increase format that it was before; as such, he was fairly certain that the next Level wouldn’t decrease his Personality again.  With that decision in place, he selected Fortunate Catastrophe once again.

Level up!  You are now a Level 3 Fortunate Catastrophe!

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

Physicality +10

Celerity +10

Mentality +10

(1) Spell selection choice

400 of his hard-earned PICK flowed out to increase his original Class to Level 3, and as he thought, he only received stat increases in Physicality, Celerity, and Mentality – while also gaining an additional spell selection choice.  Not that he necessarily needed it, as he had 125 spell selection choices that had carried over from Tarth, but he was interested in seeing if there were any new spells he might be able to select.

Unfortunately, when he opened up his spell options, there weren’t any new spells.  He was hoping that he might be able to upgrade his Novice Enthraller spells to Minor or Lesser strength, but it appeared as if he was only able to do that if he increased that particular Class.  He was also unable to downgrade his Celestial-strength spells, as it seemed as if they were locked into what he arrived on Plangea with. 

Disappointed, he moved on and used another 100 PICK to increase his newest Class.

PICK requirements met!

Increase Class Level? Y / N

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

Please select Class:

Fortunate Catastrophe – Level 3 – 174/700

Novice Enthraller – Level 1 – 100/100

It wouldn’t even let him choose Fortunate Catastrophe, as he didn’t have 700 PICK, so he chose what he was originally going to choose when he activated the Level-up process.

Level up!  You are now a Level 2 Fortunate Catastrophe!

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

Physicality +1

Celerity +1

Mentality +2

Personality +3

The stats he received was surprisingly more than he expected, given that he had only received 1 or 2 stat points when he was an Assistant Healer back on Tarth.  He assumed that it had something to do with the rarity of his Class, though it could simply be the nature of the Class itself.  Regardless, every little bit was welcome to help make him stronger, so he wasn’t going to complain.

With his Level increases finished, he reviewed his Character Report briefly to see the differences, and he couldn’t help but be pleased at what he saw.

Thaden

Primary Class – Fortunate Catastrophe

Primary Class Level – 3

Secondary Class – Novice Enthraller

Secondary Class Level – 2

Progressive Internal Combat Knowledge (PICK) – 74/400

Adventurer Coalition Rank: Platinum+ 705/810 RP

Health – 220/220

Mana – 420/420

Physicality – 22

Celerity – 22

Mentality – 42

Personality – 39

Fortuity – 51

In the course of an afternoon, he had gained more than he had since he arrived a half-year ago.  Things were already looking up, as he felt himself slowly getting back to where he was when he left Tarth; he didn’t expect to get to that point anytime soon, as it was going to be an uphill battle all the way, but he could finally see the finish line in the far, far distance.

Thaden still had some selections to choose from as he walked, which included picking Advancements for the rest of his Competencies, but before he could start looking through them, he and his Party abruptly stopped on their trek back to Felith.  A faint feeling passed through him that he immediately identified, as he’d felt it more than enough times in Tarth, but it was so unexpected that his mind froze and his body locked up.

Why is the System turning its attention to me?  I didn’t think it was able to do that on Plangea like it did on Tarth…. 

The feeling was gone in less than a second, and Thaden instinctively knew that the presence of the System’s attention wasn’t directed toward him.  Instead, it was focused on something ahead of them.

Oh, no…. Felith is that way.

It appeared as if Thaden wasn’t the only one that had felt it, as his Party looked at each other and took off toward town, abandoning him without a word.

“Wait, hold on—!” he shouted, but even with his new Celerity stat having increased by over 20 points, the Netherines were apparently still so much faster.  Within seconds, they were beyond even his sight, and he was all alone… once again.

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Thaden and the rest of his Party quickly discovered that while the Gremklins were essentially immune to their own Blasters blowing up, that didn’t extend to the explosive traps that they encountered along their way through the dungeon.  With his group of enthralled monsters leading the way as essentially disposable mine detectors, Thaden had them sweep back and forth along the path they were taking, setting off a half-dozen detonations that otherwise would’ve hit the Party if they weren’t being careful.

As this was a low-Level dungeon, the explosions themselves weren’t that much more powerful than when a Gremklin Blaster blew up, but they were still strong enough to completely obliterate any of the enthralled monsters that triggered them, diminishing his group bit by bit.  By the time they reached the scorch-marked tunnel leading to what turned out to be another cave, Thaden was down to only 25 of the Gremklins that were – at that point – about 80% Swarmers and 20% Foragers.  At the threshold of the next cave, Warven stopped him before he could send them inside.

“Can you have them search out all of the explosive traps and trigger them?  That should bring the others to us, and then you can enthrall them again.”

Thaden thought about it for a few seconds.  “I can do the first, but I’d like to try something else after they attack.  Don’t worry; if it doesn’t work, I can always Enthrall them.”

The Party leader looked at him for a few seconds before he nodded.  Without any more hesitation, Thaden instructed his remaining enthralled Gremklin into the cave, which was slightly larger than the previous one, and had them spread out as much as possible to minesweep it for any traps.  Within seconds, they had found the first one, and the resulting explosion reduced it to pieces; the detonation also seemed to stir up the awaiting Gremklin that were hiding in ambush, and he saw them begin to emerge to see what was going on.  It was at that point, now that he had a target within sight, that he began casting Celestial Dominate Spirit.   When another dozen traps exploded within the next 20 seconds as his little minions explored every crevice within the cave, the hostile Gremklin began to swarm, quickly identifying his enthralled monsters as the enemy.

Needless to say, against nearly 100 Gremklin, his forces were quickly eliminated – and then they all turned toward Thaden.  The weight of their attention was a bit intimidating, but he pushed past it as his Celestial Dominate Spirit finally completed after 30 seconds, as it had triple the casting time because of his Karmic Balance Advancement.  He’d deliberately made it a wide-area spell thanks to Fortunate Catastrophe, and when it went off, he could immediately feel the battle of wills commence between him and every monster in the cave.  It was almost overwhelming, especially when he felt a few of them fail and attempt to backlash him with a stat reduction, but it was thankfully redirected back toward the failed targets due to his Haunted Nemesis Advancement. 

It took about a second for the entire process to complete, and Thaden instantly felt a dominating connection between him and 91 of the monsters in the cave, meaning that 9 of them were free from his influence. 

Staggering under the sheer amount of information flooding his mind, as his Mentality wasn’t exactly up to the strain of the sudden connections, he pushed through the uncomfortable feeling as his Psychic Resiliency Competency kicked in to support the load.  Once he was able to concentrate again, he found that the Gremklins that he’d failed to dominate had paused momentarily while the battle of wills commenced, but then they shook it off.  As they once again headed toward him, he felt rather than saw his Party members start to move, but he held up his hand for them to stop.

Unlike Weak Enthrall, his dominated monsters weren’t exactly useless when under the influence of Celestial Dominate Spirit.  Instead, they were able to leach Health from a hostile target by touching them, which occurred every 10 seconds and would pull 5% of Thaden’s own max Health – which in this case was only 1 Health.  However, the previous mentioned spell effectiveness had an influence on the outcome of the spell; rather than extending the Level of what targets it could affect, similar to Weak Enthrall, it would increase the Health leach amount, as well as increasing the frequency of it occurrence.  With a 200% increase, that meant it would leach 3 Health every 8 seconds – a significant difference that was quite impactful, especially when he had 91 dominated monsters that could leach Health.

Thaden had his monster servants throw themselves at the attacking Gremklins, getting in their way immediately and preventing them from reaching Thaden, and the Health leaching began.  At the first clash between forces, half of the hostile Gremklins had so much Health leached from them that they fell within a few seconds, while the others were surrounded and unable to move.  The survivors slashed and bit at the dominated monsters under Thaden’s control, causing a few of the Blasters to explode, but for the ones that weren’t killed outright, they managed to leach some of that Health back to heal themselves after 8 seconds had passed, eliminating the rest of them almost instantly.

And just like that, in less than a minute, the entire cave was cleared of any obstacles to the Party’s progress and Thaden now had a total of 84 Gremklins at his disposal… which could actually deal some damage thanks to being able to leach Health. 

After another few seconds of silence, which had become increasingly common among his Party, Unarven asked a bit hesitantly, “You… can’t use those spells on, uh, people, can you?”

“Only hostile targets,” Thaden replied immediately.  He could sense a bit of nervousness within the Netherines, and he honestly couldn’t blame them based on what they were witnessing.  He didn’t really sympathize with them, however, as he remembered how he had been treated before, and he couldn’t help but feel a bit smug at their reactions. 

Of course, there was a major downside to using Celestial Dominate Spirit, or pretty much any of his old, altered spells – and that was their Mana cost.  As it required 80% of his Mana pool to maintain the spell, which was 16 of his 20 Mana, he couldn’t cast Weak Health Siphon to heal anyone, as it required 10 Mana.  That meant he was essentially unable to heal anyone if they were hurt, unless he dropped the spell, used Weak Enthrall on some targets, and then cast Weak Health Siphon on them. 

Still, it was worth it to have some little minions that could actually do some damage, even if it was a minimal amount.  What Thaden really needed was more Physicality and Health… and more Mentality and Mana… and more of every stat, in fact.  Fortuity would help with his Fortunate Catastrophe spells and Personality would help with his newest Class’s spells; Celerity was good all over, as it would make him faster in every aspect, allowing him to keep up with the speedy monsters that were out there.

He checked on his progress after looking at his notifications for all of the kills that had occurred in the dungeon, finding that he only received 0.1 PICK for each kill, no matter which one they were.  All told, they’d killed – or caused to be killed – 66 monsters, which gave him only 6.6 PICK; along with what he’d earned along the way to the dungeon, he was still over 90 PICK away from Level 2.  Even if he killed the rest of the dominated Gremklins, that would only be another 8.4 PICK, which was barely even a dent in the requirements needed for the next Level.

Thaden needed a lot more targets to kill.  Thankfully, as they continued to progress through the dungeon, there were no shortage of things to kill.  The groups of Gremklins they encountered became more numerous the further they went in, increasing by 50 with each subsequent cave.  The term “Swarm” made more and more sense to him as the sheer quantity of the monsters they faced became known, until it was nearly overwhelming. 

After they reached 200 in quantity, Thaden discovered that he had a lot of trouble maintaining control of over 100 individual monsters simultaneously, as it was too much for his mind even with Psychic Resiliency helping out; he figured that once he increased his Mentality, he would probably be able to handle more, but for now, he had reached his limit.  After informing his Party of his limitations, he was able to utilize another of his spells and his spell effectiveness bonuses, Celestial Spiritual Guardians, to create 6 spiritual protectors that surrounded him and acted as taunting tanks with no offensive capabilities, though they each had 1,500 Health to soak up damage.  The spiritual protectors were white-glowing, humanoid figures that essentially stood still and convinced every hostile monster to attack them; they were also the perfect way to expose the Gremklins to the rest of his Party, who took advantage of the monsters’ inattention to tear through them. 

Once the hostile Gremklins were whittled down to under 100, that was when Thaden would strike with his Celestial Dominate Spirit spell.  Since it took 30 seconds to cast, he had to start it early, which he discovered was possible if he timed it correctly; even while maintaining his Spiritual Guardians, which required 90% of his Mana pool, he found that he could start casting Dominate Spirit whenever he wanted, but would have to cancel his Guardians a second before it completed, freeing up his Mana pool, and then the dominating spell would go off. 

It was surprisingly effective, and it helped to alleviate some of the trepidation that his Party was feeling after witnessing what Thaden could do; being able to contribute to whittling down the swarming monsters made a huge difference to their perception of him and his abilities.

