Short summary of the last chapter:
Spoiler :
Voice finished his surveillance orbs, and began to watch the city. Almost right away he found a person the bandits had sent in to mess with his city. Using the eyes, he began spying on the bandit camp. The bandit lady poisoned the wells of the city, and Voice ignored it. Eventually he did heal those effected, and right before the bandits attacked too.
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Something of note about the three days prior to the invasion. More precisely, the second day. One the second day I had made all of my purities at 25 or higher. At that exact moment, I got a notice.
*Congratulations!*
You have purified 1/4th of your total mana! In addition to the increased effective mana total, you have gained a skill!
Magical Consumption
Current Level: Novice Level 1
This skill can be leveled up by consuming mana from other sources besides one’s self. Consuming mana will restore the user’s mana, at the cost of the mana around the user.
For every level this skill will increase the amount of mana one can consume at a time. For every rank in this skill, you will be able to more efficiently convert outside mana into your own.
This skill can consume mana in a ten foot radius.
Can currently be fused to: Skill: Deconstruct.
Obviously I did. What I got was: Deconstruct Spell.
Deconstruct Spell
Current Level: Novice Level 1
This skill can be leveled up by deconstructing spells from other sources besides one’s self. The mana that is released will soon dissipate unless harnessed.
For every level this skill will increase the precision of deconstructing the spell. For every rank in this skill, you will be able to deconstruct more potent spells.
This skill can deconstruct spells in a ten foot radius.
Can currently be fused to: Skill: Skill Fusion.
After that I went ahead and allowed magical mastery encompass it.
Deconstruct Spell
Current Level: Novice Level 1
This skill can be used to deconstruct the spell formula of another spell. When deconstructed the spell will become free floating mana.
This skill can be leveled up by deconstructing spells from other sources besides one’s self. The mana that is released will soon dissipate unless harnessed.
For every level this skill will increase the precision of deconstructing the spell. For every rank in this skill, you will be able to deconstruct more potent spells.
This skill can deconstruct spells in a ten foot radius.
This was the second skill I got out of the deal. That was a decently good skill as well. Thinking of the deconstruction of spells made me remember something. Skill dissembler. (Chapter 14)
Skill Dissembler
Current Level: Novice Level 1 Exp 0.00%
This skill allows you to dissemble a skill into the two skills that make it up. The two skills will be as if they were obtained through training. You cannot dissemble a skill to which you have all component skills.
As your level in Skill Dissembler grows so too will the level of skills you obtain from dissembling. As the rank in Skill Dissembler rises, you will be able to dissemble more powerful skills.
To activate say Skill Dissembler.
*Note you will not lose the skills you dissemble, merely gain up to two new ones.
Current skills that can be dissembled:
Sense Potency, Aura Sight, Sensory Perception, Body Language Analyst, Speed Reading, Plant Location, Alchemy, Technique Thief, Sleight of Hand, Spell Permanency, Automated, Automaton.
… Oh… I, uh, I’ve been a bit neglectful, huh?
Even though I felt kind of bad for not using such a nice skill earlier, I was at least thinking that it wouldn’t get me much in the end.
To be fair I did have a lot of things on my mind at that point. That was during my whole ‘alchemy’ phase. So you’ll have to forgive me.
I dissembled all of them right away.
From Sense Potency, I got: Sense Enchantment. I guess it was one of the requirements. It was weird, as soon as I dissembled that one, Aura Sight disappeared from the list of possible skills.
From Sensory Perception I got: Distinct Perception. From Body Language Analyst: I got Language Inference. From Speed Reading I got: Enhanced Memorization, and Speedy Thinking.
From Plant Location I got: Locate. From Alchemy I got: Combine. From Technique Thief I got an obvious one: Steal. Sleight of hand went away after that.
From Spell Permanency I got: Enhance Spells. From Automated I got: Repeat. When I finally dissembled Automated, Automaton went away as well.
I almost kicked myself for not using this skill earlier. I mean seriously! All of these ripe skills!
Sense Enchantment wasn’t very good, but only because it was basically Mana Sight for enchantments only.
Distinct Perception allowed me to more clearly separate my five senses. Everyone can tell if something is a sound or picture, but with this skill active I’d be able to watch a movie on mute and listen to the radio, and be able to understand them at the same time.
Language Inference allowed me to slowly learn languages! I had to listen to them, and it took a while, but I would be able to learn them without dictionaries or anything. Although, with my compendium it wasn’t that good of a skill, if I lost the compendium it might be very valuable.
Enhanced Memorization did exactly as the name suggests. It enhanced my ability to memorize things while in-game. Basically there was a bit more server room for my mind to work with.
