Intelligence is the premier attribute of the mage. Known variously as intellect, mind, or spell power, Intelligence provides all that, and more! The most sought-after effect is that Intelligence scales most magical damage or spell potency. However, it also provides bes in learning nguages, improved memory, and the ability to foore things simultaneously.

  - Excerpt from The Adventurer’s Guide, Third Edition

  Aliandra

  Ali watched Malika’s fight closely, admiring the irl’s effit and graceful movements. She had to admit she found the fluid way she moved and the obvious power itacks to be fasating. Findiy in a fight seemed unnatural to Ali’s entire life experience, a, it felt like she was watg a performance – a ballet of punches, dodging, and kicks. Only the stakes were much higher thaheater.

  Malika was currently beating up a level three rat they had found rummaging through a giant pile of a bones. Ali felt her assessment was on point, both of them had been somewhat cautious and uain in their first fights, but with experience came a certain fidence. Malika domihis fight and even Ali could tell the rat had no ce despite its violent terattacks and sheer physical size.

  It wasn’t just Malika. I feel strooo, she thought, refleg otle in front of her, and all the ges that she had experienced over the hectic couple of days since she had woken up. I have my css, and I’ve fought monsters and gotten stronger. While her css was somewhat plicated and fusing, Ali was growing to really like what she could do – the fear that had felt so debilitating was reg in the face of her new experience.

  Ali gnced about, taking her assigned role as lookout seriously, as she tiaking stock of her current situatiourns as lookout gave her some mental dowo think. Malika seemed to be overly cautious, trusting others only when there was no other choice. Seems uandable, Ali thought, sidering the small s of her harsh life story that she had shared. Ali didn’t mind though, she already sidered Malika to be a friend, and she was happy to be patient a Malika figure things out on her own. I’m lucky to have met her, she thought, w how she would have fared on her own, even if she had been able to survive the wolves.

  The simple strategy Malika had suggested for her with her skills worked incredibly well. She found that rooting the rats in pd shooting them from a distance suited her way more than having the monsters bite and cw her face. Holy, who would want that? And she was noticeably stronger now – her Grasping Roots and Are Bolt spells had both leveled up, and even just one skill level made an enormous differeo their effectiveness in battle. The rats took noticeably loo break free, and her pretty but deadly are bolts were killing the monsters signifitly faster.

  She looked down at her tattered and bloodstai-shirt – now almost unreizable as clothing given the great gashes and rips torn by the monsters she had faced. She was still running around fighting monsters barefoot.

  I hope I find some real clothes soon.

  Her gaze returo Malika’s elegant punches as she fought her rat. They discussed skills and strategy between battles and now Ali was beginning to be able to follow Malika’s strategy.

  Also, the rats don’t seem quite so scary anymore, that helps a lot!

  While Malika had been the oo personally rescue her, Ali had noticed she kept her distance from the boys within the group of rescuers, too. It’s not just me she has a hard time trusting. Initially, Ali assumed that she was the most unapproachable of the group, but as soon as she started talking with her, she found Malika to be eager to help. Particurly with bat and training, she seemed to thrive on finding the perfegle for a punch, or exactly how to pe’s feet for maximum power. Ali didn’t uand physical bat very well, but Malika seemed super passionate about it, her eyes lighting up with excitement every time Ali showed i.

  Suddenly, Ali’s reverie was disrupted by a rustling behind a nearby fallen trunk and three gaunt, dirty-brown furred forms slunk out of the shadows, eyes ily focused on Malika, not notig her in her hiding spot as the lookout.

  Starving Alpha – Wolf – level 5.Starving Wolf – level 2-3 x2.

  “Malika! Wolves!” Ali shouted and simultaneously cast her Grasping Roots on the weakest of the three. In their dowrategy discussions, Malika had stressed the importance of pig a good target. The lowest level monster would take the loo break out of the roots, giving them more time to deal with the others. A little surprised that she was able to recall the strategy in the heat of battle, Ali focused on the chaos, trying to figure out her move.

  Immediately, the other two wolves swung towards her, while the bound oruggled and thrashed in a vain attempt to free itself from Ali’s binding pnt magic.

