She had no idea how Katie found three of them, all highly intelligent and extremely angry for some unfathomable reason. However, that didn’t prevent the slightly younger – though definitely crazier – girl from trying to talk the bees out of attacking their party. Then her ‘cat’ decided that a bee would be a perfect snack… And once again, they had to run for their lives as the bees summoned their queen, who began chasing them with honey-based magic. Very sticky and powerful…
Reaching up into her hair, she felt the remnants of one of the queen’s attacks and she made a disgusting face while casting the Clean spell. She wasn’t as proficient as Sam with the spell, but at least this much wasn’t something she wouldn’t be able to accomplish.
Looking at the others, Clarissa let out a sigh, then stood up from where she was resting. She was the leader of the team, she was the one who was riding herd over these crazy cats and ‘cats’ thus it was up to her to make sure they achieved their goals.
“Right. Let’s fan out and look over the site. We’re looking for nuns with blood fetish so the ritual should be connected to that…” she called out and the rest of the team, amidst some groaning, also stood up to help with the search.
They went methodically through the entire area, examined all sides of all the fallen stone pieces, looking for signs, symbols, clearly written step-by-step instructions, or anything that would hint at what they would need to do to continue with this accursed step.
‘It’s so much easier when Sam is here… he always knows what to do…’ Clarissa grumbled as she once again took out her notes.
“Water bathed in the blood of an innocent… what the hell does that mean?” she asked out loud.
“Well, if we are looking for people who hate blood mages,” Isabella spoke up just as she was on her stomach, looking under some fallen column. “That means that to them, an innocent person is someone who hasn’t touched blood magic.”
Clarissa thought about it for a moment, then nodded. That made perfect sense. “Who here hasn’t touched any blood magic?”
Both Katie and Dan raised their hand. Isabella, however, looked away.
“When I met Sam, I already had the Life of Blood skill…”
Clarissa looked back at the other two and eyed them for a second, then nodded toward Dan. “Your blood will do…”
Dan blinked while Katie pouted.
“I don’t know if I’m happy or oddly insulted…” Dan mumbled as Katie stalked to Isabella’s side. Clarissa didn’t care. She didn’t want to try to taint the ritual with whatever that woman had going on. With her luck, the moment the ritual started, it would rip a portal into a dimension that would drive all of them mad.
She reached into her inventory and took out a medieval cup. “Take some water and mix…” she looked down at her instructions. “…nine drops of blood with nine drops of water.”
As Dan stepped forward and sterilized a small knife with his fire magic, Clarissa was distracted by an exclamation.
“Found it!” came from Isabella, who was behind some ruins holding up (struggling a little under the weight) a small and weathered stone pedestal that kinda looked like a birdbath. Katie rushed over and the two of them carried the pedestal over to the circular stone floor – cracked and missing some pieces – and placed it into the middle, fitting perfectly into the small indentation that was there. They had to clean out the moss and other detritus, but a minute later, the pedestal-slash-birdbath was standing proudly in the middle of the area.
While it showed its age, all around the base of the pedestal they could see the same symbol, half a stylized heart with three drops of blood falling from it, and inside the birdbath had some runes around the edge that looked slightly shiny to Clarissa’s eyes as the sun bathed the clearing in light.
Dan stepped forward with the cup of blood and water in his hands as she absentmindedly cast a heal on his hand. She opened the instructions and continued to read.
“The mead of queens, sustainer of armies of spring…” she read out loud, taking a few seconds to parse the meaning while inwardly grumbling at Sam’s need for dramatics. “Honey. Fucking fantastic…”
There was a throat cleared, and she saw a hand holding a bottle filled with golden-colored honey.
Clarissa looked up at Katie, who was holding the bottle with a guilty look on her face while refusing to meet her eyes.
“So that’s why the bees were so angry…” she said flatly. Then she pointed at the cup. “Nine drops into that.”
With some finesse, they managed that. Then Clarissa took the cup and poured the small amount of liquid into the birdbath.