Speedy Thinking gave me the ability to think at a much faster rate than normal. The biggest downside is that my body wouldn’t get sped up as well. Still, thinking faster could mean life or death.
Locate allowed me to locate the exact coordinates of anything I’ve come in contact with before. It was like Plant Location, but I couldn’t detect all iron swords, only ones I seen or touched.
Combine, allowed the user to hold an item, and throw some mana at it. The mana would make the item gain new properties.
Steal basically allowed me to more easily pocket items without others noticing, given that I wasn’t already being watched. Steal was extremely similar to slight of hand. It just worked on unattended objects instead of pockets.
Enhance Spells made it possible to force extra mana in a spell to make it more powerful. I didn’t really need this one, but I wasn’t bothered by it. I mean the others were great, so why would I be upset about one FUCKING DUD.
*Ahem.
Finally, Repeat. It gave an ‘insight bonus’ to things I do repeatedly. Basically it enhanced all of my other skills to a slightly higher level. That was always welcome.
Now some of those skills were pretty good, but there was one more thing that needs to be discussed. Skill Fusion. The results were:
Combine + Alchemy = Magical Alchemy
Magical Alchemy was put into the Key to Self-Sustaining Alchemy, which made the group skill become: Mastery of Alchemy. Basically it let me directly enchant my potions as I made them! I didn’t even need to do all of the tedious work of trial and error. I just pumped in the mana, and the potion would become something more potent.
Enhanced Memory + Skill Analyst = Total Recall. I could perfectly recall any memory I had with perfect detail. Of course this only worked with in-game memories. It wouldn’t make sense if it worked outside of the game. I assumed it worked by stimulating certain synapses.
Locate + Language Inference = Dialect Detection. Basically it gave me the additional ability to tell where people were from just by listening to them. The game did have a bit of a dialect to certain characters, so it made sense. The only prerequisite was the I had to visit that place, or hear the dialect to get the information.
Now for the last two skill fusions of that fateful second day.
Distinct Perception + Sensory Perception; and Speed Thinking + Long Distance Inspection.
From the first fusion I got: Empowered Perception.
Empowered Perception
Current Level: Novice Level 1 Exp 00.00%
This skill allows you to use your five senses to determine things at a higher level.
This skill is heavily dependent on the skills: Spot, Search, Listen, Track, and Taste. Ranks in these skills will dramatically increase your ability to use this skill.
This skill enhances skills: Spot, Search, Listen, Track, and Taste, by allowing the user to perfectly distinguish and afford attention to each. The level of each skill will correlate to many times higher than their actual levels.
Basically my Long Distance Inspection wouldn’t miss anything… ever. I could just about tell any information about my surroundings that I wanted. Unlike when Inspect normally got an amazing upgrade, I wasn’t overwhelmed by the information. Instead it seemed to be simply flowing in lazily.
The new information wasn’t terribly more than before, but it was all much more clear. It’s like putting on a perfect pair of prescription glasses after having broken yours a few days prior.
The final skill fusion, which happened to be the best, was Speedy Thinking + Long Distance Inspection. Not only did this one make me more powerful while using Inspect, but it also gave me something I never thought I’d get.
Imagine it!
No, wait. I have to tell you about it first. Heh, I still get chills thinking about it. It was the single greatest time of that era.
What I got was the skill: Rapid Inspection
Rapid Inspection
Current Level: Novice Level 1 Exp 00.00%
This skill allows you to quickly inspect objects, and the surrounding. Although the inspection is always instantaneous, this skill slightly dilates time to allow you to process the information at a higher rate.
Can be fused to Group Skill: Long Distance Inspection. If fused, Long Distance Inspection will upgrade to Speedy Inspection.
You have learned all of the required skills to upgrade the Group Skill: Long Distance Detection, and create Group Skill: Devourer of Knowledge. Would you like to exchange relevant skills for the Group Skill: Inspect, or Group Skill Devourer of Knowledge? You can choose to fuse them at a later time. At that time say exchange relevant skills.
Obviously I fused it before exchanging it into Long Distance Inspection.
Speedy Inspection
Current Level: Expert Level 100 Exp 00.00%
This upgraded skill allows you to use the benefits from: Identify, Identify Compatible Skills, Identify Skill, Sense Potency, Automatic Sense Potency, Sense Skill Potency, Mana Sight, Aura Sight, Sense Motive, Sensory Perception, Search, Track, Taste, Spot, Search, Listen, Body Language Analyst, Detection, Detect Price, Stat Inspection, Empathic Connection, Sense Enchantment, Distinct Perception, Language Inference, Locate, Dialect Detection, Empowered Perception, and Rapid Inspection.