In one instance, when he was unable to save most of the Gremklins for his Dominate Spirit spell, he tried his Celestial Reanimation spell, which brought back to life over 300 monsters and put them under his control – and that nearly broke his mind because of the sheer number of them.  He was forced to cancel the spell within a few seconds because of the strain, but in those few seconds, he was more than aware that the spell had actually worked the way it was supposed to.  He figured that it would be useful when there weren’t any living monsters to dominate or enthrall, which he could technically do together since he had enough Mana for it, but mixing them didn’t seem like a great idea for the health of his mind.

There wasn’t a lot of variety in the Blasted Caves dungeon, with there only being progressively larger caves and larger swarms, until they cleared a cave that had a total of 500 monsters inside of it – which took a while to whittle them down to a decent number for Thaden to dominate.  Once his spell went off and he took control of 76 Gremklins, there was a sudden silence as they looked for the tunnel leading to the next cave – but there wasn’t one visible.  After a few seconds, a rumbling came from the far stone wall where they assumed the next tunnel would be, followed by a shaking that had Thaden falling on his butt; the rest of his Party had much higher stats and were able to keep their feet, of course.

Struggling to get to his feet, he was nearly knocked down again when there was another violent surge in the shaking, which precluded a minor explosion on the wall that had a portion of it collapsing outward.  Out from the dust and darkness of the 20-foot-tall hole that was just created from the explosion, Thaden saw the figure of another monster emerge.

Gremklin Detonator (Boss) – Minimal

Level 6

The Gremklin that emerged was nearly as large as the Netherines in Thaden’s Party, though it definitely had thinner limbs than the tiger-demons.  Other than its larger size, the Gremklin Detonator didn’t appear to be too different from its smaller brethren that they’d been killing in swarms throughout the dungeon, but there was one major difference that wasn’t related to its physical appearance.  Instead, it had to do with the swarm of Level 3 Gremklin Blasters that emerged after it – and how the Detonator picked up one of them as they circled around the larger monster before tossing it toward Thaden.  Fortunately, Unarven was quick enough to cast spell that shot out a stream of water that impacted the thrown Blaster in mid-air, which then exploded without damaging anyone or anything. 

With what looked like virtually an endless supply of bombs that it could throw at them, the Detonator was a much more difficult opponent than they had planned for.

“Can you enthrall that thing?” Warven asked, even as everyone was forced to dodge another thrown Gremklin Blaster, which harmlessly exploded just past them. 

Thaden shook his head.  “No, my Weak Enthrall isn’t strong enough to bridge the Level gap.  I can try to dominate it, but that would mean releasing these others.” 

“Send them all to stop the Boss from throwing those things, and we’ll see how what needs to be done after that,” the Party leader ordered, before instructing the others to protect Thaden.  It was obvious from the start that the Level 1 Enthraller was the Boss’s target, as he had been target since they entered, thanks to his Fortunate Catastrophe Class drawing all the attention.

As Thaden sent his newly acquired force of 76 Gremklins toward the Boss, he learned very quickly that the Blasters that the Boss was tossing were different from the ones he seen before.  While they might have looked the same, it appeared as though their explosions were different enough that his Gremklins were no longer immune to their destructive properties.  In other words, as they approached close range and began to touch the hostile Blasters in an attempt to reach the Detonator, they were essentially obliterated when the monsters began to explode.  Within seconds, his once-numerous army of minions had been reduced to a bunch of Gremklin body parts strewn about the cave floor, and even more hostile Blasters emerged from the dark tunnel behind the Boss to replenish what had been lost in the explosions.

“Try it,” Warven said after he saw the results of the attack.

Moving a little closer to be within range of his spell, Thaden did as ordered and started casting Celestial Dominate Spirit, hoping that it would work.  While they waited for the 30-second cast to complete, Thaden had already activated his Spiritual Guardians, which helped to draw the attention of the Boss, but anything that got too close, his Party did their best to keep him safe, either by blocking or exploding the Gremklin bombs that were chucked their way.

Finally, the spell completed…

…and he knew almost instantly that it had failed against the Boss.  He had cast it to include all of the Gremklin Blasters nearby, but none of them succeeded, either; when he looked closer at the Blasters, he noticed something about them that he thought might be the explanation.

Gremklin Blaster (Temporary Spawn) – Minimal

Level 3

The “Temporary Spawn” note on their nametag likely meant that they weren’t actual monsters, but were only there to be ammo for the Detonator.  He doubted that they would even get any PICK from them exploding, either.

He debated trying to use Celestial Befriend Spirit to control the Boss, but decided that would be a poor idea; if he failed again, it would make the larger monster immune to any spells and damage coming from him or his Party. 

Looks like this is going to have to be done the hard way.

“Didn’t work.  I can keep my Spiritual Guardians up to draw its attention, but its up to all of you,” he told them.  In some ways, it felt like he was a bit of a failure in being unable to harm or control the Boss, because he had finally experienced some of the domination in fights that he used to have, but he consoled himself with the fact that he had already made significant progress since he had acquired his new Class – and that all he needed was a few Levels and some gear and he would be much more effective.

Warven nodded, acknowledging his words, before his Party organized for the fight to come.  Thaden was basically relegated to sitting back and allowing his Guardians to draw some attention every now and again as the Netherines started to attack the Boss.  Fortunately, it seemed as though the Detonator was a one-trick pony, as it didn’t try to strike at the Adventurers as they closed with it; instead, it simply tried to throw Gremklin Blasters at them, which was easy enough for the quick tiger-demons to dodge because there was a second or so before they were tossed where they could move out of the way. 

It took approximately 5 minutes for them to whittle down the Boss’s Health, until it swayed dramatically before collapsing on top of the Blaster “ammo” underneath it; the large explosion that resulted telegraphed far enough in advance that everyone was able to move far out of the way. 

And just like that, the dungeon was clear.

Now all that was left was to collect their rewards and get back to Felith.  With all of the coin that he’d just earned from extractions, he knew that he’d finally be able to find some gear – or at least commission someone to create something.  While he hadn’t checked his notifications since just after finishing the first few caves, he knew that he had earned more than enough to make it to Level 2, along with a good portion toward Level 3, so he had that to look forward to, as well.  He hadn’t checked it yet, as he knew that he couldn’t Level-up in a dungeon, so he thought it would be better until he exited with his Party.

“Nice work, everyone,” Warven said after the Boss was dead, and he even included Thaden in those congratulations.  “Let’s clean up and get out of here.”

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The sensation of passing through the dungeon’s threshold was familiar to what Thaden was used to on Tarth; there was a brief moment of transition where everything seemed to freeze as he took a step forward, a stutter in the passage of time that held him hostage to the whims of the transitionary plane.  Because he wasn’t the Party Leader, he didn’t have any input on the difficulty of the dungeon – if such a thing was even possible in the “real” world, as he was beginning to understand that Tarth had been more of an artificial extended tutorial than an accurate analog of what he could be expected to find on Plangea – so the transition didn’t take that long before he was allowed through.

You have entered the Blasted Caves Dungeon!

Blasted Caves Dungeon

Assessed Difficulty: Minimal (Swarm)

Recommended Party Size: 5

Recommended Party Levels: 3 - 6

The notification was fairly similar to what Thaden was used to; the biggest difference was that instead of it being a “Current Difficulty,” it instead mentioned that it had a Minimal Swarm “Assessed Difficulty”.  He could only assume that meant that choosing a difficulty to challenge wasn’t something that was possible on Plangea, or at least not for a dungeon such as the one he’d just walked into.  The note that this was a “Swarm” Difficulty was brand-new, however, as he’d never seen anything precisely like it on Tarth, other than perhaps a Monster Waves or Siege Challenge in the Intermediate Dungeons.  

Looking around him, he saw his Party arranged ahead of him, weapons at the ready, as they took in their environment.  Thaden peered past them to see that they had emerged from the entrance into what appeared to be a natural cave formation that was probably the entire interior of the 50-foot-tall hill that they’d walked into.  There was a natural light coming from the walls that seemed to be filled with various concentrations of a dimly glowing stone, which allowed him to see that the black stone floor was very unnatural, as it was completely flat and perfectly smooth, along with being polished with a shine that helped to reflect the light that emerged from the walls.

What was also unnatural was the cut staircase that began in the middle of the cave and led downwards.  He couldn’t see how far down it went, but he had the impression that it went deep. 

“This is not what I expected, especially with a name like ‘Blasted Caves,’” Thaden said into the uncomfortable silence after a moment.  “By the way, what does it mean by this being a ‘Swarm’ Difficulty?”

Warven glanced back at him in obvious annoyance; whether it was because he spoke into the silence or because of the question itself, he didn’t know.  All he received in response was, “Stay out of our way.”  That was it; no explanation nor warning about what to expect.

After a brief period of assessment, Thaden’s Party began moving toward the stairs leading downward, and so he followed behind them with his own annoyance at their treatment of him festering within his mind.  He didn’t say anything, however, as the Netherines seemed particularly “locked-in” with their movements and perception, as if they’d done this thousands of times before.  As much as he’d like to complain, he knew that doing so might end up with someone – perhaps even himself – being hurt or killed, so he kept his mouth shut and followed the Party leader’s orders.

For the moment, at least.  He was eager to try out his spells now that he could actually cast something, especially now that he’d selected his most pertinent his Competency Advancements.

The stairs leading downward were, as he predicted, particularly steep and descended quite a distance.  He estimated that it led at least 500 feet down through the ground without any turnings; by the time they managed to reach the bottom, his calves were starting to become sore even with his passive Health Regeneration.  The enclosed section of stone stairs was fairly spacious, with a ceiling that extended to about 15 feet above the stairs themselves, and it was approximately 10 feet wide, and there were no handrails nor any treading along the smooth steps; it was a definite OSHA violation, and he couldn’t even imagine how injured he would’ve been if he had fallen down the extremely long flight of stairs.

Of course, his Party members were quite agile and moved down the steps like it was flat ground, leaving him to slightly struggle to keep up with them.  They arrived at the bottom a few seconds before he did, and as they spread out in a semi-circle formation, Thaden moved up behind them and immediately discovered why the dungeon was called the Blasted Caves.

While the cave they entered wasn’t all that large, with it being perhaps 150 feet in length, 75 in width, and with 20-foot-tall ceilings, the damage to the brownish stone was clear.  Evidence of scorch marks along with stone rubble scattered about were only the visible side effects of what appeared to be hundreds, if not thousands, of small explosions that appeared to have been used to carve the shape of the cave itself.  Cracks along the jagged walls, spiderwebbing out from concave impact sites approximately 2 feet in diameter, gave the entire cave a sense of instability, but Thaden intuited that it wasn’t about to collapse anytime soon; he assumed that they were there more for visual effect than places where the ceiling might fall in on them.

Even the floor of the cave wasn’t spared from the explosions, as large chunks of it seemed to be missing entirely, leading to it being highly uneven and an obstacle all on its own.  There was a clear path from where they entered to a shaped rectangular hallway at the far end of the cave, though there were plenty of places along the route where the environment was abnormal enough to hide an army of monsters that they wouldn’t see until it was too late.

“Harven.  Set up here.  We’ll have Scarven bring them to us.”  Warven pointed to a few places around the largely level entrance area, which extended about 30 feet from the stairs before the blasted portions of the cave became more pronounced.  Thaden was able to see the Novice Trapper finally do something related to his Class, as he swiftly used his abilities to create 5 separate concentrations of energy around the perimeter of their area, each of them flashing red before disappearing from visible sight.  He could sense where they were, thanks to his connection to Harven as a member of his Party, but any monsters would likely be unable to detect them.

Once he was done, Scarven set out on his own, moving past the traps that the Novice Trapper had set, as the others prepared themselves in their own way.  The Stalker Trainee slipped through the blasted portions of the floor like a shadow, moving quickly and with enough stealth that he was hard to spot.  Nothing happened for nearly a minute as they all stood in silence, with Thaden almost at the bottom of the stairs, staying behind them as instructed, before he caught sight of Scarven moving swiftly back toward the Party.  On his heels were dozens of small bipedal creatures, each of them no more than 2 feet tall, though long ears made them seem wider than they really were.  The creatures had long, spindly limbs and their skin was a mottled green and brown color, with sharp, dark-colored teeth in wide-open jaws that appeared capable of rending flesh with ease, and they all had claws with inch-long talons that looked like they could hurt. 