  Malika spun on her heel, ign the rat she had been fighting, and charged toward the group of wolves. Her magic flickered and fshed as punches shed out at the Alpha and unbound wolf. For a few seds that old terror at the sight of the two huge snarling wolves ing for her froze her in pce, but she breathed her relief as they reacted to the more immediate threat of Malika’s puhen, the fotten Sewer Rat rushed in and smmed into Malika’s back while she was focused owo wolves.

  She’s struggling! Ali could only watch while Malika stumbled from the impact, desperately trying to blod dodge three monsters simultaneously. Distracted by the rat, Malika failed to block the Alpha and it sunk its teeth into her shoulder, staggering her as it tried t her off her feet. Her crimson blood sprayed into the air, staining the moss and bones on the ground.

  Judging by the freic paalika’s punches and the rapid flickering of her magic, Ali knew she was burning through her stamina and mana at an enormous pace. She’s not going to st. I have to help her!

  Quickly, Ali focused on the biggest threat; the level five Alpha wolf. Just as she was about to fire her bolts, she recalled Malika’s strategy advice. She’s expeg you to follow the pn. Switg her focus, Ali targeted the most injured monster – the rat.

  Her high-speed stream of are bolts lit up the area as they raced across the battlefield, smashing into the rat in a flurry of thuds and scorched flesh. It screeched in pain. Malika had stressed the importance of fog on the weakest enemy – eliminating an attacker quickly, she had said, was the most reliable way to turide in a battle. At the time, Ali had thought Malika was being overly cautious in trying to pn for every eventuality, but now, in the middle of the fight with her heart pounding and her breathing ragged, with the monsters snarling and screeg all around her, Ali reached for the security of that pn and g to it for dear life.

  Malika is ting on me. Her heart pounded while her adrenaline coursed through her veins. Everything faded except for her focus, eling her are magic to kill the rat and ease the pressure on Malika.

  Lost iensity of her purpose, Ali missed the wolf breaking out of the magiding of her Grasping Roots. A sudden snarl, and the wide-open jaws baring wickedly sharp fangs, startled her out of her casting and her magic failed as she tripped ao the ground. Ag out of panicked reflex, she threw up a barrier and the wolf’s face made a siing thud as it collided with the impervious disk of magiarling savagely, it attacked the ued obstacle at once. Desperately scrambling away, Ali tried to cast her Grasping Roots again as the wolf sidestepped the barrier and charged. Her magical jured roots exploded from the ground, trapping the wolf a little less than a meter out of reach. She tried to calm her breathing as she scrambled away from the snapping jaws.

  Too close. Focus Ali!

  Determio do her job properly, she refocused o. Only, this time, she created a barrier nearby between her and the trapped wolf, just in case. She poured her mana bato her Are Bolt and resumed her atta the rat oher side of the battlefield. This time, she kept gng anxiously at the struggling wolf, trying to gauge when it might break free. Splitting her focus betweearget, casting her bolts, and cheg on the wolf was challenging, but Ali was not going to be surprised like that again. Fortunately, the chime soon sounded, and the rat dropped to the ground.

  Ali took the opportunity to recast her root spell and to open a little more distaween her and the wolf. Resummoning her barrier to her new position, she focused ba the battle. Malika’s magic was ing slower and slower. She must be running low. I o be careful too. Ali had been spending her mana furiously to keep up the sheer number of spells she o survive, and she was also beginning to run low on mana.

  Ali focused her magi the weaker of the two remaining wolves that were still attag Malika. Her bolt stream made a graceful arc through the air as her mana draio fuel it. She kept an anxious eye on her mana but tio el her attack spell. Remembering the trapped wolf, she paused to refresh the roots. I won’t make the same mistake again.

  As her attentiouro the wolves, Malika finished off the weaker one, leaving only the Alpha and the wolf trapped in her root spell. I only have enough mana for a few more spells. Ali shot her bolts at the Alpha tinuously until she had to refresh the roots once more. She let her barrier drop to serve mana. Only one more. Suddenly, the Alpha knocked Malika to the ground as her magic faded. Her punches were no longer powered by her skills and her wounds were no longer closing to the light of her magic.

  Malika!

  Without thought for the cost, Ali emptied her remaining mana into her Are Bolt spell, sending the golden magic hurtling toward the snarling and biting wolf that was tearing at Malika as she struggled on the ground. Please be enough! The bolts flew in a tinuous stream until, without warning, she ran out and the spell sputtered and died. The three remaining bolts flew through the air, striking the wolf in the chest. Thump, thump. As the sed-st oruck, the Alpha colpsed, nding heavily on top of Malika. The final bolt smacked into the dead Alpha and Ali ran toward Malika.

