The stream of [Limit Break] notifications scrolled by and the five minute countdown started. I only wanted to one spell this time around, [Create Flame]. As a Wizard, excuse me, as an Archwizard, if I used a [Limit Break] point for a spell, I could use that spell without having to prepare it with my grimoire, but I was locked into the Level of the spell where I spent the Ability Point. If I choose a spell now, I could practice it up to the maximum level, but unless I prepared the spell with my grimoire I would be really difficult to cast the Spell above Spell Level 1. I need some non-Magical skills anyway, so started with those.
I started with Charisma and selected [Diplomacy]. I got the Skill, but then my blood went cold. The countdown timer for selecting my [Limit Breaks] didn't reset! I had five minutes to pick 6 Skills and my Spell! I could do it but, I wasn't expecting this. I needed to focus.
Wisdom went to [Identify], Constitution got [Light Sleeper], Dexterity got [Throwing, All], Luck got [Create Flame], Spirit got [Resist Fear], Will got [Intellect Fortress] and for Strength, that was the best part. I took my [Archwizard Ability Point] and combined it with my Strength [Limit Break] and...I took [Inventory]!
At every Level, an adventurer can buy a [Boon] and Class Ability. My Class, Archwizard, gives me a number of [Ability Points] based on my Level. Low category classes like Warrior or Mage give 1 ability point per level. This is called Class Power Rating. Higher ranking Classes like Wizard give 5 per level. Archmage gives 20 per level. Archwizard has a Class Power Rating of my Class Level *squared*. It sucked at Level 1, but at Level 99 my Class Power Rating would be 9,801 compared to something less than 1,980 for the next best from Archmage. Archdruids and Archsorcerers were the only casters that would be in my league.
Following the plan that Celestium helped me construct meant that I had gained my Greater Class at Level 1 instead of Level 10. I didn't have to waste Levels before I started generating an exponential Class Power Rating. There were higher rated Classes, called Grand Classes, but they were usually stuff like 'Holy Archmage' or 'Archdruid of Balance'. They came with all kind of Alignment restrictions, and usually took extended Quests to acquire them. In raw power they weren't much better than taking Archwizard at Level 1.
With my a [Archwizard Ability Point] and my Strength [Limit Break] point I had two points to spend on my [Inventory] Ability. I had a couple of choices. When purchasing Abilities there are two basic strategies. Get quantity or get quality. For one [Ability Point] I get an [Inventory] with one cubic stride of space for every Status Level I had. For two I could double that amount. I could hold multiple copies of the same thing in that cubic stride, but only things with same name, like putting twenty silver coins in one [Inventory] slot. If I wanted different items in inventory I needed at least one more cubic stride of space. At Level 1 I would only be able to hold one type of thing in [Inventory]
Instead I could get one cubic foot of space, equal to my Class Power Rating. At Level 1, that's one cubic foot of the same item. At Level 99 I could hold 9801 cubic feet with 9801 different types of items. For two points I could double that to 19,602 items, or for two points I could get 9801 cubic strides of space at Level 99. There were some more combinations of options, but I knew what I wanted. I selected cubic strides at my Class Power Rating.
First I put all my bags in my 1 cubic stride. I summoned them in and out. I was better than a Vegas magician. Stuff just appeared and disappeared. I put all my silver coins in and practiced making change. They could come and go from anywhere. Coins popped out of my mouth. They fell from ears. I had coins in my boots, and then I didn't. It was the ultimate grandpa power. I put my underwear in and did some quick changes without taking off my pants. This was forever magic that cost no Mana to use. I was a living perpetual motion machine!
My reverie was interrupted by a knock at the door. The attendant asked, “Did everything go alright? Did you get your Class Change?”
The joy of my playtime carried over into my tone. “It was perfect. Thanks.”
“I'm glad sir. Please take few moments and gather your things. We will need the room shortly.”
I didn't need to be told twice. I got my stuff and left. When I was standing outside the temple I triggered [A Chance at Greatness].
I had to wait to [Limit Break] Intelligence, because if my Wizard Class had triggered a [Limit Break] I wouldn't have been able to choose Archwizard without losing the extra point. I selected the [Analyze Skill] for Intelligence. I examined a few trees before I got tired of wasting Mana on the [Skill]. It was only one Mana per attempt, but my regen just went up to 21 a day.