Gremklin Swarmer – Minimal

Level 2

Gremklin Forager – Minimal

Level 3

Gremklin Blaster – Minimal

Level 3

There were 3 different creatures that he spotted within the crowd following Scarven, with the most numerous being the Gremklin Swarmer, which were all Level 2.  Slightly larger than the Swarmers were the Foragers, though “slightly” meant only about 20% bigger, though they seemed slightly sturdier than their smaller cousins.  Bringing up the rear, however, were the Gremklin Blasters, which seemed like supremely overweight versions of the others; they had distended stomachs that appeared like they were ready to blow if you poked them too hard.

Fortunately for the Party, the Gremklins were rather slow, though they were certainly numerous.  Thaden counted at least 50 of them coming in a large wave toward them, which he assumed was what the notification meant was a “Swarm,” as it was extremely rare to encounter this many monsters all at once in a dungeon.  By the time Scarven had returned to the Party and prepared for their coming, the monsters were only then approaching the perimeter of their defensive area.

Explosions of light, triggered as the traps that Harven had placed activated, flashed through dozens of the closest Gremklins, causing them to collapse onto the ground in writhing agony.  None of them appeared to be taking enough damage to kill them, but they were temporarily taken out of the fight – which was exactly the point of the traps in the first place.

The remaining 20 or so Gremklins that weren’t affected by the light that paralyzed the others moved past them without stopping, not seeming to care that their brethren were incapacitated.  Concentrated beams of water jetted out from Unarven as her spells tore through a half-dozen Foragers like they were nothing, while Warven and Scarven pounced on a number of other Gremklin and cut them down with efficient strikes of their weapons.  Harven stood back as the others went to work, ready to jump in if necessary, but it didn’t appear as if it would be…

…at least until the first of the Gremklin Blasters arrived.  When Warven stepped close to slice one of them apart, as soon as his sword touched its skin, Thaden heard a strange squeak come from the Blaster.  Even as the Party leader’s sword pierced the monster’s skin and began splitting it in half, there was a sudden rush of energy inside of the Blaster.  Thaden could’ve guessed what would happen next, and he would’ve been absolutely correct as he witnessed the Gremklin Blaster detonate like a bomb.

The explosion wasn’t expansive, perhaps only 3 feet in width, but it was still strong enough for the shockwave to blast through Warven and knock the Untested Swordsman off his feet, landing on his back in surprise.  Before any of the others could react, a Gremklin Forager pounced on him from where it had been beside the Blaster, seemingly completely unaffected by the blast somehow.  While he doubted that it could actually do much damage to the front-line Fighter, as the size and Level difference was too great, that didn’t mean he couldn’t be wounded – so Thaden decided to step in. 

Instant-casting his Weak Enthrall spell, he initially targeted the Gremklin Forager on top of Warven, hoping that his Ultimate Spiritual Domination Advancement would bridge the gap of success between their spiritual wills.  At the same time, thanks to his Fortunate Catastrophe Class bonuses, he mentally chose to alter the Weak Enthrall spell he was casting from a single-target spell to a wide area spell that would target all hostile targets within 180 feet.  As it went off, he felt it immediately succeed, not only with the Forager he initially targeted, but also on every single Gremklin but 3, which unfortunately didn’t succeed the battle of spiritual wills.  The next split-second, he felt his Class bonuses and Advancements relating to efficiency increases kick in.

Normally, Thaden could only use Weak Enthrall on targets that were at an even or lower Level than he was, which essentially meant that they had to be Level 1 like he was.  However, Thaden had learned on Tarth that spell efficiency increases tended to affect these limits, either by making a spell’s effects quantifiably stronger, such as additional healing or healing for a longer duration, or by extending the range of what it could affect – which was what he was hoping it would do with Weak Enthrall.  His Spiritual Connection Advancement gave him a 50% efficiency increase, which essentially raised his limit from an even Level of 1 to Level 1.5; rounding up or down seemed to be a 50/50 split, so half the time he might succeed in enthralling a Level 2, while the other half it would fail. 

But that wasn’t the only spell effectiveness bonus that he possessed.  His Fortunate Catastrophe Class had a number of increases, the first of which was an additional flat 50% bonus to spell effectiveness, thereby bringing him to a total of a 100% increase along with his Spiritual Connection Advancement.  The second, and most important increase, was when he converted the single-target Weak Enthrall to a wide-area spell, which then increased its effectiveness by another 100%, bringing him to 200% spell effectiveness – otherwise meaning that that he could enthrall up to Level 3 targets.

And that was exactly what he did.  When 37 of the remaining 40 Gremklin, including those still paralyzed by Harven’s traps, suddenly stopped moving, Thaden’s Party was momentarily taken aback, but they still reacted swiftly, slaying the trio of monsters still moving around swiftly.

Warven also physically picked up the motionless Forager on top of him and chucked it at one of Thaden’s enthralled Blasters, and the impact had the desired effect of causing the latter Gremklin to explode harmlessly away from anyone else.  Seeing this, Thaden picked out the tiny connections he felt with each of his Enthralled monsters, and sent another Swarmer or Forager at the few remaining Blasters, instructing them to simply bump into the larger Gremklin in a “non-damaging” way.  Since he couldn’t actually have them attack or use any offensive abilities, they ended up simply throwing themselves forward into the distended bellies of the exploding monsters, nearly looking like they had accidentally tripped into their targets.

Fortunately, that was more than enough to prompt explosions, which again didn’t seem to affect the other monsters despite being literally an inch away from the detonations.

Effectively neutered now that none of them could explode and harm the Party, he eventually had the Gremklin gather together – once the traps’ effects wore off – into a large group that reached 33 in number, all of them standing perfectly still as they stared at Thaden, awaiting orders.  He did all of this while the others warily backed up, their movements showing their confusion, but they also somehow intuited that Thaden had control of them.

“What… what did you do?” Warven asked after a few seconds of silence.

Thaden cleared his throat, somewhat amazed that it had actually worked, but not wanting to show how astonished he was, as well.  “I, uh, used my Weak Enthrall spell to take control of them.  They can’t actually fight, only defend or use non-damaging abilities, but they’re all effectively under my command.  I can also siphon Health from them using another spell to heal all of you,” he explained, before doing just that with a cast of Weak Health Siphon, targeting one of the Swarmers and Warven, who had taken a small amount of damage from the explosion that knocked him on his back.

It took a few seconds for the spell to activate, thanks to Thaden’s Delayed Satisfaction Advancement, but when it did, the Swarmer immediately dropped to half-Health (which was the limit of the Siphon spell), and Warven was completely healed.  With a 900% increase in spell effectiveness thanks to Delayed Satisfaction, plus another 300% increase in healing and reduction for all healing spells from Strongest Healing, and then adding the 50% bonus from Fortunate Catastrophe, the normal 5 Health that was siphoned from the spell was increased to 67.5, which was more than enough to heal the Party leader’s small injuries.

“I see.”  The entire Party was silent as this was revealed, before Warven continued speaking by asking, “How long are they… enthralled?”

“Indefinitely,” Thaden answered.  “Or, at least, as long as I maintain the spell.”  While he could theoretically cancel the channeled Weak Enthrall spell, thereby freeing the enthralled Gremklins, there was no reason to unless he wanted to cast another channeled spell – as he could currently only have a single channeled spell active.  The 1 Mana per second upkeep cost was negated by the fact that his Mana was effectively infinite.

“That’s impossible.  I assume that spells like that must have a cost associated with them, don’t they?”

Thaden nodded, acknowledging the accuracy of the assumption.  “They do.”  He didn’t necessarily like revealing that he had unlimited Mana, so he came up with another explanation.  “But my other Class, uh, gets rid of that cost.  So, it’s essentially free to maintain the spell indefinitely.”

“That’s extremely broken.  How has the Assimilation System not fixed something like that?” Unarven queried, shaking her head at the absurdity of what Thaden had just revealed.

Oh, it has certainly tried.  He didn’t say that, however, and instead just shrugged.

“Well, whatever it means, I think we can take advantage of this,” Warven said, with a slow smile that was a bit frightening, considering he was basically a tiger-demon and had large, deadly teeth on display.  Thaden couldn’t argue with the statement, however, because now that he’d had a taste of what a few of his spells could do, he was eager to test the rest of them out.

This should be quite interesting.

Plans for Dec 28-Jan 2

Merry Christmas, everyone!

I attempted to write more today, but with all the Christmas prep, I couldn't get my head into it, so I decided to cut it short. I spent a few hours posting and promoting my free eBooks, so if you haven't seen the post yet, download a bunch of them before Christmas ends!

I'm taking the rest of the week off, and on Sunday I'll be wrapping up the last of The Affinity Collector so that it is ready for publication. After that, I only really have a few minor plans throughout the week, such as my end-of-year accounting, but otherwise I'll be writing most of the time.

Plans for next week:

Sunday: Wrapping up The Affinity Collector

Monday-Friday: Writing Healer Arc 2

Have a Merry Christmas and an amazing weekend!

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Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The Branch Leader for the Felith Adventurer’s Coalition worked extremely quickly, so much so that Thaden barely had a chance to catch his breath after his stressful conversation with her.  He had done his best to fake as much confidence as he could during their talk, and at the end, it seemed like he had succeeded in creating a mysterious objective for himself being in the area – which was mostly supplied by Rivella as she offered her own opinions.  The fact that she had seemingly decided that it was the Adversary that had reset him back down to Level 1 and messed with his memories was a blessing in disguise, as it helpfully provided a blanket excuse as to Thaden’s current condition.

Less than an hour after their conversation, he had not only been introduced to a Party of Netherines in need of a Support Class, all of them at Level 5 and right on the cusp of being too high of a Level for him to earn any PICK when they fought monsters, but were currently on the road to a nearby dungeon that had appeared a few weeks before.  Unfortunately, despite searching through the Branch’s available equipment for anything that Thaden might be able to borrow, Rivella had been unable to find anything – which wasn’t too surprising based on being a Support Class and at Level 1.  Even on Tarth, there had been very few items that he’d picked up that would be usable by multiple Class types, let alone at such a low Level.

Instead, he was provided with a sturdy brown robe that had to be cut down to fit him, as it seemed to be originally made for a Netherine, but it didn’t provide anything in terms of stats or other abilities.  It was basically just a cloth robe with a leather belt used to cinch it around his waist, so ordinary that he couldn’t even add his Condensed Adaptable Mimicry Plate to it.  It was thicker and a better quality of clothing than what he’d been essentially wearing since just after he arrived in town, but it wasn’t exactly top of the line or would provide any significant defense. 

He had no weapon, of course, as a Support Class couldn’t wield one, so all he had was the clothes on his back, some leather shoes that were at least comfortable if not exactly a great defense, and a few days’ worth of food in his internal Inventory.  It’ll have to be enough.

“Hurry it up, Human,” Thaden heard demanded of him from the leader of his sudden Party, Warven, who didn’t even bother looking back at him as he spoke.  “We still have at least an hour of travel before we get to the dungeon, and that’s at our rate of speed.”

The derision in the Netherine’s tone was unmistakable, as was the annoyance in the glances back at him from the others.  While Rivella had managed to squeeze him into the Party at the last moment, as they were already going out to the dungeon, that didn’t mean they were happy about it.  Even if he was going along as a Support, which was a Class type that they didn’t already have, it was more than obvious that they weren’t pleased with the situation.