  “Help, I’m out of mana!” she shouted. The roots would break any sed, releasing the final wolf. A wolf which was certainly very upset with her.

  Malika struggled out from uhe heavy Alpha corpse. “I amina,” she said simply, and sat fag the st struggling wolf. Ali cast around for something she could do. Her eyes lit on the corpse of the rat and suddenly she remembered her Destru.

  Do I even have enough mana?

  Trying the skill, she found she had regeed barely enough mana to fuel the tiny cost to start her strange mana recovery spell. Fog on her magic, she cast Destru o. The spell took focus and about ten to fifteen seds, and she was highly aware that the wolf would break free at any moment.

  As her magic took hold, the corpse of the rat glowed for a few seds. With a loud snarl, the wolf tore itself free and charged. Ali’s panic rose, threatening to break her focus.

  No, I need more time!

  Malika was empty, sitting with her head down, and the enormous wolf was bounding toward them. Ali could cel her magid run, but she would be uo fight.

  Just a few more seds!

  “Malika! Watch out!” she called out. At the st possible moment, Malika powered her body into a rising punch. She shouted as her bright magic rekindled and her punch ected uhe angry wolf’s jaw. With a fsh and a crack, the wolf tumbled to the ground, thrashing and yelping. Malika’s magic faded and the wolf got to its feet, snarling, approag with more caution. Shiftiance, Malika moved to block the wolf from bypassing her and attag Ali. She’s guarding me. Without any of her magibsp;Whatever brief fsh of magic she had used was gone now, but the wolf still circled cautiously, growling deep in its throat.

  Ali’s Destru spell finished in a fsh of dissipating motes of energy and a rush as mana flooded into her mana pool. Instantly, Ali cast her Are Bolt aied all her mana into it while Malika acted as her personal barrier until the wolf finally dropped under a relentless barrage of strikes.

  Ali’s knees grew weak, and she slumped sitting on the ground, heedless of the damp and dirty moss. Relief welled up in her as the reality of the oute slowly worked its way through her mind.

  We won?

  The bright sound of chimes rang in her mind.

  Yroup has defeated Sewer Rat – level 3.Yroup has defeated Starving Wolf – level 3.Yroup has defeated Starving Wolf Alpha – level 5.Yroup has defeated Starving Wolf – level 2.

  Grove Warden has reached level 2.+10 attribute points.

  Grasping Roots has reached level 3.Are Bolt has reached level 3.Barrier has reached level 3.Destru has reached level 2.

  Ali stared at the notifications; her close call quickly fotten. “I leveled up!” she excimed excitedly. “Malika, I leveled up to two.” Ali looked at her friend sitting exhausted on the ground in a pose of quiet Meditation.

  “I did, too,” Malika said with a smile.

  ***

  Iermath of the battle, Ali destructed all the monsters and then walked beside Malika in sober silence as they returo the retive safety of the Grove and the stone shrine. Ali felt pletely spent, and by the looks of things, Malika wasn’t far off herself. She had healed herself while Ali was busy with the monster corpses, but something about expending all her mana in a battle to the death was exhausting on another level, and Ali was sure Malika was feeling that too.

  Sitting down with Malika o the dark aed shrine, Ali asked, “That retty close, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes,” Malika respohoughtfully. “I ran out of stamina and mana. I had to heal myself a lot at the start when there were three of them attag me. Your roots at the end gave me just enough time to Meditate. I recovered barely enough stamina for one Soul Strike and then you fi off.”

  “I ran out of mana, too. I hose few seds to finish my Destru, otherwise I would have been helpless.” She reflected otle and how close it had been. If Malika had not been willing to put herself in the wolf’s path, Ali would have been uo help. Suddenly, she realized just how much Malika must have trusted her in that moment.

  “Thank you for having my back out there,” Malika said, smiling at her. “I know you’re this bat stuff, but you really stuck to the pn. In the heat of battle, that be very hard.”

  Ali looked down, her mistake gnawing at her while Malika offered praise that she felt she didn’t deserve. “I fot about my rooted wolf. It nearly got me.” The mistake was so obvious now, in hindsight when she was safe, but it could have so easily gotten them both killed.

