Leonard began sorting through the races as quickly as he could. He immediately eliminated any of the goblinoid, living dead, or any other race that either creeped him out or he couldn’t pronounce. A squid looking beast-kin with psionic abilities? Cool, but not for him. He already had a low charisma score. No sense in purposefully lowering it further.
Trolls were the next to go. Sure, they had high attribute allocation and over the top regeneration abilities, but the prompts clearly stated they were hunted for sport. Not to mention they were just plain ugly!
Aquatic races were the next to go. The idea of living in an Atlantis style home might appeal to some, but not him. Seriously, who willingly lived with sharks?
After what felt like hours of research, Leonard narrowed his choices to aerials, a leopard beastkin, or dwarves. But it wasn’t until he opened the prompt on elves that knew he had found what he was looking for.
Elves: Elves are the oldest and most influential of the races throughout Veil. Intrinsically tied to nature, elves are often thought of as the guardians of their domains. Elves have a 75% chance to be born with one or more mana channels and are masters of most known skills and specializations.
Elven society is complex, and is broken into sub-races called houses. Each house is tied to their respective domain, with dizzying layers of culture and tradition unique to each house. The only commonality between the houses is their fierce loyalty to the Royal line.
The average life expectancy is 900 years, with a select few having attained immortality. Multiple sub-races exist in various climes to include the greater houses of Royal, Dawn, Life, and Wood elves, as well as the lesser houses of Sea, Shadow, and Banished elves. Each sub-race has varied attributes, attunements, and skills unique to their race.
Would you like to look at these sub-races?
On the surface, the elves seemed to have it all. A world sprawling society that was respected and powerful. But it was when he looked into the first sub-race that Leonard knew he had found the race for him.
Royal Elf: The royal bloodline can be traced to the first elf to have bonded with a Silverthread; the legendary tree believed to be the catalyst of all life on Veil. Royal Elves are few but are the unquestioned leaders of all elven society. Based out of the Silverwood Forest, Royal Elves guard their domain jealously and are charged with the protection of nature and balance throughout all of Veil.
Royal Elves are born with all elemental mana channels. Abilities tied to their bloodline may be granted at varying levels. Royal elves automatically raise their dexterity, intelligence, and charisma per level and have another 3 attribute points to allocate as they see fit.
If selected, you will gain +1 in dexterity, intelligence, wisdom and +2 in charisma. Will be penalized 1 in strength, endurance, and constitution.
Leonard’s smile kept growing the more he read. Not only did royal elves get six stat points per level, the highest number he had found thus far, but he would have access to all eight spheres of magic!
Do you wish to use a minor boon to change your race to Royal Elf?
Yes/No
Note: Changing your race to a Royal Elf will grant a moderate understanding of all elvish dialects, open one mana channel of your choice, and will require an adjustment to your attributes.
Warning: Changing to a Royal Elf requires a major shift within your Aura Signature. A new name may be chosen.
Change his race, gain magic and adjust his name for the low cost of one boon? Leonard couldn’t help himself from dancing another jig before selecting yes.
More prompts appeared, but Leonard immediately focused on adjusting his name. He began by removing - not Moron - from his status page, and after a brief moment of hesitation, he deleted his first name as well.
Throughout his life, Leonard had been judged based on the name of his father, and his father’s father going back three generations. Ever since he could remember, he had been forcibly reminded at every turn that he could never measure up.
Deleting his name was like casting off a lifetime of repression, and it felt great!
The moment his name was gone another prompt appeared.
Do you wish to see a list of existing elvish names?
Yes/No
Note: A full translation will only be possible if a boon is used to gain an understanding of the elvish culture and language.
Do you wish to use a minor boon to learn the skill Ethnic Lore (Elves)?
Yes/No
A smile tugged at his lips. He loved easy buttons!
Ignoring the prompt about the skill, Leonard selected yes to the names.
An incredibly long list of names appeared, which he quickly filtered. He started by removing the common names as well as the ones with less than stellar meanings. Like Drey’mar, which meant ‘lost; one who hides.’
Leonard chuckled. That would be a great name for a lieutenant.
His search continued for longer than he cared to admit. But he didn’t care. He would take whatever time was necessary to find something that he felt was a true reflection of himself. Or at the very least, a reflection of who he wanted to become.
Time flowed by and Leonard narrowed the list to three possibilities.