“…and finally, a breath of life, wonders of mana and life,” she read out loud. Thankfully, there were two words next to that in brackets.
Healing Magic
She reached out with her hand and cast her oldest healing magic, one that she was immensely familiar with, using mana control taught by Sam to focus all the magic on the brownish liquid in the birdbath.
As soon as her mana touched the stone and liquid, the runes lit up as she began, and the mana in the air started to move, like a sluggish bear waking up after hibernation. Then they all watched as the liquid in the bowl turned a solid gold color before being absorbed by the pedestal, causing the symbols on the base to light up with the same color.
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Then a rumbling sound and they all instinctively jumped back as the circular stone platform they were standing on began to sink into the ground piece by piece, creating a circular staircase leading down.
The only challenge in the tunnel that was opened up was that there were no light sources to illuminate the way. They spent a few minutes stumbling around before she remembered that they all had a skill that could provide light. Hell, one of them was a fire mage!
Just as Clarissa began to grumble, the stairs behind them began to also grind against the stone wall as they began to rise back into their original state, leaving them in complete darkness, only illuminated by a hastily conjured light ball.
They looked at each other and as one turned in the only direction and began to walk.
However, Clarissa found it rather eerie how no matter where she looked, she always saw Puffball’s cat’s eyes watching them with interest and humor.
At least she hoped it was Puffball…
They had been walking for half an hour or so – time was really hard to keep track of inside a tight and dark corridor – when Clarissa felt the ground rumble a little. At first, she chalked it up to her imagination, but then Isabella spoke up.
“Did you guys hear it?” she asked, her voice worried.
Clarissa reached out with her mana sense but the solid stone walls and ground surrounding them didn’t allow her to sense far enough to find whatever was causing the rumble.
“Anybody see or hear anything?” she asked instead, hoping the others were more successful.
Dan shook his head, Katie grumbled something petulant and Isabella answered.
“No. Just the rumble… is that…scratching?”
Clarissa began to listen, but before she could make out the sound Isabella mentioned, the wall next to them suddenly broke, showering them with stone, earth, dust, and everything in between as two giant pincers reached through the created breach, grabbed Katie – who began to whoop in joy – and dragged her in with a quick movement.
Then, as she froze at the sight of the giant hairy spider, Dan began to set everything on fire.
“I FUCKING HATE SPIDERS!”
“MORE FIREPOWER!”
“I’M DOING AS MUCH AS I CAN, WOMAN!”
“HAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAAAAA!”
“SOMEBODY TELL ME THERE ARE NO MORE OF THESE MONSTERS!”
“HONK!”
The entire area was in chaos. After Katie was grabbed and in turn tried to shishkebab the offending spider, the team soon moved into the corridors built by the spiders and other assorted monsters. They fought worms, beetles, blind lizards with acid spit, plants that reached down from the ceiling and tried to choke them to death and so much more.
Currently, they were fighting in a cavern that may have been at one time something like a birthing cavern, but after they arrived, it turned into a fiery pit of hell after Dan was surprised by a normal-sized (and normally behaving) spider falling on his shoulder.
The scream that left the man’s lips was enough to act as a taunt skill and gather all nearby monsters.
Took them some minutes, but they were finally resting in the middle on a fine layer of ash and who knows what. Katie and Isabella were collecting the loot while she was sitting and regenerating her mana while reading a new skill she got.
[You gained the skill Nightingale’s Sight!]
[Nightingale’s Sight: Level 0/100 (0%) (Passive) Dedication to the noble art of healing has given you the experience to keep track of the wounded and to always know who needs your services. Gives you a better understanding of the wounds suffered by those around you, both allies and enemies. When healing the most wounded target around you, the healing is increased by 1% per skill level. When used at the same time as ??? Increases defense during battle.]
Nightingale sounded familiar to her, but she didn’t know what the skill was referencing exactly. Though, because that effect sounded nice, she planned to do thorough research into the topic.