You can inspect anything. The higher the level of Inspect the more information you gain on the thing inspected. You must be able to see the thing to inspect it.
To level this skill you must do an action that would be encompassed in one of the skills that were consumed to make this skill.
This skill can be toggled to automatic. If you wish to toggle this skill to automatic say: ‘Toggle skill Inspect to Automatic.’ To toggle skill to manual say: ‘Toggle skill Inspect to Manual.’
This skill has been upgraded to encompass more skills. The exp and level will not be adjusted, but the exp requirement will be.You have fused more than 15 skills together in the Group Skill: Inspect.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Inspect has gained 10 levels, maximum of 100.
Inspect now works at a distance. The distance Inspect works at is equal to 10 times the level of Inspect.
Many sub-skills of Inspect have evolved.You have fused more than 25 skills together in the Group Skill: Long Distance Inspection.
Inspect has gained 25 levels, maximum of 100.
Long Distance Inspection has evolved into Group Skill: Speedy Inspection.
Right away I exchanged Rapid Inspection. I remembered when this happened with Long Distance Detection, so I was hoping for a turnout like then. I wasn’t disappointed.
Long Distance Inspection evolved!
Instant Analysis
Current Level: Expert Level 100 Exp 00.00%
This upgraded skill allows you to use the benefits from: Identify, Identify Compatible Skills, Identify Skill, Sense Potency, Automatic Sense Potency, Sense Skill Potency, Mana Sight, Aura Sight, Sense Motive, Sensory Perception, Search, Track, Taste, Spot, Search, Listen, Body Language Analyst, Detection, Detect Price, Stat Inspection, Empathic Connection, Sense Enchantment, Distinct Perception, Language Inference, Locate, Dialect Detection, Empowered Perception, and Rapid Inspection.
You can inspect anything. The higher the level of Inspect the more information you gain on the thing inspected. You must be able to see the thing to inspect it.
To level this skill you must do an action that would be encompassed in one of the skills that were consumed to make this skill.
This skill can be toggled to automatic. If you wish to toggle this skill to automatic say: ‘Toggle skill Analysis to Automatic.’ To toggle skill to manual say: ‘Toggle skill Analysis to Manual.’
This skill has a secondary effect: Slow Time! This can be toggled to automatic. If you wish to toggle this skill to automatic say: ‘Toggle skill Slow Time to Automatic.’ To toggle skill to manual say: ‘Toggle Slow Time to Manual.’ The dilation will be based on level and rank.
Now, the most important part of that? “This skill has a secondary effect: Slow Time!... The dilation will be based on level and rank.”
I CAN SLOW FUCKING TIME!!!!!!!!!!
Oh god! Think of it! Just try! Whenever I am using Analysis I can choose to slow time. Time slows down to about 1/10 of actual time. I could watch a bullet come at me.
I might not be able to physically react to the bullet, but I’d see it coming! With my speed buffs I might even be able to barely dodge it, if it wasn’t point-blank.
Now if you’ll remember I can already teleport. It just costs a MASSIVE amount of mana. It’s much more cost efficient to just fly. Chao doesn’t have that problem though. I don’t know how that little turd has so much mana.
With the time dilation, and teleport, I’d be able to get out of almost any situation that might actually get me hurt.
If rank also played a role, who knows how good it would be at that time!
I also got another notice. Which is worked on the last day before the attack on the city.
You have become more familiar with Group Skill: Instant Analysis than most people will become with any other skill. But you have not truly mastered it yet. To truly master this skill, you must visit the city of Rulie, and find out what it truly means to identify what something is.
While I was exited about that, I sure as hell wasn’t about to give up this huge plan I set in motion to upgrade a skill. At least the upgrade didn’t have a time limit.
Heh, time. Just thinking about the slow time effect made me smile.
I also made the Group Skill: Devourer of Knowledge.
Devourer of Knowledge
Current Level: Novice Level 20 Exp 00.00%
This skill allows you to use the benefits from: Speed Reading, Auto Reading, Enhanced Memorization, Speedy Thinking, and Total Recall.
Learning anything is much simpler for you than for others. Any experience point gain, or learning of information, will by increased by a percentage based on the level of this skill * the rank of this skill.
To level this skill you must do an action that would be encompassed in one of the skills that were consumed to make this skill.
This skill was good, but not as good as the time slowing. This one would allow me to get 20% more information from my inspections though. And a 20% increase in EXP gain is always great!
Back to the present.