“Yeah, we wouldn’t want you to fall behind and accidentally encounter one of the Razorfoot Boars out here by yourself – they’d slice you up in seconds,” their Party Mage, Unarven, joked.  The others chuckled along with him, as if the thought of him dying was something they wouldn’t be too broken up about if it were to happen.  Clearly, the actual Adventurers in the Coalition weren’t as dedicated to respecting his Badge Rank as those involved in the inner workings of the organization, as they didn’t seem to care that he had a high Rank.  They were more concerned that he would be a liability rather than an asset – for which he couldn’t honestly blame them. 

Sadly, I know how they feel.  There were times on Tarth when I was required to group up with people in a Party or a Raid, and it felt like I was wasting my time with them.  I don’t particularly like being on this side of the situation.

As for the other two Netherines in the Party, Harven and Scarven, they didn’t say anything to him – but they didn’t have to; their opinion of Thaden was clear to see.  It probably didn’t help that all 4 of them were siblings, though they hadn’t been introduced as that to him; instead, he gathered that information based on their easy familiarity with each other, in addition to their naming conventions.  Warven, Unarven, Harven, and Scarven were the typical low-Level Party with a Warven as their Fighter Class, Unarven as their Mage, Harven was their Control, and Scarven was their Scout; they had relatively basic Classes as an Untested Swordsman, Apprentice Water Mage, Novice Trapper, and Stalker Trainee – a good mix of Classes for a Party.

It had been a long time since he’d fought alongside people with non-evolved Classes, and even then, it had been largely Thaden that had actually done all the fighting.  Still, with how handicapped he was in his own abilities, he wasn’t sure how well he’d fit into the Party – especially with how they didn’t actually want him along.  He wasn’t too worried that they would deliberately let him die, however, as they were apparently given a Quest by local Coalition Leader to keep him safe, which was probably the only reason they agreed to suffer his presence.  Thaden also received a Quest, though his was related to the dungeon they were journeying towards.

[Quest Type: DUNGEON MAINTENANCE

Rank Requirement: Wood

Quest Time Limit: 3 days

Quest Difficulty: Low-Minimal

Minimum Recommended Level: 3

Minimum Recommended Party Size: 5

Quest Description: A new dungeon has appeared within range of Felith and needs to be culled!  Visit the Blasted Caves and eliminate at least 100 of the monsters found within its confines

Completion Requirements: Kill 100 monsters in the Blasted Caves Dungeon (Minimal)

Quest Rewards: 2 silver, 5.0 PICK, and 2 Rank Progress up to Copper

Bonus Completion Requirements: Completely clear the Blasted Caves Dungeon (Minimal) and shut it down entirely

Bonus Quest Rewards: All prior rewards in addition to 5 silver, 20.0 PICK, and 5 Rank Progress up to Copper]

When he first saw the rewards for the Quest, he questioned them because the PICK he could receive from completing it was frankly ridiculous.  He was used to gaining hundreds and thousands of PICK from Quests, even at this low of a Level, and for it to only provide 5 PICK was frankly a joke.  It turned out, though, that this was the standard reward, and was he was reminded that Leveling-up took much longer than it had on Tarth.  He thought that was an understatement once he fully understood the uphill battle he would be facing when it came to returning to his previous strength.

What was also different was the Bonus Completion, which revolved around shutting down the dungeon.  When he was on Tarth, the dungeons stuck around and were essentially permanent; they could be cleared, but they didn’t go away.  Here, though, as soon as most dungeons were fully cleared, they would immediately shut down and disappear, ejecting those inside of it back into the world.  There were plenty of dungeons that were a bit more permanent, which apparently happened once they reached a certain persistence threshold, but none of them were around Felith; they typically just investigated and cleared the dungeons that appeared periodically, keeping the Adversary from gaining too much of a hold in the local area.

Some of the aforementioned Razorfoot Boars appeared as they traveled along though the lightly forested areas toward their destination, all of which immediately targeted Thaden as the biggest threat.  Thanks to his Bonus Trait that came with his Fortunate Catastrophe Class, which made every hostile target within 3 miles focus on Thaden, this would continue to happen, but the Netherines in his Party took the unusual phenomenon in stride.

“They must see him as a tasty treat,” Unarven said, even as he sent a solidified bolt of water through the large, Level 4 Boar’s skull, killing it after Warven blocked its initial charge toward Thaden.  It didn’t have much chance against the Party, who treated the sharp-footed beast more like a nuisance than a threat, as they were apparently well-acquainted with handling them.  Once it was dead, he received his first PICK of his new life on Plangea.

You have slain a Razorfoot Boar – Minimal – Level 4!

You have received 0.2 PICK!

Apparently, the minimum amount of PICK anyone could earn from killing a monster, as long as they provided PICK at all, was 0.1 PICK – which was a shock to Thaden after his experience on Tarth.  He’d been told that it would be harder to accumulate enough PICK to Level up, and now the evidence of that was plain to see.  From what he could determine, the Party would normally have gained 2 PICK total from killing the Boar, which was then split 5 ways; that was then reduced even further because the Level of the Boar was lower than the highest Level of the Party members, giving Thaden – and the other Party members – 0.2 PICK when all was said and done.

Except that wasn’t all.  Thaden’s Fortunate Catastrophe Class affected the PICK he and the other members of his Party earned by 30%, with a very small chance (Fortuity/1,000%) that they would be increased by 300%.  He wasn’t expecting the latter to happen all that much, if at all, until his Fortuity stat was boosted to high Levels again, but the 30% increase was still nice.

You have slain a Razorfoot Boar – Minimal – Level 4!

You have received 0.2 PICK!

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

You have received 0.3 PICK!

It wasn’t a huge difference in the PICK he received, but it was the difference between having to kill 500 of those Level 4 Boars without the bonus trait and killing 333 Boars with it in order to get to Level 2 – at least while he was in his Party.  It was possible that he could start raking in a lot of PICK if he was on his own, but for now, he needed others to help do the fighting for him. 

Strangely, none of his Party members even mentioned the extra PICK they earned; either they didn’t notice it, or they didn’t think it was important enough to talk about.  Thaden didn’t say anything about it, either, as he didn’t want to call attention to himself further than he already did as the only Human around the area.

They also extracted some loot from the Boars, which wasn’t much – but it was still more than a full day’s work in the fields. 

Extraction complete!

Loot obtained:

3 Copper coins (total of 15 Copper coins divided among 5 party members)

1 Boarhide Remnant (Common) (total of 5 Boarhide Remnants divided among 5 party members)

Unfortunately, his Inventory was already so full that he couldn’t fit the Boarhide Remnant he received, which was a piece of material he figured was used in crafting, so he had to give it to one of the other Party members to hold for him.  Whether or not he would get it back once they were done was up in the air, as he figured they might keep it as a fee for helping him to Level-up, but he didn’t care all that much; he would much rather have the coins he was receiving from the kills, as it was much more portable.  Of course, if they made a habit of not sharing his loot, he would begin to have an issue with them, but for now, it wasn’t something he had the energy to worry about.

As they traveled over the landscape on their way to the dungeon, Thaden finally had the opportunity to look at something that he’d been putting off since he arrived in this world.  Now that he had a new Class, it was now important to review his Competency Advancements.  Amazingly, all of his hard work in raising his Competencies, which were essentially a measure of how “competent” he was in regards to casting spells, his natural Health regeneration, psychic resiliency, and leadership qualities, had been maintained when he was transferred to Plangea, unlike all of his other Achievements.  This made a huge difference, as his Support and Defensive Spellcasting Competencies were quite a high Level, though they weren’t necessarily as important as ones like his Spiritual Spellcasting and Natural Regeneration Competencies, as those ones were going to be vital to staying alive while he was in his relatively weakened state.

While his Competency Levels had been maintained, the same couldn’t be said for his Advancements, which came at different Competency Level thresholds.  With them all being reset, he had to make some decisions; he’d put them off until now, as he wasn’t sure what would be necessary to properly use his spells, though he’d certainly taken a look at them over the last 6 months in the hope that he might be able to actually cast some of his overpowered spells he had in his spell list.  Unfortunately, while there were some options to change the Mana cost, there weren’t any that would actually allow him to cast anything for a long while. 

First, he looked at his Support Spellcasting Competency options, which was going to be fairly influential, given that he had 9 Advancements to spend.  Each time he spent one of his Advancements, the list would update if their was a higher tier of that particular Advancement, but all of the ones that he’d previous unlocked were represented at the start.

Please select (9) Advancements for your Support Spellcasting Competency:

Faster Healing – All Support spells now have a 66% permanent casting time decrease

Longer Healing – All Support spells now have a 66% permanent duration increase

Stronger Healing – All Support spells now heal or reduce 66% more Health

Group Healing – All multi-target Support spells now have a 66% range increase

Self Healing – All single-target Support spells now heal or reduce 133% more Health

Afterglow – All Support spells now heal an extra 1% of max Health every 5 seconds for 60 seconds

Instant Gratification – All Support spells are now instant-cast, but have triple the Mana Cost

Ready To Go – All spell cooldowns are reduced by 50%

Extracurricular Toys – An additional channeled Support spell can be cast through the use of a focus stone; all existing Mana costs or other limitations that apply to all channeled spells will still apply

Promiscuous Healing – All single-target Support spells with a duration have a 33% chance to spread to an adjacent target within 9 feet every 3 seconds, with a renewed duration

Blessed Virginity – After entering combat, the first spell that you cast upon every target that replenishes Health increases the amount of Health replenished by 369%; after the first healing spell is completed, those targets then receive a 30% reduction in all healing done to them

Delayed Satisfaction – All Support effects and spells cast upon all targets have their activation delayed by 3 seconds, but then have a 900% increase in spell effectiveness once they are active

These could be useful.  Thaden quickly chose Ready To Go, as all spell cooldowns being reduced by 50% was amazing, followed by Extracurricular Toys – which would come in handy later once he was able to cast more than one channeled Support spell again.  With his remaining 7 selections, he chose Afterglow, Stronger Healing, Even Stronger Healing, and Strongest Healing (which eventually became a 300% increase or decrease in Health from Support spells), followed by Faster Healing and Group Healing – so that he could cast his Support spells faster and heal groups of targets for even more.  Since his Fortunate Catastrophe Class allowed him to switch single-target spells to multi-target spells on the fly, it would be much more beneficial to be able to have a bonus that affected multiple targets.

Lastly, and most importantly, he chose Delayed Satisfaction.  It was a bit of a risk, as it would mean not being able to heal something almost instantly, but 3 seconds was a small price to pay for a 900% increase in spell effectiveness.  That increase also wasn’t limited to simply healing spells, but all Support spells; from his experience with spell effectiveness bonuses on Tarth, he had some thoughts on how they would affect the spells he could actually cast at the moment.

Thaden skipped over the Defensive Spellcasting Competency for the moment, as he couldn’t cast any of those spells at the moment; instead, he jumped into his Natural Regeneration Competency, of which he had 4 Advancements to choose from.

Please select (4) Advancements for your Natural Regeneration Competency:

Quicker Regeneration – Natural Health regeneration is now 50% faster

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

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

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

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

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

Onanistic Override – While solo, Natural Health regeneration speed is doubled, but is halved while in a party

The Little Death – Natural Health regeneration is increased by 333% for 10 minutes after being resurrected

Pain Is Pleasure – Natural Health regeneration rate is increased by 3% for each consecutive incidence of damage to Health within 30 seconds, with the time resetting at each damaging incident (max 300%)

The choices here were even easier, as he needed something that would keep him alive if any monsters managed to reach him.  Goes Both Ways was a no-brainer, as it was essentially a free self-heal since he had unlimited Mana, and then he went all-in on Firmer Regeneration, eventually getting Even Firmer Regeneration and then Firmest Regeneration.  At its final version, every time he was harmed and his Natural Regeneration was forced to kick in, his skin would be tough enough to reduce all further damage by 75% for 30 seconds.  All of the other options could be useful, but since he didn’t really have another good way to prevent damage until he had more Mana, the 75% damage reduction was the best he could do.