However, the best thing the skill did was to upgrade her HUD, allowing her to see more information about her teammates. Including their health and mana points, and the current list of buffs and debuffs in a very organized way. She had ways to acquire all that information thanks to her skills, but Nightingale’s Sight consolidated all that information into one easily digested set.
A few minutes later she saw her mana was full and turned to the others.
“Ready to move on?”
Getting affirmative replies from the others and an armload of assorted looted items from the girls, she stood up, dusted her robe, and began walking in the only direction they could go with a tired sigh.
The final boss was a giant plant monster, using spores and pollen to create zombified abominations that did their best to either consume them or based on some of the debuffs she had to clear off the team, assimilate them into the collective consciousness.
Dan’s fire bathed the cavern, while Katie and Isabella bounced from wall to wall, dicing up the approaching monsters and bulging vines that evoked horrifying images. Meanwhile, Clarissa stood at the back and used her new skill to expertly maneuver the battlefield and keep her teammates topped up and clean of the gunk being spewed everywhere.
The final strike into a venomous green bulb was delivered by Isabella who snuck around the fighting monsters as Katie wrestled with several giant vines doing their best to crush her while Dan protected them with walls of fire and rains of plasma spears from the thralls of the monster.
Clarissa saw everything seize, then fall to the ground limply, the monsters following the flora, behaving like puppets whose strings had been cut.
Silence fell on the group as they stared at the withering dead boss monster, followed by a chime of notification.
[Congratulations! You and your team killed the Sporemaw!]
[You’ve leveled up!]
Grinning, she approached the others for a high-five. She loved winning a fight without letting anyone die. The one who got the closest to death was Katie, but the crazy girl actually requested that as she needed to lose health points to use the most potent berserker skills.
“Hey! I found a great skill!” Katie called out as she retrieved a gunk-covered skill book from the remains of the monster.
Clarissa walked over and took a look.
[Berserkbloom: Release pollens that induce a berserk state in anyone it touches.]
She doubted it would be a useful skill, but then Puffball landed from somewhere between them, looked at the skillbook, tapped it once with his soft paws, and sauntered away as they watched the book change from its electric green color into dark green color so dark it was almost black.
[Abyssalbloom: Release motes of abyssal energy that will induce madness in anyone it touches.]
“Sweet!”
“That did not make it better...”
“I weep for the future…”
“Meow…”
After the boss battle, they returned to the original corridor, thankfully without being beset by hordes of monsters, and continued their journey, hopefully, to find the nuns they were looking for at the end.
Thankfully, they only had to walk for some time before they reached the end with an old staircase leading upwards. After another few minutes of trudging upwards, they were greeted by a stone door opening up automatically as they emerged from underground in a lush garden.
As they climbed out, covered in gunk, soot, dust, and everything else that the clean spells couldn’t remove, they looked around in wonder, taking in the beautiful vista.
Their wondering was interrupted by a gentle voice.
“Welcome, guests, to the Garden of New Life!”
Turning around, Clarissa saw a middle-aged woman, covered from head to toe in a nun’s habit in the color of fresh blood, with a familiar symbol, half a stylized heart with three drops of blood falling from it. The drops looked like they had just fallen from a wound, glistening with life and vigor.
“Greetings!” she returned the greeting with a small bow. According to Sam, they were peaceful but crazy. “Is this the Church of the First Drop?”
“Indeed, honored guest. Be welcome to the first and last Church of the First Drop!” the nun exclaimed with great excitement, raising both arms upwards in celebration. Then she looked directly into Clarissa’s eyes.
“Has the time come for the Great Cleansing?”
Owed bonus chapters: Three (3)
Titles:
[Apprentice: You are an apprentice learning under a master. Increased experience point gain in the key skill of the apprenticeship.]
Magical Items:
[Ring of Minor Health Regeneration: A small ring, made from subpar materials, with a low-quality magical gem. As long as the gem holds mana, it aids with health regeneration. Can hold 100 Mana Points, and regenerates 10 Health Points for every point of mana consumed. Current Mana: 100/100.]