I was feeling very content. Months of work had finally paid off. I had my Class. I had my Ability and my [Boon] for Level 1. I was ready to start adventuring. The only problem was how to start. I was Level 1. The rodents didn't have to be of unusual size to pose a threat to me. I shook my head and walked back into the temple. The sun was getting close to setting by the time I reached the window. It was the same young priestess that had waited on me yesterday.
“Hello again,” she said cheerfully. Without my Title she was considerably less animated and nervous.
“Hi. I didn't catch your name,” I said.
“I'm Flo,” she said.
“I'm Eric, Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise. What can I do for you today.”
“Well I'm new to the city and need a place stay. I need some work to. I heard I can do work for the temple and get a two hots and a cot. I'd like to try doing some of the local Quests.”
“You help out once week and you get a place to stay and food. You serve in the soup kitchen, the laundry, or the grounds detail. Your day of service counts as a minor Quest. If you miss it you have to wait a week. If you miss your Quest you have to pay for food and lodging. Four coppers a day. You get Karma and XP. Do you want to sign up?”
“Sure, but just one day a week? I thought I could keep working on Quests everyday.”
She chuckled. “You and everybody else. People show up for the Quests from all over, but there's just not enough [Evil] to go around.”
“I thought they were repeatable quests, like cleaning up trash and vising sick people,” I asked.
“You mean like the Quests little kids do. Visiting Grandma and cleaning your room?”
“I guess,” I answered.
She smiled, “Well you did say you were basically born yesterday. I don't know how it would go over if I put you in a preschool class. There is a adult class for doing some remedial Quests, but it's all elves. Elves like to travel and collect Karma. A new group rotates through once a month. I could put you with them,” She offered. Because I hadn't completed a Quest for the church yet, I had to pay 4 coppers for dinner and place to stay. Flo set me up in shelter about six blocks from the temple. I could come and go, but I was sleeping on the floor in a big open room with about 30 other men. One was even a dwarf. There was always an attendant to watch over us, so it felt safe, if a little weird. I was only sleeping for about four hours. With my Constitution that's all I needed now.
The next day, I was at first a little upset about being assigned to laundry duty. I thought I could use my [Inventory] ability in the kitchens. [Inventory] lets you store food indefinitely, so I thought somehow this would let me do something with food. Turns out it didn't even help with me laundry. I needed my [Inventory] to store my bags. After a breakfast of porridge, I spent two hours completing a Laundry Quest and earned 1% of level 2 in XP and a point of [Good Karma] and [Law Karma]. Two years of college and was still working a menial job. Some things never change.
I showed up at the temple before noon to join my elven Karma tour group. I was told to meet up with them in a small courtyard behind the temple. I walked up to the closest elf and said, “Is this the Karma Quest group?”
He shot me confused look before glancing around. An elven woman behind him said apologetically, “I'm the only one with [Polyglot] here. Are you here to guide us to the hospital?”
“Uh...no. I'm here to join you. I need the Karma and XP,” I said in a rush.
She seemed shocked for second. She explained to the others that I was joining the group. The reaction was mixed. A few of the elves smiled politely, some gave me suspicious looks, but mostly everyone ignored me until our guide showed up.
The pretty, dark haired priestess started talking as soon as whe was within earshot, “Hello everyone. I'm Kendra. Today we're going to the hospital to see the victims of Carnal damage. Remember these people are in constant pain. Many are paralyzed. Talk to them, but make sure you listen. Push them around in their wheelchairs. Be polite. Do not get into political arguments with them, Aern'Lenninisal.” She cast a dark look at a white-haired elf I thought must be Aern'Lenninisal. He blushed. I found it little odd that when she said his name, I heard the sounds, but I also heard the meaning of his name. It meant 'the evening star that guides you home to safety.' Kendra continued here instructions on what to do with the patients, “Don't touch them, some of them are contagious. Emaeria, make sure that when the choir is singing, you are too. We want to make sure they understand the words.”
The woman with [Polyglot] who had spoken to me earlier nodded. Her name meant 'contented joy.'