The only other Competency he had a chance to look at before they arrived at the dungeon, as he was trying to do it while running and out of breath half the time, was his Spiritual Spellcasting Competency, as it was important for his new Class.  Amazingly, he had 7 selections in which to strengthen his spellcasting.

Please select (7) Advancements for your Spiritual Spellcasting Competency:

Spiritual Domination – All influential Spiritual spells now have a 30% chance of success increase

Spiritual Connection – All successful Spiritual spells now have a 50% efficiency increase

Tantric Meditation – All Spiritual spells now have no Casting Time, but will have a triple the Cooldown

Karmic Balance – All Spiritual spells now have no Cooldown, but will have triple the Casting Time

Soul Mates – All battles of spiritual will against targets are successful, but the Mana Cost for all Spiritual spells are tripled 

Haunted Nemesis – When a battle of spiritual will fails, any backlash upon caster is negated and is transferred to the target of the spell

Spiritual Incubus – All single target Spiritual spells, when their duration is allowed to expire naturally, have a chance based on Fortuity/1,000 to consume a portion of the spiritual will of the target, permanently increasing the caster’s Personality stat while the target will suffer a temporary loss in Personality that will recover over time; this consuming effect cannot affect caster

Sadistic Group Play – All of your multiple-target Reserved spells now damage every target within range of the spell for a total of 10% of their maximum Health, before healing them for the same exact amount 5 seconds later; this effect repeats every 5 seconds; your damage and healing bonuses do not influence Sadistic Group Play effects

Ghosted Relationship – When a Spiritual spell is successfully cast upon a hostile target and then they leave the range of any of your spells, the hostile target will receive a spiritual backlash that will leave them more vulnerable to all forms of damage, increasing the damage they take by 30% for 9 minutes

When he had been on Tarth, Mana hadn’t been a problem, so tripling the cost of all Spiritual spells with the Soul Mates Advancement wasn’t an issue; now, though, he couldn’t really afford to triple the cost of anything.  Instead, he used one of his Advancement selections to pick up Spiritual Domination, which increased his success rate by 30%; once he chose that, the option to pick Greater Spiritual Domination and then Ultimate Spiritual Domination was given to him, which brought the increase of success rate up to 80%.   

He followed that up by selecting Haunted Nemesis, which would help negate any backlash that might occur from his spells.  Next, he picked up Karmic Balance, as having no Cooldown at all was incredible, even if it required triple the Casting Time for his spiritual spells; most of his available spells were instant-cast now, so it wasn’t that big of a deal, and for those that weren’t instant-cast, they would still be affected by the 50% reduction from his Support Spellcasting Advancement Ready To Go. 

With 2 more selections, he picked Spiritual Connection for the 50% spell efficiency increase, which he knew was important, and then with his last selection, Thaden picked Sadistic Group Play.  While his bonuses didn’t affect how much damage and healing the Advancement did, he saw that it affected every target within range of his multiple target Reserved spells, which included himself; it was a way to damage himself to trigger his Natural Regeneration Advancement, Firmest Regeneration, which would then protect him from additional damage.  Having a 75% damage reduction practically all the time was preferable to being completely vulnerable.

By the time he finished looking at all of those Advancements, they arrived at their destination.  As he focused back on the world around him, he looked past his tall Party of tiger-demons to see a distortion in the air that led to a tunnel entrance in the side of a 50-foot-tall hill in between two copses of trees.  He psyched himself up, ready to try out his new spells now that he had some of his Advancements picked out; before he was completely ready, Warven led their Party ahead, and soon enough he had disappeared through the distortion, followed by the others.  Sucking in a deep breath, he stopped a foot away from the entrance, before he took that final step and entered what his Quest told him was the Blasted Caves Dungeon.

Plans for Dec 21-26

I got started on the second Healer Arc! It's only 5 chapters so far, but once the holidays are over, I'm hoping to have a lot more time to work on it.

Next week, I have a funeral and a birthday party to go to over the weekend, so I likely won't be getting any work done. On Monday, I'll only have a small portion of the day to work, as I have some familial obligations, so there may or may not be a chapter. Tuesday and Wednesday I'm hoping to get a chapter out each day.

I'm taking Thursday (Christmas) and Friday off, and then I'll be back to work on Sunday, Dec. 28th. At that point, I have to finish up The Affinity Collector with my beta-reader feedback and edits to get it ready for publication, as it will be coming out on January 7th.

Next week, on Christmas Eve and Christmas, I'm running a HUGE giveaway of many of my box set/collection eBooks, so if there are any that you want to pick up for free, that's the time! I'll be making a post to that effect once it's live, so be prepared for it!

Plans for next week:

Sunday: Off

Monday: Half day of writing new Healer arc

Tuesday: Writing new Healer arc

Wednesday: Huge giveaway/writing new Healer arc

Thursday-Friday: Off

Have a great weekend and a Merry Christmas!

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Rivella looked across the table at the pale-skinned, fur-less Human as she tried to reconcile what she was visually seeing and what the System was telling her about this individual.  Initially, when she’d first seen him, he appeared as if he’d just come from the fields, dirty and exhausted-looking, which she later learned was exactly where he’d been; the fact that he had been working out there as a Platinum+-Ranked Coalition member was a mystery, as was just about everything else about him.

The Adventurer’s Coalition Leader for the Felith Branch had never actually seen anyone with a Rank past Diamond, though she was aware that they existed… somewhere.  So to see someone of such an incredibly impressive Rank there in her town felt like it was a mistake, but she couldn’t deny what he eyes were telling her.

Thaden – Adventurer Coalition Member

Rank: Platinum+

Human

Level 1

Plain to see in his nametag, a benefit of working directly for the Adventurer’s Coalition, was Thaden’s Rank of Platinum+, a designation that was enforced by the Assimilation System, itself.  There was absolutely no way to fake something like that, as they would have to somehow trick the System – which was impossible.  The Assimilation System was all-knowing, infallible, and powerful, and while it didn’t interfere with worldly matters very often, it would know if someone was trying to manipulate the details of what a nametag showed to everyone.  Coupled with the fact that the revelation of Thaden’s Rank had been a result of interfacing with the Codexical Access Point, there was yet even another reason not to doubt that Thaden really was the real deal. 

Yet, she had difficulty with the fact that he was only Level 1.  While Thaden had explained that “something” had happened when he was transported nearby, where he was found dead in the jungle, she’d never heard of someone losing Levels before.  He had claimed to have come from a developmental world as a Contender, but that didn’t explain how he managed to keep his Rank in the transition, nor why he was only Level 1.  It was all quite confusing, but Rivella didn’t bring it up any more than her simple questions.

Why?

She couldn’t exactly explain it, but apart from the System telling her that everything was on the up-and-up, there was a confidence in the small, fur-less Human that spoke of having incredible power; if not at the moment, then in the past.  The Branch Leader knew that someone would have to be extraordinary to reach that Rank, because from what rumors she’d heard, achieving Platinum+ Rank meant that they were highly trusted by the System, allowing them to practically speak with their voice and act on its behalf. 

Rivella wasn’t sure how much of that was the truth and how much was speculation, as she didn’t know anyone who had actually met someone of Platinum+ Rank, but she would rather err on the side of caution.  As far as she was concerned, someone with such a Rank was equal to an Assimilator in power, if not even greater; they had the authority granted by the Assimilation System to do pretty much whatever they wanted in the System’s name.

Which brought her to why such a person would come to Felith.  And not just come to their humble little town, but wouldn’t announce themselves immediately, instead of spending months earning enough coin to register with the Adventurer’s Coalition.  She’d done some research into Thaden after she had brought him to his room the night before, and the more she learned about what he’d done since he arrived, the more her confusion increased.  Her assessment of the high-Rank Human was further muddled when she accessed the CAP, trying to figure out why it seemed to have lost power after Thaden used it. 

While she wasn’t able to run a full diagnostic on the Access Point, she had learned that it had attempted to evaluate the Human’s Class and was unable to identify it, which had led it to pulling in additional resources to dive deeper into the issue.  That was further exacerbated when it tried to solve the same incongruities between his Rank and his Level that Rivella was still experiencing, before eventually granting him a Secondary Class – put it wasn’t a Profession Class, as it should’ve been.  Instead, it was a second Primary Class, which was unheard of; such a thing, however, could only be granted by the System itself, so the Branch Leader figured it was the System’s attempt to fix whatever had happened when the Human was transferred into the area.

Overall, nothing really added up, but with the System’s blessing on this strange, Level 1, Platinum+ Rank individual, there was nothing she could—or wanted—to do about him.  All she could do was do her best to treat him with the respect and assistance that his Rank practically demanded.

Rivella leaned forward, watching the Human sit back with his hands folded in his lap, appearing as comfortable under her gaze as if he was among his own kind.  She’d seen numerous other races pass through the area throughout her career with the Coalition, and invariably each and every one of them had been at least slightly frightened of the Netherines that inhabited the town; this man, on the other hand, didn’t seem intimidated in the least.

“Why do you think I’m here?” he asked in response to what she’d just asked, watching intently for her reaction.

That is a valid question – and I have to think about how to answer it.  As far as she was concerned, there was absolutely no reason for anyone high in the Ranks of the Coalition to visit the area, and particularly the town of Felith.  Is he searching for some sort of corruption in the Coalition here?  While we’re fairly lax here in following each and every single rule, I don’t believe we’ve done anything egregious that would need intervention. 

If he wasn’t sent here because someone was doing something so heinous that even the normal hands-off policy of the System couldn’t ignore it, then what could—  No.  It couldn’t be that, could it?  I don’t see how it could be; I haven’t seen any evidence of the Adversary focusing on the area, after all.  Then again, I suppose we wouldn’t know until it was too late, would we?  But if that’s truly why he’s here, how was he supposed to handle it by himself?  He’s just a Support Class, after all.  Unless he was separated from his Party when he arrived here?

“I can only assume that you are here on the Assimilation System’s business,” Rivella eventually responded.  “Has there been a surge near here that I haven’t heard about?  If so, where is the rest of your Party?  You couldn’t have been the only one the System sent here if there is something like that threatening us.”

That was the only reason Rivella could come up with that would explain a Plantinum+ Rank’s presence.  An unexpected surge by the Persistent Adversary, which could take the form of a multitude of high-Level NESTs or worse, behind the front lines could be the reason the System thought they needed the assistance of someone as important as Thaden.  Normally, the Faction Army handled the majority of the surges, which typically occurred along the borders of their territory, where the Adversary temporarily takes control of the area; in the case of sudden surges in Adversarial energy in other areas that only saw a comparative “normal” trickle of energy – such as Felith – there we special Raid Parties that would be dispatched by the Factions to take care of them.

But it was obvious that Thaden wasn’t from the Densartis Faction.  It would’ve been clear on his nametag, and while such an absence might be an issue in areas where the Faction army operated, as it could be a sign that they might be an enemy, that didn’t matter all that much to the people of Felith and the surrounding environs. 

“That’s a fair assumption,” Thaden said after a few seconds of staring at Rivella, before sighing.  “As for any Party that I may have come with, I didn’t have one; it wasn’t necessary, as I was strong enough to handle anything on my own.”

“Really?  As a Support Class?” she asked, completely shocked.

He nodded.  “Yes, my Class was—and still is—fairly unique and extremely powerful.”

“Wait… do you think it was the Adversary that caused your Level to be reset down to 1?” she asked, as an epiphany flowed through her mind.  Everything was suddenly making a bit more sense.  “I wouldn’t put it past the evil machinations of the Adversary to be able to do something like that, especially if it knew that you were coming to stop them.”  That has to mean that there really is a threat to the area.    