[High-quality Troll Leather Armor: Created by a journeyman crafter employed by your own company. They worked extra hard to make sure to return your goodwill. Excellent quality, given the materials and the crafter. Enchanted to decrease the sound it makes during movement, as well as has increased durability. Thanks to the substance it was impregnated with the troll leather it lacks its customary weakness to fire.]
*Not actually bottomless.]
[Ring of the Shadow Fang: Made from shadow metal and accented with white moon-silver, this ring allows the wearer to summon a dagger made from shadow. The strength of the dagger depends on the wearer’s shadow mana control. The distance the dagger can move from the wearer depends on the mana control of the individual.]
Quests:
Active quests:
[Just walk in there!]
[Prove yourself!]
[Peaceful land, peaceful mind]
[Deli-Very!]
[Friendlessly into the depths!]
Finished quests:
[Monster Parade!]
[Topping the tree!]
[Reap what you sow!]
[Seaside opportunity]
[Another seaside opportunity]
[The booty of mystery!]
[Demonic demonstration!]
[The Test of the Survivor!]
[To the city you go!]
[Eternal Vigilance!]
[Returning Champion]
[Volatile Valley]
[Ride forward to be not killed in nasty ways!]
[Location, location, location!]
[Call to action!]
Skills:
Mana Skills:
[Mana Body: Level 7/100 (21%) (Passive) Your mana permeates your body, enhancing and improving it. The better your control of your mana is, and the more mana you have, the bigger the effect is. For every 100 Mana Points, it grants you 1 Base Health gain. For every skill level, it increases the Health Regeneration by 0,1.]
[Mana Shield: Level 99 (99%) Using mana, you can form a simple shell around yourself, which decreases the damage you take. Damage decrease depends on the amount of mana invested. For every unit of Mana invested in the spell, the shield will protect you from 9,9 (physical) damage.]
[A/N: Currently: WIS: 55 / MAG: 50 = 1,1 --> +2,1 Mana Regeneration per skill level]
[Mana Flux: Level 10/10 (MAX%) (Passive) The resonance between your skills is enough that if you cast more than one spell or use more than one skill at the same time, then they may induce each other. This induction allows your mana to gain a unique property. This property allows your spells to slip through magical shielding. Effectiveness depends on the strength differences between you and the target. Your spells gain 1% True Damage per skill level.
[A/N: Currently: WIS: 55 / MAG: 50 = 1,1 --> +3,1 Mana Regeneration per skill level]
Neutral Mage skills:
[Mana Unraveling: Level 14/25 (19%) (Active) You can spot even the smallest imperfection in the weave of the mana. If your control is better than the one who wove the spell, then you can attack those imperfections and unravel the spell or magic in front of you.]
[Spell Matrix: Level 40/100 (4%) (Passive) You mastered layering spells as very few have before. You can layer ( or connect any other way) together as many spells as you can. The cost of this action is increased by 5% (cumulative) for every two layers or spells.]
[Solid Spell Foundation: Level 5/5 (MAX%) (Passive) Your foundation is solid and unshakeable. The stability of layered spells is increased.]
[Mana Construct: Level 84/100 (22%) (Active/Passive) You can create mana constructs over your weapons. These constructs cannot be separated from your weapon. You have total control over their shape and size. For every level in the skill, the mana cost is decreased by 1% and the damage inflicted by the skill is increased by 1%]
[Simplicity: Level 5/5 (MAX%) (Passive) The simpler your creations, the less mana it costs.]
[Infusion: Level 5/5 (MAX%) (Passive) Infusing different mana types into your mana constructs becomes easier.]
[Complexity: Level 1/5 (11%) (Passive) The complexity of your creations doesn’t detract from it. Usually, mana cost would rise when the complexity of your creation increases. For every level of this skill this increase in mana cost becomes less and less.]
Elemental Mage Skills:
Wind Mage skills:
[Wind Blade III: Level 9/10 (99%) (Active) A spell that allows you to launch a blade of wind. The cutting power and speed of the blade are increased. You have greater control over its movement after creation. Allows you to slightly control its path after launching the wind blade.]