“OK, everyone, let's head out.” She turned to me and said, “Eric, walk with with me please.”
I made quick sprint to catch up to her as she started walking down the street.
She grasp her hands in front the intense blue robes she was wearing and asked, “Have you ever seen Carnal damage before?”
“No,” I replied flatly.
She pursed here lips and said with resolve, “Not everyone can deal with it. If you have to leave I will understand. You wont get credit for the Quest, but it's more important to protect the feelings of these victims than have you melt down in front of them. Do you understand?”
I nodded and said, “Yes.”
“I was told you don't speak Common. Is that right?”
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“I speak a little High Common, and I can get by with Low Common, but that's about it.”
She nodded and said, “Stay by Emaeria. She'll make sure you can be understood and understand what others are saying. Just do what she says and everything will be fine.”
She pointed to Emearia and scooted me away. As I approached Emearia she nodded. It was clear she didn't want to talk so I followed along. Something was off and I couldn't figure it out right away. Then it hit me. I was towering over Emearia. Back on Earth I wasn't tall. I was 5'-8” Not Hollywood 5'-8”, which is 5'-6” plus 1 inch for shoes and 1 inch good measure (or lifts). Because the Elfandrael stride was about 35 Earth inches, the Elfandrael inch was about 97% of the Earth inch. I was 5'-8” in Earth inches and 5'-10” on Elfandril.
The average American man is 5'-10” with a standard deviation of 3 inches. The average American woman is 5'-4 1/2” with a standard deviation of 2 ½ inches. The standard deviation has universal mathematical principles associated with it. Men from 5'-7 to 6'-1” are considered in what might be called the normal range. Above and below that are the extremely short and extremely tall men. At 5'-8” I was somewhat short but not freakishly short. The beautiful part of the math is that the top end of the normal range for women was 5'-7” and the bottom end for men was 5'-7” That meant that 85% of men were taller than 5'-7” and 85% of women were shorter that 5'-7” In other words 85% of men were at least taller than 85% of women. It is normal but not required for men to be taller than women. The mathematics of statistics indicates that somehow there was underlying pattern compatibility that men and women fit together so women and men could enjoy men being normally taller than women.
The first weird part about this is that Hollywood 5'-10” was also Efandrael 5'-10” or real 5'-8” on Earth. There s a meme trolling men, “Aren't all men six feet?” Well the average 5'-10” man is Hollywood 6'-0”. If you live in the 'Everybody doesn't care are about the accuracy or details world' it works. Now that I live in an actual fantasy world, the measurements of the fantasy world people lived in on Earth exactly matches the numbers of this world. It some some strange way I'm now more closely connected to those Hollywood people now than I never was when I lived on Earth. And that has something to do with why it was I was towering over Emaeria. Is was connected to why Elfandrael was made with the System.
All the gods of Elfandrael are elves of some type. Celestium is an angelic elf. Bestal is a blood elf. Mindal is a high elf. This world is basically an elven world. The elves of this world drifted away from physical concerns and toward spiritual goals. As result their bodies shrank and their souls grew. Soul Stats like Luck and Spirit are easy for elves to evolve and [Limit Break]. The physical Stats Strength and Constitution are hard for them to develop. No elf [Limit Breaks] Strength or Constitution without some type of outside help. The gods of Elfandrel invited humans and other races to this world to re-balance the elves. The elves did get taller. The humans got shorter. I'm physically the same size I was on Earth but now I'm exactly average height for a male human on Elfandrael. Efandril 5'-10”. It's like the entire world re-sized around me.
What got me thinking about this was that I was traveling with a female human priestess and twenty-five or so elves, and I was was the tallest person in the group. The academic caster was looming over everyone. It was a new feeling. It didn't make me feel like was separate or apart. I felt more closely connected. I had a part to play in the plan of the gods. My mere presence as a human had to value to the elves around me. Elves live 10 times longer than humans. As result they get an XP penalty that makes it so they have to earn 10 times more XP. When humans finish a Quest they get 10% of the Level in XP. It takes ten times more for an elf. They get 1% of Level in XP for finishing a Quest. The ratio is fair and appropriate to both races. The plan for Elfandrael makes a space for everyone to have a chance 'to be' in a systematic way. It's planned and observable in the same way the distribution of heights between men and women are. The symmetry and beauty of it made feel like I belonged here, even as I was being socially excluded by a bunch of snotty young elves. It made me appreciate what Celestium and his buddies were doing.