Thaden shrugged, but he didn’t deny that it was possible.  “That could definitely be what happened, but I really don’t know; I showed up dead, if you remember, and I don’t recall all of what occurred to bring me to that state.”  He waved around himself at the Coalition.  “I attempted to reconnect with the Coalition before all of this, but when I arrived, I was basically stripped of anything in my Inventory; I was turned away because I didn’t have enough to register, and no one here would believe me.  What made it worse, Unfortunately, was that my Class spells were so powerful that I couldn’t cast anything once my Level was reduced, so I was unable to defend myself – and was therefore unable to complete my goals.  Thankfully, by recently reconnecting with the Coalition and reinstating my Rank, the System was able to correct some of those issues, putting them off until later, but I will still have some problems being on my own until I grow stronger.

“Will you help me organize a Party so that I can gain some Levels, which will ultimately help me to achieve my objectives here?” he asked, leaning forward while looking her dead in the eyes.

It was almost automatic that she nodded her head in response to his request.  “I think I can do that.  We don’t have anyone that is as low of a Level as you are, but we have some newer members that would still be beneficial for you to join.  Give me a little time to set things up for you.”  She hesitated for a few seconds, before she asked quietly, her voice pitched low enough that no one could hear it from elsewhere in the lobby, “How long do we have?  Before whatever you came here for becomes a problem?”

Shaking his head, he sighed.  “I honestly don’t know.  A lot was lost when I arrived here, and I’m still trying to piece things together.  As soon as I know anything definite, you’ll be the first one to know.”

It was a bit of a non-answer, but she supposed that if the Adversary really did attack him while he was being transported to the area, jumbling up his memories and access to any of the System’s Quests seemed like a minor additional effect compared to reducing Thaden’s Level back to 1.  “I understand.  Is there anything else I can do for you before I get started on your Party?”

“Actually, yes.  Do you have any equipment that I can borrow?  I literally only have these makeshift clothes that you see me wearing right now.”

Rivella thought about it for a few moments, wondering if the Coalition vault had anything that would be appropriate.  Unfortunately, she couldn’t think of anything that a Support Class could wear, as any equipment suited for those Classes were hard to come by – which was normally fine, as Netherines rarely ever chose to be a Support Class, especially when there were much better options for their physical nature.  Sadly, she shook her head.  “I don’t believe so, but I will certainly check.”

“Thank you, I appreciate it.  Other than that, once there’s a Party that I can join, I would love to hear more about the surrounding area, such as what dungeons are nearby, and what kinds of monsters I should expect to see once I leave the limits of the town.”

Rivella made a mental note to have one of her subordinates provide all the information Thaden needed, as she worked on securing him a Party – after submitting all that she learned to the CAP, as she felt that it would be important to pass on why he was there in the first place to some of the other nearby Branch Leaders.  While she didn’t want the threat of a surge by the Adversary so far from the front lines to be true, she’d rather everyone be as prepared as possible for such an occurrence.  She would also reach out to some of her contacts in the Densartis army to see if they had heard anything, and to see if they could get any additional support.

Getting up and leaving him to finish whatever he was doing, she headed for her office, already calling for Benalio to attend her and start running some errands.  Her subordinate was already in a bit of trouble for failing to see how important Thaden was, and she was going to get to the bottom of why her staff turned him away in the first place soon after he arrived.  She’d heard vague rumors about him at that time, but no one had communicated to her that he wished to register with the Coalition; it was partially her fault for not having the proper oversight, as she had been quite busy with other matters over the last few months, but all of that was going to change.  It had to, if they were all going to survive a potential surge.

Because if they weren’t prepare, and Thaden hadn’t recovered at least some of his strength that he supposedly once possessed, then they might all end up being in a massive heap of trouble.

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 4

Chapter 4

It turned out that the Adventurer Coalition building had rooms for rent, or in the case of Thaden, his Platinum+ Rank status allowed him to stay for free.  Even though the Coalition having rooms for the Adventurers to stay inside had been common in Tarth, he’d heard no mention of it since he’d arrived in the town or Felith, nor did the building seem to have space for these rooms.  He quickly discovered that it was because the rooms for rent were inside a different building altogether, located to the rear of the main Coalition structure, which was where he found himself not too long after his experience with the Codexical Access Point.  The room wasn’t anything like the luxury penthouses he was used to in Tarth, but it was still spacious and the bed was massive and quite soft – a far cry from the long, lumpy cot he’d been renting from Arthrax.

Even the food that Rivella had sent to him was free of charge, at least initially, as he suspected that he would have to pay for it if he was to stay there for weeks or months.  Regardless, he wasn’t going to give up the chance to really fill his belly after having to skimp and save money over the last 6 months, and by the time he was done, he was so sleepy that he couldn’t hold his eyes open.  He’d wanted to investigate his new Class and its spells further, as well as what might have happened with the whole “synergy” thing, but he ended up falling asleep as soon as he sat in the bed.

The next morning, he panicked as the sun shining through the nearby window told him that he’d overslept for his shift in the fields, but even as he scrambled to get up, the sight of the bed he was sleeping in jumpstarted his memories of the previous evening.

“It really happened, didn’t it?” he said to himself in wonder, feeling that the hope that he’d been holding onto since he’d arrived had paid off.  While he wasn’t out of the woods yet, the fact that he could finally take advantage of his earned Coalition Rank to make his existence a bit more pleasant was a huge step up from where he’d been just 24 hours before. 

Sitting up in the enormous bed, which had been created for a Netherine to be comfortable sleeping in while stretched out, he placed his back against the wooden headboard as he finally felt awake enough to finish his perusal of his newest changes.  Within seconds, he had his Character Report open and was taking a deeper dive into his newest spells.

Weak Enthrall (Channeled): Battle the spiritual will of a single target and temporarily control them through magical enthrallment; enthralled targets can only be used to passively defend or activate non-damaging abilities; can only Enthrall targets at even or lower Level than caster.

Spiritual Will Battle Success Rate: (10% per 1 Personality and 1 Mentality)/target Level

Number of Targets: 1

Range: 30 feet

Casting Time: Instant

Mana Cost: 2 Mana per attempt; 1 Mana per second (while channeled)

Weak Subjugation Aura (Reserved): Weak Subjugation Aura reduces the spiritual will of all hostile targets within range, making it easier to bend them to the caster’s will.

Spiritual Will Battle Success Rate Increase: 10%

Range: 40 feet

Casting Time: Instant

Mana Cost: 25%

Weak Health Siphon (Single Cast): Weak Health Siphon transfers Health from a single caster-controlled target to a single secondary target; cannot siphon more than 50% of a caster-controlled target’s Health.

Siphon/Healing Amount: 5 Health

Range: 30 feet

Casting Time: 1 second

Mana Cost: 10

Based on the descriptions and other information provided for his newest spells, it appeared as if the idea behind the Novice Enthraller Class was that monsters could be controlled temporarily during battle, used to defend the caster, or siphon Health from them to heal other Party members.  It seemed like a mix between a Control and Support Class, with its ability to control a monster – though only defensively – and to heal other people through that control. 

Unfortunately, he couldn’t see a way to use these spells to kill a monster, given the fact that he couldn’t siphon more than 50% of an enthralled target’s Health.  It was possible that he might be able to use Weak Enthrall on a monster and have it defend him from a second monster, thereby killing his controlled target, but then he wouldn’t be able to kill the second monster.  I guess I could enthrall that one, as well, but what if either monster is a Level higher than me?  Apparently, Weak Enthrall will only work on targets my Level or lower, at least at this strength.

It would be quite useful in a Party, however, as he would have someone that could deal some damage while he controlled the monsters.  But being in a Party was a risk, as anyone within 900 feet of him would take 50% more damage because of his Fortunate Catastrophe Class, and he didn’t have access to a Resurrection spell that he could actually cast.  Still, that might be worth it, especially since he would be able to cast spells quickly, healing his Party members as long as there were monster targets above 50% Health.

He just wished that he was able to do more with his enthralled targets, similar to some of the spells he’d received from his other Class.  Thinking about those spells sent a tingle through his mind, and something told him to look through his larger spell list again, as he was fairly certain that something had changed.  Sure enough, he found something nearly immediately once he started looking.

Spiritual Spells:

*Celestial Dominate Spirit (Single Cast) – 5 Access Slots

*Celestial Spirit Drain (Single Cast) – 2 Access Slots

*Celestial Befriend Spirit (Reserved) – 3 Access Slots

*Celestial Spiritual Enhancement Aura (Reserved) – 4 Access Slots

*Celestial Spiritual Guardians (Channeled) – 10 Access Slots

Primary Support Spells:

*Celestial Reanimation (Reserved) – 5 Access Slots

There were a number of spells in his Primary Spiritual and Primary Support spell lists that had an asterisk next to them, which he immediately investigated.

Celestial Dominate Spirit (Single Cast Reserved): Creates a connection between the caster and a singular target, where a battle of spiritual will takes place; 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 loses this battle of wills, a spiritual backlash will temporarily decrease all their stats by a certain amount and the target cannot be the focus of Celestial Dominate Spirit for a cooldown period; if the target loses this battle of wills, they will come under the direct spiritual and physical control of the caster for a limited time, followed by a cooldown period where they cannot be the focus of Celestial Dominate Spirit; targets under control cannot use any offensive attacks of their own or be the recipient of any spells from the caster, but they have an ability to leach Health from other targets upon touch, which would heal their own wounds, as well as act in a defensive manner.

Domination Duration: 10 minutes Until canceled

Domination Cooldown (Success and Failure): 20 minutes 60 minutes

Backlash Stat Reduction: 20% 50%

Backlash Duration: 10 minutes 30 minutes

Leach Health Magnitude (Health per leach): 20% 5% of caster’s max Health

Leach Health Frequency: Every 2 seconds Every 10 seconds

Range: 60 feet 30 feet from caster

Casting Time: 2 seconds 10 seconds

Mana Cost (Reserved): 90,000 80% of Mana pool

Celestial Spirit Drain (Single Cast Reserved): Massively drains a target of their spiritual will for a limited time, allowing for better results in a battle or comparison of spiritual wills between the caster and the target; only one instance of Spirit Drain can be present on a target simultaneously.

Drain Duration: 60 seconds Until canceled

Drain Magnitude: 70% 20% of base spiritual will

Range: 120 feet 30 feet from caster

Casting Time: 5 seconds 15 seconds

Mana Cost (Reserved): 1,800 90% of Mana pool

Cooldown: 10 seconds 60 seconds

Celestial Befriend Spirit (Reserved): Creates a connection between the caster and a singular target, where a joining of spiritual wills takes place; the success of this joining 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 difference in spiritual wills between the caster and the target is weighed in the caster’s favor, a temporary friendly bond will be established between them; this bond will enable the target to defend the caster in any way it deems necessary to maintain their friendly bond, up to and including attacking other targets intending to harm the caster, though it will not attack its own kind; if the difference in spiritual wills between the caster and the target is weighed in the target’s favor, the temporary friendly bond will still be established between them, with the target being immune to any harmful spells cast upon it and any damage, either intentionally or unintentionally, from the caster or their allies will be negated; caster may only have one friendly bond at a time.

Befriend Duration: 20 minutes Until canceled

Range: 90 feet 30 feet from caster

Casting Time: 2 seconds 10 seconds

Mana Cost (Reserved): 30% of Mana pool 95% of Mana pool

Celestial Spiritual Enhancement Aura (Reserved): A persistent aura surrounds the caster that enhances the effectiveness of the spiritual and psychic abilities of every target within range; effectiveness of the enhancement is dependent upon Level differential between the caster and targets, with higher-Level targets receiving a greater enhancement; can aid in partially piercing through spiritual or psychic resistances or immunities.

Range: 120-foot 30-foot radius of caster

Magnitude (Base): 70% 15% increase in effectiveness

Casting Time: Instant

Mana Cost (Reserved): 20% of Mana pool 85% of Mana pool

Celestial Spiritual Guardians (Channeled Reserved): When Celestial Spiritual Guardian is cast, a number of spiritual protectors surround the caster, each of which possesses a variable amount of Health; each Spiritual Guardian will draw the attention of potential attacks in the caster’s place; when a Spiritual Guardian dies, there is a chance of a stackable spiritual backlash being inflicted upon the target which killed the Spiritual Guardian; so long as the spell is maintained, a new Spiritual Guardian will replace those killed after a small cooldown. 

