“What do you mean ‘that’s unexpected’? What did I change into now?” Lanek asked incredulously.
“I mean that I expected your new body to be that of a dranrid, not your human body.” Eldros responded calmly, a slightly perplexed look on his face.
“Hold on, I’m back to my old appearance? How did that happen, I evolved didn’t I?”
“Yes, with some slight differences. You have kept the extra height and bulk, but that’s about it. I’m not positive, but I’m guessing it has to do with your soul and class once again. Your body changed, but your soul is particularly strong thanks to Soulbinder. You probably still thought of yourself as human, so when I created a new body for your soul to inhabit, the spell created the body that you most identified with. That and whatever dranrid essence that you had within your body was drained when you fell and that potential grove was created.”
Lanek thought about the Primordial’s words for a moment. He supposed it would make sense if the creation of the new body was based off of his perception of himself. While the changes from one body to another had been quite drastic, he had still spent decades in a human body versus a few weeks in a dranrid one. When he glanced at his character sheet, he noticed that his species had returned to Human (Transmigrated), but he still had the bonus stats per level of the dranrid. After he passed this information on to Eldros, the Primordial simply shrugged.
“Honestly, I have no idea. Maybe one of the greater gods or the System would have an idea, but the former abandoned their responsibilities and the latter isn’t really something you can hold a conversation with, so we’re probably not going to get an answer any time soon. Now, I would recommend that you take a look at your System notifications while you recover.”
“Recover? I feel fine, though?”
“That won’t last long, your mana reserves are empty in that new body and you will be physically weak for a few days until you get used to the new body. It may look like your original body, but it is not and your soul recognizes that. Your companions can go get you some food.” While Eldros was not a harsh or authoritarian godlike being, his current tone showed no sign of compromise. It was quite clear that the Primordial was not making a request.
“Okay, I’ll rest. And thank you for bringing me and the furballs back.” Lanek said, getting a bit quiet toward the end of his reply.
“Of course, I can’t let my first servant in a thousand years die that easily. Besides, there is still much we can do together.” With those words the Primordial turned and started for the forest before Lanek stopped him.
“Are my people okay? Did they survive the battle?”
Eldros laughed in amusement. “I would have told you if they had fallen considering that battle ended a month ago. They survived the battle, the guardian spirit of Caelis put forth some very impressive lightning magic to eliminate the other matriarch.” Lanek sighed in relief as Eldros disappeared into the trees.
Before checking his notifications, Lanek stood up and tested his muscles, immediately stumbling and nearly falling. He didn’t feel any pain, but his body just felt odd and fatigued. Looking around the grove, he spotted a nearby raised bed of moss and grass that looked rather inviting. With halting steps and the aid of his companions, he made his way over and sat down. From the way the mound felt, he would have been willing to bet that this was prepared for him ahead of time considering how comfortable it felt.
Glancing down at his body, he noticed for the first time that he wasn’t wearing normal clothing. Rather, he seemed to be wearing some type of woven grass or reed clothing covering his private bits. Well, I guess it would be odd to have my normal clothing or armor after my old body was destroyed. I’m going to miss the clothes, though.
The first notification Lanek pulled up was the most prominent. It was the quest details from the Void creature.
You have been offered a quest!
Purge The Void
Nalgaraz of the Void requests that you weaken its rivals’ beachheads upon your world by destroying their cults and followers. Your targets are confirmed followers of the Void and are actively attempting to infiltrate this world. However, their reasons for doing so are unconfirmed. Targets will be prioritized based on how close they are to completing their patron’s task.
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Time Limit: 3 Months. Time extensions will be applied for every target eliminated.
Rejection of this quest will incur no penalties. Failure to complete this quest will result in the loss of no less than 10 levels and 10% of your attributes if you survive. Quest can only be failed if the time limit is exceeded or you perish.
Rewards: Reward Stones will be provided for each target eliminated, with more stones being awarded the further down the list you get.
Current Target: Cult of Xancre
Reward: 20 Stones
Location: Southwest of Caelis
Glancing over the quest, Lanek found that he could see the rest of his targets as well, but not their reward or location. As for the cult that was his current target, the System showed him a map displaying their location relative to Caelis. Nalgaraz appeared to have spoken the truth, the first target wasn’t far from Caelis at all. However, he dismissed the quest without accepting it. He would wait until he spoke with Eldros first. His next notification gave him pause.
[Ethereal Salvo] [Unique] is ready to evolve. Please select evolutionary path.
[Ethereal Devastation]: The explosive power of each projectile increases at the cost of projectile numbers. Every 10 points of SPI grants 1 projectile.
[Ethereal Empowerment]: Projectiles are lost entirely in exchange for passively buffing your direct combat abilities. 25% of SPI is added to STR, DEX, and CON.
Lanek stared at his options, considering the pros and cons of each. While the devastation option sounded amazing, he was worried about ending up in another position where he couldn’t do enough damage without killing himself due to mana expenditure and mana core intake. Additionally, he had to be very careful using it around his allies as friendly fire was most definitely going to be a risk if more people joined him and the explosions got more powerful.
On the other hand, the idea of leveling larger hordes of lesser enemies was extremely appealing and made him smile. This would definitely be useful to soften up large hordes before the rest of the Talon engaged, but collateral damage would be a problem. Sure, he had already decided not to worry about that within the wall of Caelis, but it could be a major issue if he wanted to spread to other towns or cities.
Now, the empowerment path had a lot of appeal as well, although he would lose a huge chunk of his ability to engage large groups. However, there was no risk of collateral damage to his surroundings and allies. Additionally, he liked that it was passive and required no mana use, essentially eliminating his chances of burning himself out again without getting a new spell. Honestly, I’m getting real sick and tired of not being able to do much damage with just my direct attacks. Without the salvo ability, I wouldn’t have stood a chance against either the matriarch or the Warden.
However, the deciding factor turned out to be his current needs. The explosive power was more useful in large scale engagements, but those hadn’t really been the primary battles he had been in. The vast majority of his fights had been small skirmishes where he had either been alone or with a very small group. Lanek decided that he needed to focus on what could help him right now rather than in a possibly unattainable future where he was leading hundreds of people into battle.
[Ethereal Salvo] [Unique] has become [Ethereal Empowerment] [Unique].
As soon as he completed his selection he felt power course through him as the skill got to work. Opening his status screen, he whistled at the effects of his new skill. His strength had jumped to 209, constitution had gone to 327, and his dexterity had leapt to 382. Wow, I’m going to need to focus on SPI if I get the chance. I wonder if this skill has a counterpart that works on perception and resolve?
Lanek’s thoughts turned to the Talon and the monastery. As much as he wanted to rush back to his companions, he knew that it would be a better idea to head toward the Cult of Xancre first. He couldn’t afford to get trapped in the monastery for the winter with such a tight time limit hanging over his head. Of course, he also had no idea how far from Caelis he was, only that Eldros’ grove was somewhere to the west of the city. That’s when another thought struck him and he groaned loudly, causing both of his animal companions to look at him quizzically.
“What am I going to fight with?”