Some of the elves chatted and laughed as we walked. I couldn't understand them, but elvish, if that's what they were speaking, did sound beautiful. Kendra walked with determined purpose until we reached the hospital. We all followed her through a back entrance into a large day room.
There were 30 or 40 people in the room. Only two were not in wheelchairs. Half were paralyzed or maybe catatonic. The wounds weren't pleasant to look at. There were weeping wounds and pustulence. In some cases they smelled foul. Large patches of skin were bruised with streaks of blood-red veins seeming to have burst deep in the flesh. A few had hands that had withered away to a dry husk like a mummy. A part of the face of one girl had been melted. Attendants in protective gear flitted about, wiped away puss and clearing the air with perfumes and Magic. It was a nightmare. And I had to politely smile through it all.
It was strange to be looking at such profound pain and suffering in world with magical healing. It was even stranger to know that healing the symptoms of Carnal damage was easy. Even the lowliest healing Spirit Art could remove the damage. The problem was the side effects, which were always random. Healing a Carnal damage imparted [Evil Karma] to the patient and the healer. It might be hundreds of points of Evil Karma, it might be hundreds of thousands. It was possible to guess at the number, but not really know it. The greater the number of types of Carnal spores causing the damage, greater the randomness as to how much [Evil Karma] would be visited. Many healers refused to heal Carnal damage because it could destroy the very [Good] Magnitudes they needed to be effective healers. Some healers refused to heal Carnal damage because of what it did to the soul of the patient. No one healed Carnal damage often, if ever. Even for suffering children.
I'm not squeamish, but I don't enjoy disgusting things. Unfortunately if you work in restaurants long enough you will see something disgusting. Especially if you have to clean fast food bathrooms. It appears as though the Karma I earned on Earth was going to serve me again. I got through the next two hours by following Emearia's directions as quickly as possible. She'd point and I'd grab wheelchair or hold a songbook for elf. The musical performance was lovely. Every patient that appeared to be with it mentally enjoyed their singing. Besides Emaeria, I couldn't understand anyone. I was very relieved and very distressed when everyone started waving goodbye and filing out of the room. It was very disturbing because I was going to take a Carnal power that would let me do this type of damage.
There are nine basic categories of 'superpowers' in Elfandrael. They are associated with the 9 Paths of Alignment. The 'Big Three' are The Virtues, Magic, and Carnals. Those 3 are the most the effective ways to increase individual power. Magic is associated with [True Neutrality]. It is simply a medium of power. The Virtues correspond with [Lawful Good]. Carnals are a rooted in [Chaotic Evil]. Alignment can effect how easy it is to use a power category, but it's mainly Class and [Boons] that determine which Alignment powers you can use.
The Virtues are mainly coincidental Soul magic. Be a [Good] and orderly person and reality will twist itself around to protect you. The Virtues work well with Spirit Arts Classes like Saints and Paladins. Magic requires mental focus and skill to direct the power. The Carnals are living infestations that manifest personal power for a user, at the expense of others.
When a Carnal activates, the infestation grants a power boost and shoots a cloud of toxic spores into the area. You're immune to your own spores. Some creatures have a racial immunity to the spores of their race, but mostly it blasts everybody, even allies. Especially allies. Leaving victims. Victims like those sitting in that hospital ward recovering.
It's not always [Evil]. It only works on living things. Elementals, golems and other constructs, and machines are immune. There are Magic items to reduce the effects. Magi-tech suits can contain and filter the spores. Certain Oaths can limit the damage and the Karma. The biggest problem is that it's reactive. It's not always consciously controlled. Getting attacked sitting in a room with innocent people means you put those people at risk just by being with them. It's changes your life choices. It's not like playing with fire. It's literally playing with biological weapons.