# of Spiritual Guardians: 8 2

Guardian Health: 20,000 500

Guardian Cooldown After Death: 2 seconds 10 seconds

Spiritual Backlash Chance %: Fortuity/5,000

Spiritual Backlash Amount: 10% reduction in all resistances and natural regeneration

Spiritual Backlash Stacks: 8 stacks 3 stacks

Spiritual Backlash Duration: 30 seconds per stack

Casting Time: Instant

Mana Cost (Reserved): 6,000 per second 90% of Mana pool

Celestial Reanimation (Reserved): Reanimates a target corpse that then takes mental order from the caster for purposes of defense, gaining a Health pool identical to its once-living version; reanimated corpses cannot directly attack or use any offensive abilities, but can be the target of spells and effects; once Celestial Reanimation is voluntarily or involuntarily canceled, i.e. its Health pool is depleted, the corpse cannot be reanimated again by any spell or effect; target corpses cannot be more than 20 1 Level(s) higher than that of the caster.

Duration: N/A

Range: 60 feet 30 feet

Casting Time: Instant 5 seconds

Mana Cost (Reserved): 10% of Mana pool 75% of Mana pool

“Whoa.  What?”  It took him a few seconds after looking through each of the altered spells that came from his Fortunate Catastrophe Class before he thought he understood what had happened.  Each of the changed spells were related to his newest Class in some way, either by having something similar to Weak Enthrall or by increasing his chance to win a battle of spiritual wills, and it seemed as though “synergy” between the spells had led to the alterations.  As he focused on them further, he realized that they had all been changed to being only Reserved instead of Single Cast or Channeled, though the amount of Mana required to be reserved was high; more than that, with the reduction of how effective each of the spells were, he could intuitively tell that his Mana pool was adequate enough to finally cast them.

Are these spell adjustments a result of my new Class influencing them?  Will they change over time as I get stronger, eventually returning to their original Celestial strength?  He didn’t know, but he could only hope that they would.

With these additional spells he could now—technically—use in addition to his Novice Enthraller spells, he thought that he might just have a chance to succeed.  While there were certainly limitations to most of the spells, such as Dominate Spirit having a nasty backlash penalty if he was to lose the battle of spiritual will with a target and Befriend Spirit not allowing the target to attack its own kind, he finally had some opportunities to actually harm those he fought against.

His previous method of using some exploitative spells to boost his own Health pool, heal himself, and then leach Health from random targets based on how much he was healing for wasn’t going to work anymore – at least at the moment.  The healing spells he would need to get that strategy to work were far outside his capabilities at the moment, and he wasn’t sure when he’d finally have enough Mana to pull it off; in addition, he currently didn’t have any defensive spells or effects to help protect him from taking damage, which made him quite vulnerable.  It had been a long time since he wasn’t capable of arming himself with layers and layers of protective spells to prevent his death, and it was going to take some getting used to once he actually went out and started fighting monsters.

There was no hesitation in his mind that he would go and fight monsters, though, because he needed to get stronger and able to defend himself.  Being stuck in the town of Felith wasn’t going to help him achieve his goals, but now with these spells at his disposal, he was armed with something that could allow him to eventually travel the world to find Corinna – wherever she had ended up.  In fact, when he thought about the Codexical Access Point that the Coalition used, he thought he might be able to search for her through it, as it seemed to be a massive database that had information on every single Adventurer. 

But first, he needed to get up and speak with the Coalition Branch Leader, Rivella, and see if he could join a Party of Adventurers.  While he might be able to solo with his new spells, without the protections he was used to, as well as having no equipment, only a single healing spell, and with stats that made him basically weak enough to be killed by a single sturdy punch by a Goblin or something, he’d rather not chance it.  The downsides of Partying with him weren’t as pronounced as they used to be with some of his former Class evolutions, as the benefits could be significant – with the Fortuity stat being increased by 50% for his allies, and rewards guaranteed to increase by 30%.  That last one alone should at least get him some sort of interest in a being welcomed into a Party, even if they weren’t terribly interested in having a Human join them.

Finally getting out of bed, Thaden washed up in the bathroom, but he didn’t take too long, as his stomach rumbled in hunger.  Exiting his room, he found his way outside and slipped into the main Coalition building, where he found Rivella near the far side of the lobby, where the Adventurer restaurant and bar was located.  Sitting down at one of the tables there, Rivella saw him and signaled to the barkeep, and soon enough a hearty meal was brought to his table, which he consumed a bit too fast, making him feel slightly bloated – but it was worth it to be completely full. 

The Coalition Branch Leader for the town of Felith slipped into the oversized bench across from him once he was finished eating.  “I trust you’re feeling better?  Was everything to your satisfaction?” she asked, sounding somewhat desperate that he didn’t have any issues.  Very strange; is this a result of the System forcing her to ensure I am taken care of because of my Coalition Rank?  Or is there something else in play that I’m unaware of?  Regardless, I might as well take advantage of this for as long as I can.

“Yes, I’m feeling much better after the, uh, events of last night.  I appreciate all of the help you’ve given me.”

The important Netherine actually smiled at that, showing her teeth in a way that some unaccustomed to the race of tiger-demons might consider frightening, but he had become used to it after living there for half a year.  “Excellent.  If you don’t mind, and only if it is alright with you, I’d like to ask you some questions.”

Uh, oh.  What now?  Because he couldn’t quickly think of a reason to deny her, he eventually shrugged and said, “Sure.  What can I answer for you?”

“I only have a few questions.  First, are you really only Level 1?  And if so, how is that possible, especially with your Adventurer Coalition Rank where it is?”

Thaden nodded, as there was no denying it – as it could be seen as plain as day when she looked at him.  “Yes, I’m only Level 1.  As for how and why, there was an… accident when I was transferred here, and I lost more than a bit of my progress.  I still have quite a few advantages, however, and I believe that I can quickly regain what was lost.  Any more explanation than that is going to be difficult to describe, but suffice it to say, my current state is only temporary.”

Rivella nodded, her expression difficult to discern; he wasn’t sure if she was satisfied with his answer or not, but she didn’t ask for any more clarification.  Instead, she asked one more question.

“One more question, then.  What is someone of your Rank doing here?”

Thaden froze for a few seconds, unsure how to answer that; the way she asked the question, he could tell there was some sort of hidden context behind it, but he didn’t have enough information to know what she was really asking.

Eventually, knowing that he needed to answer, he folded his hands over his lap as he leaned back, trying to seem at ease.  “Why do you think I’m here?” he asked instead of trying to come up with something that might get him in trouble.

Then he waited with bated breath for her answer.

Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Because he wasn’t technically part of the Coalition and therefore didn’t have access to the entirety of the building, Thaden hadn’t been up to the second floor.  Now that he was finally there, he realized that he wasn’t missing much; the entirety of the second floor was basically nothing more than a nearly empty attic, illuminated by a singular box on a pedestal set up in the exact center of the floor.  The light that seemed to come out of the transparent box was a dull yellow color, making everything within range of the illumination look sickly, as his own skin appeared jaundiced.  It also pulsed like a very slow heartbeat, increasing and decreasing in intensity as he stared at it.

“What is that?” he asked, having never seen anything like it.  “I thought we were going to simply fill out some paperwork like I did back in my developmental world.”

“Paperwork?  That isn’t necessary here on Plangea, as everything it taken care of via the Coalition network,” the Representative said dismissively.  “As for the Codexical Access Point, it’s a way to connect with the entirety of the Adventurer Coalition throughout the world, allowing any information to be instantly passed between locations on the aforementioned Coalition network.  Unlike a developmental world, the System doesn’t watch over every single thing we do like we’re infants that need to be coddled, so it simply created the network and let the Coalition handle its normal operation. 

“It also registers new members of the Coalition—which is what we’re here for, aren’t we?”  Benalio seemed quite impatient by that point, pushing Thaden roughly forward, which nearly caused the Human to trip and fall.  Thankfully, he was able to keep his feet underneath him, but he was forced to quickly cross the distance to the transparent glowing box on the pedestal. 

“First, before you register, I need your payment,” Benalio stated, his massive paw on Thaden’s shoulder keeping him a few feet away from touching the box.  It took a few seconds for Thaden to tear his gaze away from the yellow cube, and almost like he was in a trance, he pulled out the 3 silver required for registering and handed it over to the tiger-demon’s other paw, which quickly disappeared.

The reason he was so distracted was because he could feel the sheer power coming from the box, which had the familiar feeling of the Assimilation System… and yet, it was also different.  The particular “flavor” of power that he associated with the System was there inside the cube, but it was more of an echo of it, as if it was only a kernel of what it should be.  Instead, what he mainly felt was much less concentrated, and a different “flavor” altogether, while being significantly weaker than what he was used to when directly interacting with the System.  He could only assume that while the System had originally built this “Codexical Access Point,” it had left running and powering it to the Adventurer Coalition – which was a good thing.

He and the System hadn’t really seen eye-to-eye when he was in Tarth, and he couldn’t help but think that it might be the same here on Plangea.  However, he also hoped that, based on everything he’d heard about the System being more “hands-off” on Plangea, which was further confirmed by the Coalition Representative just a moment ago, that he wouldn’t have to worry about accidentally calling attention to himself; or if he did, then the System wouldn’t suddenly swoop in and try to kill him.  He was told by one of the System’s Assimilators, a race that looked like the classic “greys” from science fiction, that it would rather have people it could control than let someone that was ostensibly outside of the System running around – which was why it tried to eliminate him rather than send him onto Plangea after he completed the developmental world.

That didn’t work out as either of them had planned, but he was at least alive, even if he had essentially been sent back to square one. 

“Alright, go ahead and place one hand on either side of the Codexical Access Point, and it will handle the rest automatically,” Benalio informed him, taking a step back while lifting his hand from Thaden’s shoulder.

Now that he was right up next to it, Thaden realized that the glowing box was positioned nearly above his head, as it was likely set up to accommodate the Netherines that inhabited the town.  Still, he thought he’d be able to touch it, even if he felt like a small child trying to reach something on the kitchen counter with the way he had to stretch his arms above his head.

Taking a deep breath, as all his hopes were dependent that something positive would happen, he stepped forward, reached up with his arms, and placed one hand on the left side of the transparent yellow cube.

Nothing happened.

As soon as he placed his other hand on the right side, there was a sudden jolt that passed through him, followed by a sharp stab of pain that seemed like it was trying to split his head in half.

Ah, crap; not agai—!

Thaden was unable to tear his hands away from the Access Point, which he definitely tried to do when he sensed something might be going on; unfortunately, it was as if his muscles had completely locked up and kept him from moving even an inch, forcing him to keep his hands planted against both sides of the box.  That was only a minor inconvenience compared to the pain flowing through his mind, and he felt his consciousness trying to slip away as the incredible agony continued without abatement…

…but oblivion was just out of reach.

While it felt like he was stuck in between unconsciousness and having to suffer unimaginable pain for hours, later he was told it was less than a minute before he fell backwards, letting go of the glowing box – which was significantly dimmer than it had been before – as he collapsed onto his rear end, before losing any control he might have had as he slowly fell onto his side.

Breathing heavily as the pain he’d been experiencing quickly bled away, leaving him conscious but completely wiped of any energy that had previously been keeping him upright.

“What was that?  Get up, Human.  If you’ve somehow broken the Access Point, Rivella is going to skin you alive.” 

He felt a not-so-gentle kick to his back, but he couldn’t move even if he wanted to; thankfully, he was able to speak, though his throat felt like he’d been inhaling hot smoke and ash, as it felt raw and dry, as if he hadn’t had anything to drink in weeks.  “I… can’t move.  Give me… a few… minutes… to recover.”

