"Son of a bitch, that's a lot of levels!"
"Caine, I forgive you for ruining my most prized posession which I'd taken care of like it was my firstborn child for the last 3 years."
"You don't sound like it."
"I'm still angry, just not at you."
Caine got up and began stretching. "I guess that's something. You're not chasing me with a knife, which is definitely significant progress. What are you gonna spend it on?"
Maven got up and donned the cloak she'd used as a blanket the night before. "Man, I have got to get myself one of those."
"Speaking of which, I need to go back to the village and check no one's coming to stab you again. They probably think I got murdered by the evil Bloodmage. Besides, I need to get some supplies and new weapons after you ruined my old one." She took a deep breath before disappearing faster than Caine could track aside from the massive trailing dust cloud.
"I guess I might as well allocate my Points while I wait for her to get back. First and foremost, I wanna even out ST and RE. Even if I have decent regen, I need a standing pool ready to go."
Name
Amount
Modifier
Strength (ST)
50
0 | 0%
Recovery (RE)
50
0 | 0%
Endurance (EN)
10
0 | 0%
Vigour (VI)
10
0 | 0%
Intelligence (IN)
10
0 | 0%
Willpower (WI)
10
0 | 0%
Name
Amount
Modifiers
Health
500/500 (100%)
0 | 0%
H. Regen
10/Hour
0 | 0%
Stamina
100/100 (100%)
0 | 0%
S. Regen
50/day
0 | 0%
Mageburn
100/100 (100%)
0 | 0%
M. Regen
50/day
0 | 0%
"Next up, Skills. I need a weapon, first and foremost. As nice as Sanguine Inferno is, I need something I can rely on indefinitely without worrying about Health. Something like
Bloodlance: (1/10)
Cost: 10BP
Casting Time: 1s
Prerequisites: Dobridian Bloodmage
Description: Create a lance of 1m length with blood. Lance lasts until broken or dispelled, and has the same strength as steel. Weight is equal to an equal volume of blood. Deals 25-35 (ST) damage. Length can be varied at proportional cost (+/-1BP10/cm).
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He cut his palm again (he was getting used to the pain at this point). The blood flowed out into the shape of a long, slim shaft with a simple hilt near the base, narrowing down to a nearly invisible point at the tip.
"Is it bad that I kinda wanna poke Maven with this? Yes, it is. Alright, next up, what goes best with a polearm? A shield. I could get the ward, but that only protects against blood and magic, and getting stabbed is one of the less magical things in life. Give me a shield, a physical one. Come on, system. I know you can do it. I believe in you."
Tier 0
Bloodsteel Shield: (1/10)
Cost: 25BP
Casting Time: 3s
Prerequisites: Dobridian Bloodmage
Description: Create a shield made from the user's blood which connects to the body and draws blood directly to repair any damage done. As long as blood is supplied, the shield is unbreakable.
"Okay, wow. That sounds grisly." The blood flowed out of his hand and into a scutum large enough to cover his whole body, but only if he sat down behind it. It had a gauntlet with needles on the inside, seemingly to draw blood, which extended up to the wrist outside the shield.
He placed his hand inside the gauntlet and immediately felt it stab into his arms, but this time no worse than a regular hypodermic needle. "Oh, wow. That feels weird." He flexed his fingers a few times, trying to get used tothe weight of the shield.
"I've got a weapon and I've got protection. Now I need someting to fix me up when I get hurt. I doubt Bloodmagic will let me regenerate more than I spend, but it's worth a shot to look for a decent healing Skill anyway. Bloodsteel Shield showed up just from thinking about the concept enough, maybe I can do it again."
He focused on the concept of healing and specifically regeneration until he began tasting colours and saw a skill pop up in his view.
Tier 0
Reconstruction: (1/10)
Cost: 1BP/Health Repaired
Casting Time: Continuous
Prerequisites: Blooded Purification, Dobridian Bloodmage
Description: Use blood to repair broken or missing flesh, bone, skin, et cetera. Neutralizes pain and disinfects open wounds before regenerating.
"Neutralizes pain, huh?" He looked down at his thumb. "Not today, old friend. Weapon, shield, healing, and 3 Points left. What's left? Well, mobility for one. I still move like an out-of-shape fat fuck, so I gotta do something about that."
He focused on the Skill concept. "Ideally, I could fly, but I doubt that's going to show up at this level. Most likely, I'll see some kind of physical augmentation, like Potence or Celery from Vampire."
