Glade’s eyes fluttered open for what felt like the dozenth time. Over the past hour he had successfully fought off the urge to wake up. Instead, he experienced the perpetual pattern of those who wanted to escape their problems by hitting his internal snooze, which quickly followed by the welcomed void of dreamless sleep.
There was little wonder as to why Glade found himself in this constant loop of rousing sleep. As soon as thoughts of the previous day’s events flowed through his mind, Glade forced himself back into relative safety of sleep. It was far easier to do than facing the uncomfortable truths that lay just below the surface of his waking mind.
Knowing that no good would come of him facing the waking world, Glade rolled over to once again succumb to darkened void.
Ember had other plans.
No sooner had Glade’s consciousness surfaced than a surge of excitement and warmth flooded through him like a ray of sunshine with the force of a wrecking ball.
Doing his best to ignore the egg’s hyperactive mood, Glade rolled to his other side, pulled up his blanket, and settled his head into the pillow with an audible grunt.
Not understanding his friend’s actions, Ember shone all the brighter. Afterall, there was adventure to had!
Glade grumbled a curse word under his breath as he fought off the flood of positive emotions. It was like trying to block out the light of the sun in the middle of the day by closing your eyes. Only, in this situation, the sun got brighter and ended up following you wherever you tried to hide.
Recognizing the losing battle for what it was, Glade cracked open an eye. The room was still dark, the only light coming from the glowing silver leaves on the desk. Oddly, it was just enough light to create the faintest of outlines within the room. It even reflected off the surface of the tri-pointed settlement core that hovered a few feet away.
With a dramatic sigh that emphasized his displeasure, Glade sat up.
Ember cheered.
“And good morning to you,” Glade grumbled to his friend as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Briefly, he wondered what time it was. He missed his watch.
Glade’s sour mood worsened as he remembered his recent visit to the Adjudicator’s. During his impromptu Q&A, Glade had learned that he, Kedryn, and Riya had been placed in the catacombs with the express purpose to systematically remove and destroy his technologically advanced weaponry and gear. Apparently, that was one of their highest priorities, which also explained the inordinate number of attacks they had suffered those first few days.
While a part of him understood the demi-gods’ reasoning to prevent the introduction of earth-based technologies into their dimension, he was mostly just pissed.
A surge of emotion that resembled a hyper-active puppy with a penchant for metaphorical face licking greeted his less than enthusiastic thoughts. It honestly felt like Ember was taking the smothering with happiness approach to a whole new level in an attempt to motivate him.
The worst part was that his friend’s plan was working.
After basking in the boundless joy that was Ember, Glade reached out with his senses and willed the lights within the vault to turn on. Afterwards, he stretched his arms wide before falling to the ground to begin an abbreviated morning workout.
Twenty minutes later, Glade sat heavily in the desk chair feeling refreshed. His body was pleasantly sore, and he had a mild sheen of sweat from the exercise. Not only that, but he was smiling. Ember hadn’t let up the torrent of positivity throughout the entire experience.
Feeling much better, Glade turned his attention to the two notifications waiting for him.
Congratulations! You have been graced with a Silverthread Sapling’s leaf for having witnessed a significant act. From time immemorial, Silverthread trees have chosen witnesses of upstanding moral character to go into the world and establish the truth of things. You have been identified as one who speaks truth and are charged in standing witness of Da’Riya Ab’Loshere’s and Bei’Kedryn Serevlir’s honorable actions. What this bodes for the future is as yet unknown.
Reward: +1 to Charisma so long as the leaf is in your possession.
Warning: Be wary to whom you bear witness and display the gifted leaf. Some will react with violence, deception, or greed to obtain such a treasure while those who revere such a token will accept your word without reservation.
Glade eyed the subtly glowing leaf resting on the desk. There was no doubt in his mind the burial had been significant. His tired and wrung out soul was testament to that fact. But seriously, he already had enough responsibility as it was without adding another layer of complexity. And the warning wasn’t much help either. He was supposed to stand as a witness but only to people who wouldn’t actively try and take advantage of him?
If Veil was anything like Earth, there would be people lining up to take advantage of him in the worst possible ways. It was the way the world worked. Yes, he was being cynical, but he was also being honest.
After some additional grumbling, another thought crossed Glade’s mind. The whole witness aspect would likely play a role in convincing the Shadow Elves that they had indeed laid the Heir’s remains to rest. Which would give them an advantage. It might also help smooth the way for him and Kedryn to be introduced to Riya’s people. Anything that helped others trust him and his friends more was a good thing. So long as he was careful.
Oddly, that thought in his head sounded a lot like Kedryn’s voice.
Sighing at how weird his life had become over the last span of days, Glade moved onto the next prompt.
Congratulations! You have removed the threat to the remaining mana well connected to the Storms’ Rest Settlement Core! The link’s strength has improved from Fragile to Stable; rate of mana transference equates to 1 MP every hour instead of every three days.