It was night. The sky was fairly light out. It was pretty late in the evening, but the stars shone brightly.
The bandits crept to the wall silently, but I had me ‘eyes’ on them. I knew exactly where they were coming from. I couldn’t use my eyes while they were prowling, because I had to be out here to stop them.
But my enhanced inspect made it so that I could easily see the people crawling in the tall grass. The faintest movement of the blades of grass were easy for me to make out.
They slowly spread out, and began to circle the base. I made sure to cloak myself in darkness. Though I was floating in plain sight, they wouldn’t be able to see me.
There was only ten people going into the city at the moment. I waited until the first person scaled the wall, before I began to fight.
As soon as I was ready, I threw out two small rocks from my inventory. Both of them headed for the first person that scaled the wall. At the same time I used wind mana to call out: “CITY ON HIGH ALERT! CITY ON HIGH ALERT!”
I used my wind mana to circulate the sound all the way to the furthest parts of the city. The guards in the inner arcs instantly started heralding the people to the castle.
The two rocks exploded when the neared the person. A huge explosion of light and sound rang out.
The girl threw up an arm to shield her face. Wrong move. I used a huge gust of wind to knock her off the top of the wall.
The fact that they could scale the wall was amazing. It was perfectly flat, and had nowhere to put holes in easily. I was going to find out how they did it after the battle.
As the girl fell, I sent up several earth spikes to impale her when she landed. After making sure she landed on them, I went on to the next person.
By the time I got there, the person had already scaled the wall, and was sneaking towards an alley. He was stunned after I threw one of them.
FlashbangMaterial QualityLowWork QualityExpertEnchantment QualityExpertDamage0Durability5/5This weapon doesn’t do any damage, but it causes a stun effect to anyone capable of being effected by intense light or sound. The stun effect lasts longer according to the situation.
It was incredibly easy to handle him after that. I just fused a bit of darkness mana to some water/wind mana, to make a poison mist.
After that I just stabbed him in the throat a few times with the tip of my spear. The poison began to seep in rapidly. The poor raping/pillaging/plundering bandit died in seconds.
I made quick work of the others. I only spent a few seconds on each one. With my large amounts of buffs, and the fact that I had planned all of this before-hand, I was able to kill them quickly.
The other bandits didn’t attack that night. I guess they were going to wait to see what happened. I debated whether or not to force them into a battle in the open, but decided against it. I wanted them to come out first.
Then I’d handle the situation in a way that made everyone see how great I was. So that was the end of that day.
Aw, I didn’t even get to try out my cool new skill!
Alright guys! Second promised chapter of the day. I don’t know exactly when, but I’ll try to put out another later this week. Man that slow time thing! I wonder how that will turn out.
Spoiler :
It’s in the next chapter[/i]
Also here are his stats for those that have been wondering!
Spoiler :
Stats WindowNameVoice0fReasonClassMana EnchanterRaceTrue ElfRacial ClassKingLevel 48Health: 100Mana: 3430[11,662]Stamina: 500Current Title: Chosen of MarHealth Regen: 1/sMana Regen: 52(48)/sStamina Regen: 5.9/sStrength83Agility50Wisdom260Intelligence343Endurance59Dexterity50Luck0Vitality50Charisma35Compassion105Leadership67Logic28Piety89Unused Stat Points0Fame1685
Skills WindowGroup Skill: Rapid Analysis Expert Level 100 Exp 00.00%
Group Skill: Skill Mastery Adept Level 50 Exp 21.23%
Group Skill: Con Artist Novice Level 21 Exp 5.01%
Group Skill: Devourer of Knowledge Novice Level 20 Exp 15.61%
Group Skill: Automatic Nursing Novice Level 20 Exp 00.00%
Group Skill: Master of Alchemy Expert Level 75 Exp 00.00%
Group Skill: Tactical Survival Adept Level 50 Exp 00.00%
Group Skill: Tactical Combat Training Adept Level 50 Exp 00.00%
Group Skill: Magical Mastery Expert Level 75 Exp 00.00%
Group Skill: Breakdown Apprentice Level 25 Exp 12.64%
Group Skill: Crafting Mastery Apprentice Level 30 Exp 00%
Group Skill: Harvesting Mastery Novice Level 5 Exp 60.43%
Group Skill: Body Enhancement Adept
Group Skill: Task Master Adept Level 50 Exp 00.00%
Affinities WindowLight70%Water75%Wind25%Nature100%Metal75%Earth90%Fire35%Darkness100%
Purities WindowLight30%Water79%Wind30%Nature65%Metal30%Earth80%Fire30%Darkness30%