“You have until I come back with Rivella to get up, Human.  Then, we’ll see if you’ve done something to damage the CAP; if you have, you’ll be lucky to survive the night.”  Thaden barely heard Benalio stalk away, as every Netherine walked with near-silence on padded paws; he thought he heard the Coalition Representative start to descend the stairs when his mind had finally cleared enough to look at the notifications that were practically pounding on the outside of his mind for his attention.

#459931 Codexical Access Point connected

subject source detectedinitializing_

Welcome to the Felith Adventurer Coalition Branch!

Scanning for information…

Coalition Member information not found!

New Member Registration initiated…

ERRORsubject source not in Assimilation System database_rescanning_ERROR_subject source not in System database_

initiating manual override protocolssiphoning vital information from subject_

Name: Thaden

Primary Class: F&3034^## )@#GGH$#2

Primary Class Level: 1

ERRORsubject Primary Class not found in System database_attempting fix_ERROR_attempting alternate fix_ERROR_unable to resolve_

Primary Class assessment protocol bypassedSecondary Class not found_ERROR_

assessing potential originsERROR_prior Contender status unconfirmed_Secondary Class requirement not met_compiling Secondary Class options for subject_

ERRORassessment reveals current Coalition Rank 10_Secondary Class options expanding_

Please choose a Secondary Class from the available options—

ERRORnon-member status and Level incompatible with current Coalition Rank_attempting to resolve_unable to resolve_ERROR_

multiple incongruities detectedPrimary Class unknown_missing Secondary Class_Coalition Rank incompatible with status and Level_initiating restart protocol_failure_

accessing further resourcesscanning subject_Support Class detected but too advanced for current subject_attempting to replace_ERROR_

subject is undergoing physical and mental distressreaching critical threshold_searching for acceptable solution_

potential solution foundSecondary Support Class initiated to bolster subject stability_unable to allow Class choice due to mental distress_selecting Secondary Support Class at random_Class selected_

Random Secondary Class assigned!

Category: (SUPPORT)

Secondary Class: Novice Enthraller

resolving ERRORsbypassing incongruities and establishing existing Member status_

Congratulations, Thaden!  Your Adventurer Coalition membership has been updated!

Congratulations on receiving your new Secondary Class!

Current Member Status:

Name: Thaden

Primary Class: Unknown

Primary Class Level: 1

Secondary Class: Novice Enthraller

Secondary Class Level: 1

Adventurer Coalition Rank: Platinum+

It was a lot to go over, and while some of it didn’t make sense, Thaden managed to understand the gist of what had happened.  He was somewhat surprised that he was able to see behind-the-scenes of the System like he had in Tarth, as he figured that would be unique to the developmental world, as well as the fact that only a small portion of the Access Point contained System energy – but he was glad to have some context on what just happened.

From what he could determine, the Codexical Access Point used its connection to the Assimilation System to access the records of everyone that was supposed to be on the massive planet, and when it couldn’t find him – because he shouldn’t exist to the System’s perception – it manually tried to scan him.  Since he was never recorded in the Plangea System, which included his Fortunate Catastrophe Class, the glowing box had no idea what his Class was.  To try to resolve that issue, it moved on to his Secondary Class, only to find that he didn’t have one; that was an impossibility since he wasn’t classified as being a recent Contender, even if he actually had been, so it decided to give him one. 

That was when his non-reset Adventurer Coalition Rank came into play, giving him more options to choose from for his Secondary Class, but since he was still a Level 1 and wasn’t ever recorded as being a member of the Coalition, this inconsistency gave the Access Point a headache – which really started to affect Thaden.  Noticing that it was essentially killing him, the Coalition’s little box—aided by the System—fixed it by making a decision to give him a Secondary Class to help his too-powerful Primary Class, therefore resolving most of the errors that had occurred, and releasing him from the torture he’d been undergoing.

As he breathed out, knowing that he was fortunate that it had resolved the issue relatively fast rather than let him die, he realized that what he’d read wasn’t even all of the notifications he’d received.  The rest had to do with the final portion of what had been done with the Access Point, as it revolved around his new Secondary Class.

Novice Enthraller (Rare): While originally an evolution of a Control Class, The Novice Enthraller has been deemed incompatible with many of the necessary components necessary for a complete Control Class; as a result, it has morphed to become an experimental Support Class that can be a pivotal role in any Party.  Using spells to enthrall their targets, temporarily taking control of them, the Novice Enthraller can siphon Health from them and transfer it to another target, apply available non-damaging beneficial or detrimental status effects, or use them purely for defense against physical and magical attacks.    

·         Can learn spells at Weak, Minor, or Lesser strength

·         Relies heavily on Personality and Mentality

·         Has access to 3 starting spells

·         Provides Spiritual Spellcasting Competency, Support Spellcasting Competency, and Mana Management Competency  

ERRORsubject already possesses provided Competencies_searching for resolution_found_

You have received an extra Competency Advancement in your Spiritual Spellcasting, Support Spellcasting, and Mana Management Competencies!

ERRORMana Management Advancements inaccessible_rerouting Advancement reward_

You have received an extra Competency Advancement in your Spiritual Spellcasting Competency!

As he looked over the notifications regarding his new Secondary Class, which was something called a Novice Enthraller, he tried to imagine how this would help him.  From its description, it seemed as though it was based on his Personality stat, which he’d never really had great luck with keeping above 1 in the past without a lot of help; in addition, it didn’t appear as if he would be able to use whatever target he enthralled as an attacker to do any damage, as they would only be able to transfer Health, use any abilities that provided non-damaging beneficial and detrimental status effects, and in defense – like a blocker to prevent anything from getting to him.

What was interesting, though, was that he received more Competency Advancements to pick from, adding to what he already had available; he had been holding off from choosing anything yet, as he wasn’t exactly sure what he would need once he was able to actually fight monsters, but now he had even more to choose from.

He could hear voices coming from down the stairs, but they didn’t seem to be coming up yet, so he had some additional time to check out his Character Report to see what had changed. 

Thaden

Primary Class – Fortunate Catastrophe

Primary Class Level – 1

Secondary Class – Novice Enthraller

Secondary Class Level – 1

Progressive Internal Combat Knowledge (PICK) – 0/100

Adventurer Coalition Rank: Platinum+ 705/810 RP

Nothing changed about his stats, unfortunately, but he could now see that his Secondary Class was listed on his Character Report.  He largely skipped over the Celestial strength spells provided by his Fortunate Catastrophe Class, which was thankfully separated from his new Class, as he looked to see what he had gained from Novice Enthraller.

Spells: (125 to select)

Secondary Support Spells:

Weak Health Siphon (Single Cast) – 1 Access Slot

Secondary Spiritual Spells:

Weak Enthrall (Channeled) – 1 Access Slot

Weak Subjugation Aura (Reserved) – 1 Access Slot

Access Slots: 286

Competencies:

Support Spellcasting Competency (Level 31,524, 22%)

(9 Advancements pending)

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

(8 Advancements pending)

Spiritual Spellcasting Competency (Level 1,417, 35%)

(7 Advancements pending)

Natural Regeneration Competency (Level 456, 36%)

(4 Advancements pending)

Emboldened Leadership Competency (Level 1,239, 82%)

(5 Advancements pending)

Psychic Resiliency Competency (Level 2,028, 26%)

(5 Advancements pending)

Mana Assassin Competency (N/A)

Mana Management Competency (N/A)

Before he could do more than look at the 3 new Weak-strength spells he’d received with his new Class, he encountered a new notification he’d never seen before.

Spiritual spell synergies encountered – apply synergistic Class effects?

There was no further explanation, but he was worried at what it might mean if he said yes.  The last thing he wanted was to somehow lose the new spells he’d received, or perhaps even have them increase in strength so that he couldn’t cast them.  Therefore, he thought, “no,” and figured that he might look into it later when things were a bit more stable—

ERRORunable to execute subject command_synergistic application initiating_

Wait, what?!  Before he knew it, there was a flash of tingling pain throughout his entire body, but it only lasted for a little more than 2 seconds, when it then dissipated.  What just happened? he asked himself, but he was interrupted before he could investigate when he heard the deliberate stomps of tiger-demon feet behind him near the stairs.

“What’s this I hear about you breaking our Access Point?  If that’s true, I’ll be enforcing the Coalition rules to have you stripped of your membership and—” a gruff, female voice growled out before it cut off abruptly.

There was silence for a few seconds, and since he was facing away from the stairs, Thaden couldn’t see who was talking – but he assumed it was this Rivella that the Coalition Representative had gone and told about what was happening.  Any second, he was expecting to be attacked, but nothing happened.

“Benalio?  Did you happen to even look at our guest here after he touched the CAP?” the newcomer asked, a strange tone in her voice that Thaden couldn’t identify.

The Coalition Representative scoffed.  “What?  No, of course not.  Why would I—?  Oh.  Oh, no.  I’m so sorry; I didn’t know—”

“Enough.  Leave us,” the female voice ordered.

A second later, he heard the quick footsteps of someone going down the stairs, and a few seconds after that, he felt large tiger paws wrapping around his upper arms, pulling him up until he was sitting up.  While he was still almost entirely drained, he found that he was able to keep himself upright as a Netherine crouched down in front of him.

Rivella – Felith Adventurer Coalition Leader {Densartis Faction}

Netherine

Level ???

“I apologize for how my subordinate treated you, Thaden.  As a Platinum+ Rank Adventurer visiting out humble Branch, please let me know what I can do to make it up to you.”

Oh, good; it seems as though they can finally acknowledge my Badge Rank.

“I… well, I could certainly use something to eat.  It feels like all my energy has been drained away,” he stated, and Rivella nodded.  “Apart from that, I think I just need some sleep and time to evaluate my new Class.  After that’s taken care of, I would love access to some information that the Coalition can provide to me.”

“That is something easily handled.  Please, come with me and I’ll make sure that you are well taken care of.”

Thaden just nodded as she helped him to his feet, before practically carrying him down the stairs. 

Well, that wasn’t exactly what I expected, but I’m hoping that it will be enough.

Magical Fusion Collection: Books 5-8 is now available!

The second and final Magical Fusion Collection, which includes books 5-8, is now available on eBook, KU, paperback, and a 69-hour (nice) audiobook!

Amazon (eBook) US: www.amazon.com/dp/B0D572LM4X

Amazon (eBook) UK: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0D572LM4X

Audible (audiobook) US: www.audible.com/pd/B0G73JJK7V

Audible (audiobook) UK: www.audible.co.uk/pd/B0G73N1ZKR

Contains the final four books in the Magical Fusion Series:

Martial TransFusion

Corrupted SufFusion

Corps InterFusion

Divine Fusionist

The Kingdom has changed more in his absence than he thought possible…

After traveling across the entirety of the Sealance Empire and the deserts of Lowenthal, Larek has returned home to the Kingdom of Androthe to find that the situation is quite different from what he remembered.  Not only are there massive Apertures called Calamities consuming large portions of the landscape, but most of his friends are also scattered to locations unknown around the Kingdom.  Worse yet, they have no idea who he is because of the Dominion magic used on them before he was transported to the Empire. 

Despite those setbacks, Larek is determined to reunite with both his friends and his family.  Problems arise almost immediately upon entering the Kingdom, however, as he is presented with a delay of his reunion with them all.  As a result, he is forced to adapt to the sheer devastation he finds himself surrounded with.

Through it all, there is one truth that is becoming more and more evident as time goes on.  As powerful of a Fusionist he may be, Larek also struggles with fighting and anything more than basic combat tactics, as his skills in that department are sorely lacking.  It’s time to learn how to fight instead of just flailing around, swinging his axe and hoping that his higher stats will carry the day.

In other words, the Fusionist needs to undergo a much-needed Martial TransFusion.

This weak-to-strong MC story contains LitRPG elements such as character progression and statistics, as well as a heavy crafting emphasis. No explicit sexual content or harems.