Cael - Popular among the light elves, Cael means victorious.
Mahvin - A name rarely used throughout elvish culture, Mahvin is held sacred and means wanderer; shepherd of the lost.
Kedryn - A name from the Royal line that is tied to ancient elvish lore, Kedryn means he who leads; fearless.
The choice was obvious. Cael lacked the flair he was looking for even though its meaning was nothing short of awesome. Who didn't want to be victorious?
In contrast, he liked how Mahvin flowed off the tongue. Also, having a name that quite literally meant wanderer fit him perfectly. But what stopped him from selecting the option was the other warning sign. Namely, he wanted to avoid anything close to what sounded like a saint. Who knew what problems that would cause?
Best to avoid it all together, which left Kedryn. The name definitely had a ring to it, like it was meant for royalty. The meaning alone resonated with him as well. Who didn’t want to be known for leadership and fearlessness?
Smiling, Leonard made the adjustments to his new name and looked at the next prompt.
Note: by selecting an elvish first name you will adopt the racial titles of the elves as well. Your formal name is now Bei’Kedryn Serevlir, of house Serevlir.
Title gained: Bei.
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Title gained: House Serevlir (Royal)
His first titles! He had no idea what Bei meant, seeing as the prompt didn’t provide any further explanation, but he couldn’t wait to figure it out. That, and who didn’t want a royal title?
With a grin, he hit accept.
A three-dimensional image appeared next to his screen with the ideal image of what he would soon look like. His overall structure had adapted to become leaner, with sharp facial features and higher cheekbones. Obviously, his ears were pointed. But surprisingly, his hair had changed to a burnished silver with dark highlights. It was a bit much for him, but when he tried to adjust it, another prompt appeared stating the silver hair was a racial feature of royal elves. Even his eye color had changed to a dark silver.
In short, he looked awesome!
As a royal elf, you may choose to open one of eight mana channels, which will create a base attunement to one of the fundamental spheres of magic. You may open other channels and increase your attunement in other spheres without penalty as you advance normally, but you must pick one now. Which do you choose? Air, Earth, Water, Fire, Light, Shadow, Corporeal, or Astral?
Leonard's brow furrowed as he pondered how to choose. Selecting a sphere of magic could make or break him in his soon to be new life. The problem was, choosing a single sphere of magic was like picking which cheerleader he wanted to take to prom. He couldn’t pick just one!
Not that the cheerleading squad in high school had ever given him the time of day. But that was the old Leonard. Now he was Kedryn! A silver eyed royal elf that girls couldn’t say no to!
His self-esteem placated, Leonard turned to the very real problem of magic.
In an effort to trick the Adjudicators, he tried sorting the listed spheres of magic by power. This was followed by a prompt clearly articulating that each sphere of magic was equally balanced and powerful in its own right.
Not exactly helpful.
Next, he tried to sort by spell availability, which had prompted another notification asking if he wanted to use a boon to gain the skill Arcane Knowledge. Tempting, but no. It was like the Adjudicators were trying to waste his precious boons!
Lastly, he tried to sort by rarity. This time the list changed.
Rarity of attunements in the basic elemental spheres of magic are Fire, Astral, Shadow, Light, Air, Water, Earth, and Corporeal.
The fact that fire was listed as the most rare confused him. In his experience, fire was one of the more common powers. Of course, his experience was based on made up games and stories, which meant he really didn’t know much.
Curious, he mentally pulled up its description.
Elemental Sphere - Fire: One of the fundamental elements of magic, those with the proper attunements can influence heat and combustion through direct manipulation of the environment.
Grumbling at the lack of information, he began reading into the other elements, only to be given the same generic information. The only differences were that of Astral and Corporeal magic.
Elemental Sphere - Astral: One of the fundamental elements of magic. Those with the proper attunements can influence everything outside of the body, to include the spirit and mind. Highly attuned practitioners can manipulate other elemental spheres. Do you wish to attune yourself to that of Astral?
Elemental Sphere - Corporeal: One of the fundamental elements of magic. Those with the proper attunements can influence and enhance the body through mana transference. Do you wish to attune yourself to that of Corporeal?
Body enhancement and spiritual manipulation were intriguing but lacked the raw power he was looking for.
With the limited information available, he selected fire. Not only was it the rarest of the magics available to him, but it could provide light, heat, and could be used as a weapon. It just made sense.