Tier 0
Blooded Augmentation: (1/10)
Cost: 10BP
Casting Time: Instant
Prerequisites: Dobridian Bloodmage
Description: Enhance physical ability by 10% for 1 second, increasing speed and strength. Does not affect Secondary Attributes.
"Nice! Alright, Weapon, Shield, Healing, and Speed. I've got 2 points left, so I might as well get Blooded Stasis. That leaves 1 point. Eh, what the hell, let's get another shield."
Tier 0
Blooded Ward:
Cost: 5BP Initial; 10/point blocked
Casting Time: 0s
Description: Create a ward which acts like a solid wall for Mana and Health. Deflects 10% (RE) energy.
Discipline Acquired
Dobridian Bloodmage
Multiply effects of ST and RE by 1.5. All Attribute Points automatically spent equally on ST and RE. Cannot spend skill points on anything but Bloodmagic.
"Huh. I guess it gives you a Discipline on its own once you spend all your points. Damn, x1.5. Even at Level 8, that's a full +150 to Health and a +5 to Health Regen. It said effects, so does that means it gives more damage and deflection too."
About an hour later, Maven returned with a horse in tow carrying assorted equipment, while Maven herself was carrying a massive scythe on her back.
Caine looked at her slack-jawed. "The hell? I thought you were an archer!"
"I'm an Unstoppable. What's the point of having a massive pool of Stamina if you won't use equally massive weapons? Besides, the Reinforcement Skills and high EN make sure I don't hurt myself. Anyway, I brought you some clothes. You stick out like a sore thumb in that outfit." She tossed him a linen shirt and trousers, leather boots and gloves, a linen cloak, and a large hessian sack.
"Put those on. The cloak and sack are oilcloth, so it'll keep you dry, but don't go jumping in any rivers either."
Cain managed to catch the pants, but dropped everything else. "Thanks, but, uh...could you look away for a bit while I change? I don't exactly feel comfortable with being naked in front of you."
Maven rolled her eyes and mumbled something about eccentric bloodmages before turning around. Caine quickly changed, also taking the time to activate Blooded Purification to clean both of them up.
"Why'd you only bring one horse, though? Are you planning on walking to Brury? Cause I sure as hell am not."
"Actually, I plan on Windrunning the whole way. I could get there far sooner than you, but I enjoy the company. Besides, I feel like you'd get yourself stabbed, especially with that equipment. You sure you can't use something a bit more standard?"
He arched one eyebrow. "Like what, exactly? I don't exactly have a massive bank account here."
"Good point. I spent most of my money on this stuff, so I can't help you there either. Well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it." She gestured for him to get on the horse before rolling her eyes as she saw him grimace. "What now?!"
"I don't know how to ride a horse. It just never came up, okay?! We don't ride horses where I'm from."
She sighed, "Look, just put your feet in the stirrups, get on, and then grab the reins. They're enruned too, so just thinking about what you want the horse to do should be enough."
He hitched his equipment with some convenient leather strips hanging off the sides of the saddle before hesitantly getting on and grabbing the horse's reins. He saw complex markings all along the reins begin to glow and felt a strange stinging sensation in his mind.
"Forward." The animal began slowly trotting forth, and Caine soon found his balance. "Let's try something a little more intense. Sprint forward." The horse answered him with a sort of proto-smugness before almost accelerating faster than he could keep up with.
Caine struggled to stay in the saddle at first, but soon found himself being able to match the mount's violent movements quite perfectly. He saw Maven heading off in a slightly different direction, and with a barely articulated thought the horse followed.
"So, where are we going exactly?"
Maven looked up at him as she leapt along, covering meters of distance at a time. "Two days on horseback, there's a caravanserai near the Rombian border. I've worked with a few of the traders there in the past, escorting them to Catry. I'm sure we could pick up a job there. Safer to travel with them, and less expensive. After that, we'll take a ferry from Catry, through Pilto Lake, up to the coast of Brury."
Caine smiled. "As long as I get to ride my horse, I'm up for it." Wind in his face and the sound of hooves in his ears, Caine rode through the night and into the dawn, and for the first time in years felt like he had a concrete purpose in life.
Experience Gain Summary
Health Expenditure: 50
Bloodlance: 10
Bloodsteel Shield: 25
Current Experience: 352