[Wind Blade Storm: Level 6/10 (7%) (Active) A spell that unleashes a storm of wind blades around you. The damage of the released Wind Blades depends on the Wind Blade spell and your mastery over it.]
[Wind Bullet III: Level 9/10 (99%) A spell that allows you to launch a bullet made of concentrated wind. You have excellent control over the projectile’s speed, size, and path.]
[Wind Explosion: Level 3/10 (21%) A spell that allows you to create a singular bullet of wind mana, and then fire it, which will, upon impact, detonate. The strength of the detonation depends on the amount of wind mana channeled into the bullet and your mastery over the Wind Bullet spell!]
[Wind Movement: 39/100 (19%) (Active) You can use your mastery over wind to move in any direction you wish. Your movement speed is increased significantly. This speed boost is increased by 1% for each skill level.]
[Wind Edge III: Level 9/10 (99%) (Passive) A spell that allows you to enhance the edge of any bladed weapon you wield with the wind. Thanks to the spell, the speed of your strikes will greatly increase. The power and reach of the blade will be greatly increased further.]
[Wind Affinity: Level 61/100 (17%) (Passive) You have a good affinity for the wind. Beings born of the wind will be more favorable to you. The cost of the Wind-type spells and skills is reduced and their power is increased by 0,5% for each skill level.]
- Wind Flurry
- Wind Bullet Barrage
- Healing Wind
- Wind Jump
- Wind Drill
- Wind Blade I-III
- Wind Blade Storm
- Wind Bullet I-III
- Wind Explosion
- Wind Movement
- Wind Edge I-III!
Utility skills:
Companion skills:
Shadow skills:
(Shadow Cloak triggers this benefit.)]
[Shadow Affinity: Level 30/100 (14%) (Passive) You have a good affinity with the shadows. Beings born of the shadows will be more favorable to you. The cost of the Shadow-type spells and skills is reduced and their power is increased by 0,5% for each skill level.]
Physical skills:
[Basic Armor Mastery: Level 91/100 (6%) (Passive) You learned the basics of wearing armor. Decreases the Stamina consumption slightly while wearing any kind of armor.]
[Clean Armor: Level MAX (MAX%) (Passive) Your mana got used to a certain spell, so the waste mana radiating from you will, over time, permeate and clean your armor.]
[Resistant Armor: Level 5/5 (MAX%) (Passive) Thanks to your practice, you can fully utilize everything that your armor provides, granting you increased resistance against the environment. Grants 2% increased environmental resistance per skill level. Environmental resistance protects against environmental effects only.]
[Durable Armor: Level 0/5 (0%) (Passive) You learned how to roll with the punches. This includes knowing when your armor can take a hit and when it can’t. Increased durability for any armor you wear from incoming damage from non-environmental sources.]
[Epic Breathing Technique: Level 9/10 (99%) (Passive) You breathe, and the world breathes with you. You move along your own rhythm. Decreases stamina consumption even more during any activity and further increases stamina regeneration when not in a fight. Gain +2 Stamina Regeneration for every skill level.]
[Tranquil Heart: Level 11/100 (54%) (Passive) Your heart beats to the same rhythm as your body. It’s efficient and harmonious. You have an even easier time resisting mind-altering effects and a portion of of those effects are reflected back to the source. The portion is 1% per skill level. You also radiate an aura of tranquility that confers the resistance portion of the skill to your allies near you.]
[Flow: Level 77/100 (9%) (Passive) Thanks to being a natural sensor, you can read the flow of the mana. Increases your stability and the bonuses any movement or martial art skill provides by 1% per level in the skill.]
[Focused Flow: Level 5/5 (MAX%) (Passive) When focusing on any enemy beyond what is normal, your ability to read their flow becomes clearer and more precise.]
[Controlled Flow: Level 5/5 (MAX%) (Passive) Your read of the flow is more controlled, allowing you to see the flow much better. Increases the flow visibility by 20% for every skill level.]