Access to information on linked mana wells, cores, upgrading or downgrading link strength, or upgrading the core itself is now available.
Do you wish to access the mana well interface for Storms’ Rest Tri-Pointed Settlement Core?
Y/N
Note: Accessing this part of the interface can only be accomplished within the immediate vicinity of the Settlement Core.
A hint of a smile graced Glade’s lips as he read the last prompt. Since finding Storms’ Rest, they had created structures, rebuilt items, and learned incredible magics! The settlement core was invaluable and would be instrumental in turning them into real powerhouses moving forward.
However, the universal reality of checks and balances was in full effect. They lacked the one resource to fully utilize the settlement to its full capabilities. Namely, mana. The group had to rely on their own personal mana regeneration to feed into the settlement. While this had been helpful, it was a veritable drop in the ocean of mana they would need long-term.
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Even their own personal mana pools were limited. While increasing wisdom helped, it only allowed someone to regenerate their wisdom attribute per hour. Glade’s wisdom was the highest within the group at 22, which allowed him to regenerate 22 MPs per hour. But that meant it took more than nine hours to regenerate his max of 200 MP. Even longer for Kedryn who had 290 MP.
Relying on ones own regeneration rate while leaving enough to fend off whatever monstrosity attacked them was unsustainable.
There were other ways to increase one’s regeneration such as mediation or a mana processing technique. Either could help increase the regeneration rate so long as the skill level was well into the apprentice ranks or higher.
Unfortunately for them, most within the settlement were stuck at the amateur and trainee ranks, meaning they made little to no difference until you spent the requisite amount of time increasing those skills to the point where they could undergo a judgement.
Which brought him back to strengthening the mana well link. Not only would it give the dwarves a far better chance of surviving while he and Kedryn took Riya back to her people, but it would allow them to begin expanding Storms’ Rest in earnest.
Mana Well 1
* Attunement: Pure (97%) and Water (3%)
* Grade: Rare
* Mana Well Size: Great
* Mana Well Purity: Flawless
* Total Capacity: 1,600 MP
* Regeneration Rate: 67 MP per hour
* Mana Seepage: 20% of regeneration rate seeps into the environment, strengthening everything according to the well’s attunement.
* Link Strength: Stable
* Rate of Mana Transference: 1 MP per hour.
* Mana Required to Increase Link Strength to Durable: 240MP; increases mana transference from 1 MP per hour to 10 MP per hour.
Mana Well 2 (Connection Lost)
Mana Well 3 (Connection Lost)
While the importance of the well’s size and purity were still a mystery to him, Glade understand the salient points. The well could hold up to 1,600 MP and had a regeneration rate of a whopping 67 MP per hour! That was more than triple his own regeneration rate!
The note about seepage piqued Glade’s curiosity. Riya, Krazzik, and Bragden had mentioned the amount of mana shards found within the area of Storms’ Rest was far higher than anything they had previously experienced. Was mana seeping unchecked into the environment the cause? Knowing he wouldn’t be able to answer that himself, Glade zeroed in on the last section detailing the link’s strength.
He was shy by 40 MP to increase the link’s strength himself. Glade dismissed the idea of using the already limited MP in the settlement’s pool. It had dropped to the mid 50’s at its lowest and had just ticked up to 77 MP in the last hour. While an argument could be made that he would be getting a net gain after increasing the link’s strength, he didn’t see the point as he had other options.
Without a thought, Glade dropped seven of his available attribute points into Intelligence, bringing it up to a total of 27. The blue within his mana bar deepened significantly as his MP raised by another 70 points. He knew he could have saved the points and only increased it by four, but the idea of dealing with a mana headache on top of his ongoing recovery from the emotional beating he took the day prior made him cringe. He would rather hear Croon sing and eat the dwarf’s cooking before suffering through the headache.
Best to avoid self-inflicted pain.
Seeing as he had his status page open anyway, Glade decided to drop four of his eight remaining points into his lowest attribute – Chance. Increasing his other attributes had made a huge difference in the past and he was looking forward to seeing what would happen with this one.
The rest he refrained from using. Riya’s advice to always have a couple of points in reserve had served him well up to this point.
While he was at it, Glade decided to address his racial perk after making it to level 12. While he had the choice of increasing his attunement, a random skill, or his wisdom, Glade decided to follow the Adjudicator of Sacrifice’s lead and increase a random skill. It was a gamble, but it had paid off the last time around.
Congratulations! You have used your perk to increase a random skill.
Random skill selected – Labyrinth Sense! You have attained levels 5, 6, 7, and 8 in Labyrinth Sense! You can now sense labyrinths within 8 miles; +8% chance in finding hidden treasure while in a labyrinth.