You have selected the elemental sphere of Fire. Spells of the appropriate level will be made available once integration is complete.
Note: You have used one boon. Two remain.
Rubbing his hands together, Leonard, now Kedryn, reviewed his status page.
Name: Bei’Kedryn Serevlir (Royal Elf) Level 1
Experience: 0 Next Level: 500 Age 19
Health: 90 Stamina: 100 Mana: 150
Attributes
Strength: 9 Dexterity: 10 Constitution: 9 Endurance: 9
Intelligence: 15 Wisdom: 9 Charisma: 11 Chance: 10
Brands: None
Titles:
Bei House Serevlir (Royal)
Languages:
Elvish (All Dialects) English
Skills: None
Abilities: None
Specializations: None
Attunements:
Air: 0% Water: 0% Earth: 0% Fire: 1%
Light: 0% Shadow: 0% Astral: 0% Corporeal: 0%
The attributes had shifted again, supposedly to account for his soon to be new body. He was pleased to see that his dexterity, intelligence, and charisma were higher. Unfortunately, his strength, constitution, and endurance had suffered based of his new racial weaknesses. Still, he had gained four attribute points and lost three. An overall net gain of one. He’d just have to plan how best to balance out his build after he gained his first level.
Next, he scrolled down and saw that fire attunement was at 1%. Not exactly inspiring.
Curious, he asked if he could spend another boon to enhance his attunement.
You may select any of the basic spheres of magic to either open a new mana channel or to increase an existing attunement. If applied to your already existing attunement of Fire, your attunement will increase to the rank of Sympathetic (13%). Would you like to use a boon to increase your attunement?
Yes/No
He selected yes without hesitation. If attunement equaled power like he assumed, then it was likely better to start out with something higher than 1%. It might also mean he could bypass novice level spells and get straight to the good stuff!
Visions of raining balls of fire down on enemies while launching himself in the air Ozai style filled his mind!
There was one boon left.
Leonard looked over his status screen and selected Brands. This time, a prompt in bold red lettering appeared.
Warning! Soul Brands are an integral part of one’s Advancement and can only be administered and leveled by an adjudicator.
Leonard decided it was best he didn’t mess with the brands. He soon discovered that he couldn’t do anything about titles or specializations either. Apparently, those had to be earned.
Abilities: Powers granted to sentient beings and beasts through inheritance, evolution, bloodlines, or acquisition. Factors in determining abilities are dependent upon race, personalities, chance, and a variety of other factors. More can be learned through study and exploration.
Do you wish to use a minor boon to gain an ability?
Yes/No
Smiling, he began singing ‘Can’t Stop Me Now!’ inside his head.
There were wide ranging abilities like those of identification, water breathing, night vision, dark vision, transmutation, and empowerment; each with distinct pros and cons. Transmutation, for example, gave someone the ability to change any substance into another, given you had the correct number of resources and mana.
Any of these abilities could be a force multiplier. The problem was, the list was endless. Scrolling as quickly as he could, he searched for something that would help him shore up the obvious weaknesses in his build. He had a solid foundation for magic, but lacked physical attributes and skills. In short, he was well on his way to becoming the proverbial glass cannon.
He needed something that would help balance him out.
After another hour of searching, he finally found what he was looking for.
Passionate Growth: The passion of advancement burns through the very core of your being, driving you ever onward in your quest of absolute perfection! The sky’s the limit only because you have not yet mastered flight! Learn what you can and take the rest! +20% growth rate in skill development. +10% growth in attributes. +5% growth in attuning yourself to any sphere of magic. +5% chance to learn a racial skill or ability outside of your race.
Would you like to use a boon to gain the ability Passionate Growth?
Yes/No
An increase in skill, attribute growth, and attunements all while being given the chance to learn other racial skills and abilities?
He couldn’t hit yes fast enough.
A final prompt appeared.
Note: Boons have been allocated against available choices. None remain.
Would you like to accept all changes?
Yes/No
Warning! Changes cannot be undone after final concurrence.
Reminder! The equipment brought from your dimension is prohibited and will be replaced based on the choices you have made.
Heart pounding with excitement, Leonard, who would soon be known as Kedryn, made his choice.
The moment he selected yes, a familiar voice echoed in his mind.
“Corporal Wolf?”