  Malika smiled. “It’s ok to make mistakes; you pulled through, and that’s what ts. I made mistakes too. I could have managed my stamier, and we wouldn’t have had such a close call at the end.”

  Ali gnced over, surprised by her calm and level assessment of even her own mistakes. “It’s hard to keep traore than one spell at the same time,” Ali admitted. “There were a few times I felt I wouldn’t be able to keep my barrier and shoot accurately at the same time.”

  “Perhaps i a few more points in intelligence soon? It’s not just for making your spells hit harder, many battle mages say it helps with splitting your focus among several things simultaneously. I’m not that familiar with mages, but it could be worth a try. Also, practice should help a lot,” suggested Malika.

  Ali felt a little better about her performan the battle after Malika shared her opinion and advice. Turnitention inward, she decided to assign four attribute points to each of vitality and wisdom, leaving two points to try out Malika’s intelligence reendation.

  As soon as she had assigned her points, she felt something shifting within her. She definitely felt the increase in her mana, but there was something else. Her mi just a little sharper and a thrilling vigor coursed through her body. Curious, she flipped opeatus book in her mind, fog otom.

  Health: 45/45Stamina: 50/50Mana: 285/345

  Stamina remained unged, but her health was no longer a meager twenty-five. The four points of vitality had bought her almost double her health. It just seemed a little frustrating that a human, like Malika, would have gaiwice that much for the same iment.

  Oher hand, she had the advantage when it came to mana – four points of wisdom had increased her mana capacity by sixty points! She grinned inwardly, watg for a bit as her mana began to slowly tick up. Maybe my Fae heritage isn’t so bad after all.

  She and Malika sat together in silence for a while, Ali focused on what she had learned from the fight, trying to turtle over in her mind for how she could do better. After Malika’s kind words, her attention shifted from w about what she had done wrong, to more productive thoughts on how she could improve ime.

  Beside her, Malika’s hand reached out to rest on the shrine for a few moments before she spoke, but to Ali’s surprise, it was not about fighting.

  “Aliandra Amariel,” Malika said, softly. “You have an unusual name.”

  Ali looked up in surprise but immediately rexed seeing Malika’s thoughtful expression. “It’s Dal’mohran,” Ali answered, “from my home city.” She fell silent for a few moments, dwelling ohoughts of home, before adding, “A Dal’mohran now, I guess. My family pronou a-MA-ri-el. But it’s more than three thousand years ago now, and even the nguage has ged. I’m not surprised it sounds strange.”

  “It’s pretty,” Malika said, falling silent again.

  Ali could tell there was something on her mind, so she simply sat quietly and waited, giving her friend some space with her thoughts.

  “The Ahn Khen – my people – do not use family names,” Malika finally broke the silence. “I’m just Malika until I awaken my bloodline.” She stopped again; brow furrowed as she stared off into the darkness.

  Ali simply waited for her.

  “Usually, people awaken their bloodline shortly after earning their css, and then their parents pi awakened here’s a small set of awakened hat represent the most powerful aors, and your awakened name is chosen to be a guide or an anchor to help ect you with the Aor most suited to your personality. It’s sidered a very personal thing, shared only with close friends and family, or sometimes with a foe ynize as honorable.”

  “Are you worried that you’ll have nobody to give you a suitable name when your bloodline awakens?” Ali asked, realizing that while this issue seemed important to Malika, it felt more like the irl simply o ect, and share, and she hadn’t do for so long that she felt awkward.

  Malika paused, again seeming to be preoccupied, before answering somewhat obliquely. “I haven’t paid my respects to the aors sihey took my life away from me. I’m not sure they would be happy to share one of their names with me.”

  She seems sad, Ali thought, watg Malika for a while as she struggled with her ihoughts.

  “You call me Ali,” she said, breaking the silence, “if you like. It’s the name my friends and family used most often.”

  Malika looked over toward her, a little more present, perhaps a little surprised. “Ali…” She said, trying it out. “I… thank you.”

  Ali smiled at her. That st fight had been scary, but evehey had e close to dying, Malika hadn’t abandoned her for even a sed.

  “Ali, do you think the aors really are looking out for us?”