Glade frowned. There was a very real possibility that the afore mentioned Adjudicator was still meddling. After all, she had been quite emphatic that he needed to meet with her in one of her labyrinths.
Promising himself to think through his options with more deliberation the next time, Glade did a quick once over his status page.
Name: Glade (Enlightened Human)
Age 26 Level: 13
Experience: 36,619 Next Level: 42,500
Health: 190 Stamina: 200 Mana: 270
Attributes
Strength: 17 Dexterity: 18 Constitution: 19
Endurance: 20 Intelligence: 27 Wisdom: 24
Charisma: 14 (+3%) Chance: 19 Willpower: 25
Brands:
Courage Perseverance Creation
Intellect Passion Meekness
Evolved Brands:
Honor (1): +10% XP for completed quests/-10% XP for failed quests
Sacrifice (1): +10% to Willpower Stat
Titles:
Master of Storms, Sah’eld to Da'Riya Ki'Loshere
Strategist: +10% growth to martial skills and perception; +10% XP
Royally Bonded, Second Degree (Bei'Kedryn Ri'Serevilir), Blood Brother of Krazzik Slaghammer
Keepers' Ally: +10% regard from all Keepers.
Languages:
Elvish (Plains Dialect) Dwarfen (Reaches Dialect) English
Skills:
Archery (Crossbows): Lvl 1: 1% stamina reduction. +1% damage/accuracy.
Astral Magic: Lvl 8: +16% mana efficiency in Astral Magic
Aura Sense: Lvl 3: Identify through use of aura reading. Cost: 5 MP.
Cartography Skill: Lvl 4: Internal mapping function. +10% chance to find interesting locations.
Cooking (Amateur): Lvl 1: +1% to enhance flavor. +2% to identify edible foods
Drawing: Lvl 1: +2% increased hand eye coordination.
Leadership: Lvl 3: +3% to Charisma
Mana Processing Technique (Twin Root and Branch - Unique): Lvl 8: +64% mana absorption
Meditation (Basic): Lvl 4: +2% to mana regen/+2% to attunement absorption.
Perception: Lvl 8: +16% to perception
Diplomacy (Dwarven): Lvl 1: +1% in negotiations
Reflection: Lvl 5: +1 to Wisdom. +10% skill advancement.
Tactician: Lvl 4: +8% to attack, defense, and unit cohesiveness; +4% to XP
Telepathy: Lvl 9: 2 x Targets. 135 ft radius. Costs: 10 MP + 5 SP per 10 seconds
Time Dilation: Lvl 9: Slow down/speed up perceived time by +/- 9 seconds Cost: 5 SP per sec.
Labyrinth Sense: Lvl 8: Sense labyrinth within 8 miles; +16% success within any labyrinth
Small Blades: Lvl 1: 1% stamina reduction. +1% damage/accuracy.
Spears and Polearms: Lvl 1: 1% stamina reduction. +1% damage/accuracy.
Unarmed Combat: Lvl 4: 4% stamina reduction. +4% damage/accuracy.
Abilities:
Will (Will Points: 25/25)
Shared Bond, Second Degree with Bei’Kedryn Serevlir (Royal Perk)
Direction Sense - Always knows which way is north.
Inner Strength - +25% Fear Based Resistance
Specializations: None
Attunements:
Air: 0% Water: 0% Earth: 0%
Living Fire: 13% (Sympathetic) Light: 0% Shadow: 0%
Astral: 13% (Sympathetic; Channels: 54% saturated) Corporeal: 0%
Glade gave a low whistle. He had come far in just the last few days.
Double checking to make sure his MP were set; Glade accessed the settlement’s interface and made his choice.
Would you like to strengthen the mana well link from stable to durable? Cost – 240 MP.
Y/N
Congratulations! You have strengthened the existing link to the mana well! The following changes have taken place:
Mana Well 1
* Mana Well Attunement: Pure (97%) and Water (3%)
* Grade: Rare
* Mana Well Size: Great
* Mana Well Purity: Flawless
* Total Capacity: 1,600 MP
* Regeneration Rate: 67 MP per hour
* Mana Seepage: 22% of regeneration rate seeps into the environment, strengthening everything according to the well’s attunement.
* Link Strength: Durable
* Rate of Mana Transference: 10 MP per hour.
* Mana Required to Increase Link Strength to Enhanced: 2400MP; will result in increasing mana transference from 10 MP per hour to 100 MPs per hour.
Glade was surprised to see that not only had the regeneration rate increased, but the mana seepage had as well. He would have to ask Bragden what that meant.
Not finding any other reason to procrastinate, Glade took a deep breath and exited the vault. It was past time to prepare his team for the upcoming journey. There was a great deal to do if they were going to leave the next day and they had limited resources. That, and it was likely best to keep Kedryn distracted through the planning process. Who knew what kind of trouble the Kid would cause if left to his own devices?