[Immersed Flow: Level 0/5 (0%) (Passive) When you start reading the flow a counter starts. After every ten seconds, the effect of the Flow skill increases by 1% for each skill level. Maximum 600 seconds.]
Parry: Level 24/100 (13%) (Passive) Decreases the stamina consumption of defensive weapon movements. It allows you to more efficiently and accurately parry incoming attacks. Decreases the damage of the blocked attack by 0,5% for each skill level at the moment of blocking.]
[Cleansed Body: Level MAX (MAX%) (Passive) Your body has been cleansed of impurities, giving you a more charming aura. NPCs and players will treat you slightly differently depending on their tastes. Gives a flat increase of +3 to STR, AGI, END. You can upgrade this skill by further cleansing your body.]
Resistance skills:
General skills:
[Dwarven Language: Level 5/10 (1%) (Passive) You managed to learn the basics of the Dwarven language.]
[Elven Language: Level 7/10 (8%) (Passive) You managed to learn the basics of the Elven language.]
[Dark Elven Language: Level 5/10 (1%) (Passive) You managed to learn the basics of the Dark Elven language.]
[Sarkan Language: Level 3/10 (42%) (Passive) You managed to learn the basics of the Sarkan language.]
Crafting skills:
Pet skills:
[Strong Jaw: Level Max (Passive) The jaw of the wolf is strengthened.]
[Lucky Aura: Level Max (Passive) Those who are in the same party as the wolf receive a buff to their luck. It depends on their luck how big the increase is.]
[Animalistic Mana Control: Level Max (Passive) The wolf controls the mana inside him based on animalistic instinct.]
[Animalistic Shadow Control: Level Max (Passive) The wolf controls the shadows around him just as easily as it breathes.]
[Shadow Spirit Body: Level Max (Passive) The body of the wolf is part shadows and part spirit, which makes it much more malleable.]
[Shadow Strike: Level Max (Active/Passive) All attacks started from the shadows receive bonus damage, and the wolf can clad itself in shadows, making its entire body into a weapon, while striking at an enemy increasing its range of attack.]
[Shadow Jump: Level 20/20 (MAX%) (Active) The wolf gains the capability to dive into your shadow and emerge from a different shadow. Range: 200 meters. Cooldown: 30 seconds.]
[Shadow Dash: Level 20/20 (MAX%) (Active/Passive) Wherever the wolf steps, he can leave small pools of shadows that the wolf can use to jump into. When diving into the shadows, the wolf can travel at an even greater distance with his speed increased by 2% for each skill level.]
[Shadow Claws: Level 20/20 (MAX%) (Active/Passive) Your companion’s claws are infused with the shadows. There is a low chance to leave behind shadow mana with each attack of their claws. Alternatively, they can actively increase this infusion of shadow mana and strike at their enemies with giant shadow claws.]
[Shadow Bite: Level 20/20 (MAX%) (Active) Your companion enhances their bite with shadow mana, increasing the area and strength of the bite.]
[Shadow Steed: Level 21/50 (3%) (Passive) Your companion has learned how to run while being ridden. Stamina consumption is decreased when being ridden and can carry bigger loads.]
[Shadow Bleed: Level 41/50 (8%) (Passive) Your companion’s claw has been enhanced by a chaotic shadow field which rends the area where the claws strike, causing extra bleeding.]
[Weakening Strike: Level 15/50 (21%) (Passive) Every strike of your companion's claw weakens the enemy's armor. The maximum stack of the effects is 3+1 per 5 skill level.]
[Shadow Heal: Level 21/50 (37%) (Active) Your companion can absorb the shadows hiding them to heal itself.]
[Runic Weapon: Level Max (Passive) The wolf’s claws and teeth are clad in runes that grant him a certain amount of ability to pierce through the impenetrable. Grants a 13% chance to do True Damage with the claws and teeth.]
[Runic Strike: Level 20/20 (Active) Lucky gains the ability to channel mana into the runes of his claws and teeth to enhance the damage theydo. The damage type depends on the type of mana he channels into it. Current natures are available to use: no attribute, shadow, or spirit.]