  Ali sidered the question, w what she was getting at. “I’ve never followed the aors or the gods of the other races myself, there don’t seem to be any Fae-specific deities that I remember. The human and elf gods always seemed to care most for their own races, or at least their temples and churches were not that weling. And most of the dwarves seemed to worship a se rock. The only people I knew who followed their aors as patrohe troll races. And they’re even more unweling of other races, sidering everyone else to be inferior. Why do you ask?”

  “My css feels like it was made for me. It specifically requires the Ahn Khen bloodline. I unlocked a soul magic affinity – just like my mother’s – and my css requires that too. It provides defense and attack skills based on martial arts knowledge… I just ’t see how aher than me could satisfy the requirements. How that be uhe aors created it?”

  So that’s what her magic is, Ali thought as Malika began sharing some of the details of her css. Her question, though, had been the subjeaures at the Dal’mohran Uy of Magid Ali had personally spent many long hours researg it in the library.

  “My css seems just as specific,” Ali said eventually. “I got a unique hybrid css – half my skills are bat skills, and the other half are research or knowledge skills suitable for a schor css.” Malika inhaled sharply. “Yes. My css is domain-bound just like my father’s, it mentions the shrine and even requires that I have remained here for more than three thousand years. It’s how I even knhly how long it’s been.”

  “Three thousand? No wonder…”

  Ali opted t. “The Title says A. I’m an antique.”

  They shared a chuckle.

  “So, the uy had a lot of resear this subject. My favorite theory is that any time we are faced with a turning point; a risk that o be taken, a crucial decision, a battle, a discovery, or something created, we gain experience. Even when we don’t have a css. And experienes with traits simir to the traits listed in your css and skills. Traits like melee, magic, creation, helpful, physical, harmful, defensive, aggressive, are, et cetera. When the system assigns csses, it matches your experiend the most promiraits to whatever csses are present. But sometimes it creates a new css based on your bance of experiend traits. That’s most likely what happeo both of us.”

  “You seem to know a lot about this,” Malika answered.

  “Researcher,” Ali replied. The css decision was one of the most important decisions in anyone’s life, and she had had access to the best library in the world. Of course, she had researched the heck out of it.

  “I’m just gd I don’t o go and apologize to the aors.”

  “I don’t know much about belief, and the aors,” Ali said, “but I’m happy to be a friend and listen if you need someoo talk it over with.”

  Malika gave a small snicker, shifting her mood. “I’m not sure I even remember how to be a friend. I’m sure you could do a lot better than a Street Rat.”

  “You’re my only friend,” Ali whispered awkwardly. After a moment, she added, “I was kinda hoping that the boys wao be friends, too. What happeo them?”

  “ wao che with his mother a her know he survived. They said they wao e bad level up with us, so you could probably try when they get back.”

  “You could try too, they seem niough,” Ali answered.

  “Ugh, that Beastkin is frustrating and annoying,” Malika said, wrinkling her nose as if smelling something nasty.

  “He has a good heart,” Ali tered.

  “You’re just saying that because he saved your life.”

  “True, so I like my life. What about the Half-elf then?”

  “? I’m not sure I trust a boy who is prettier than me,” Malika answered with a quirky smile.

  “You’re pretty,” Ali noted.

  “Are you kidding, have you seen us?” Malika said, with mocredulity, indig her own ruined, bloodstained clothing.

  “Not quite ready for the ballroom party and fine dining?” Ali asked, setting both of them to gales of ughter.

  ***

  Name: Aliandra AmarielRace: FaeTitles: A

  Css: Grove Warden – level 2- Grasping Roots – level 3- Are Bolt – level 3- Barrier – level 3- Destru – level 2- Runic Script – level 1- Sage of Learning – level 4- [Locked]- [Locked]- [Locked]- [Locked]

  General Skills- Reading – level 7- Identify – level 5- Sculpting – level 2

  Aptitudes- Languages: A Dal’mohran, Elvish, Dwarven, ana (Affinities): Are, Nature- Tiny (Racial): The effects of Strength and Vitality are reduced by 50%- Magical (Racial): The effects of Wisdom and Intelligence are increased by 50%- Mana Sense (Racial): You are sensitive to nearby mana

  Attributes- Vitality: 9- Strength: 4- Endurance: 5- Dexterity: 10- Perception: 11- Intelligence: 28- Wisdom: 23

  Health: 45/45Stamina: 50/50Mana: 345/345

  timewalk