When I asked Celestium how Carnals could be used by a [Lawful Good] person, he explained they were a technology, like guns. Owning a gun increased your personal chances of dying from a gunshot. Responsible ownership of guns decreases lawlessness and rampaging death by hordes of people with guns. It's a good idea for some [Good] people to own guns, and bad idea for some [Good] people to own guns. It's sometimes a good idea for some [Evil] people to own guns. That part is not about [Good] or [Evil], it's about best applied uses of free will.
The big difference between the Carnals and biological weapons back on Earth was The System. The System makes dealing with the consequence of the Carnals easier. Carnal damage was painful, brutal, and intractable, but you could eventually heal from it. The sickness, pestilence, and disease caused biological weapons on Earth couldn't be wiped away with Magic. Even the gods of Elfandrael acted as a backup in case of a true global catastrophe.
According the Celestium the most important lesson of biological weapons on Earth was learning not to do it. Even with Chernobyl and Fukushima, nuclear power was way safer than hydrocarbons. Sure dying from radiation poisoning is gruesome, but some old guy who chooses to save lives by going into a reactor meltdown is way better than legions of five-years-old dying from asthma because of smog. We focus on the worst, hypothetical case, and ignore the miserable reality.
As bad as nuclear weapons are, they don't compare to biological weapons. Chemical and nuclear weapons take effort, skill, control, resources, and even restraint to deploy. They can be mitigated because they have finite capacity. Biological weapons can only be compared to nuclear weapons if living nuclear weapon factories could be stored in a small vile sitting in a refrigerator. That's infinite capacity for [Evil]. Earth has proven (so far) that society can deal with nuclear weapons. You can research them without risking the end of the world, or at least only hurting a small number of people. You can't say that about biological weapons.
Who do you trust to do the research? Who do you trust to review it? To monitor it? What kind of person says, “Look at my research! You can you use it to sterilize or kill your children! Don't you want to celeberate me and share my work with everyone!” The idea that the military types have to do secret biological research is stupid. The only reason to do it is so people that want to cull humanity can use it. It was so important stay ahead of tyrannical goverments like China that “gain of function” research on bat viruses had to be outsourced to the Wuhan lab in China. Why? So the people who develop the skills to cull humanity could devlop those skills in case someone wanted to hire them.
You can't do biological research and expect that some [Evil] tyrant isn't going to come along and find it. If you did biological weapons research with AI and left the research sealed inside a steel container at the bottom of mineshaft, you might trust that it would never get out. You could set up a computer that could receive information from the outside world to determine if if some disease in the outside world matches a cure that research facility produced. You don't have much danger of [Evil] people finding the dangerous research, but nobody did any research. No scientist knows what's in the sealed system. It works, but again the only answer to biological weapons research is don't do it.
I don't take biological weapons lightly. Back on Earth I would never have anything to do with it. On Elfandrael, the gods Magically backstop the global threat of Carnal infestations. Even with that, after seeing the effects on the patients at the hospital, I was having second thoughts. I was probably going to need Carnal powers. Most of the powers on Elfandrel can be susbstituted for others. Magic-tech is associatee with [Chaotic Nuetral]. Oaths are the power of [Lawful Neutral]. Magic-tech uses teams so people can combine powers. A group of Magi-Knights can combine their abilities in a team of 9 or 10 and get great effects. Soldiers can use Oaths to make Formations, allowing them to work together in groups as large as an army. Those effects don't stack. They substitute for each other. Carnal power maginfies everything. There is no subsitute for it. You have it or you don't.
I wanted Carnal damage resistance. The plan for my build was called a tank-mage back on Earth. Powerful casting magic combined with high damage resistance. Without Carnal power, it would be fearsome. With it, I could take 8 to 10 times as much damage. Sniper headshot. Ignored. Massive combined damaged. Weathered. Penatrating attacks. Useless. The only price was risking maiming my allies if it got out of control. I didn't have to decide if was going take Carnal powers right away, but I did need to decide if I was going to consider it.
Carnal power is not in my Class or Alignment. To get it, I would need to Soulburn a Boon, and Burn [Evil Karma]. A lot of [Evil Karma]. I started with over 3,000 Evil Karma from Earth. After Soulburning [A Chance at Greatness] and the Boon that let me waive the Tier 1 Level requirement for my Archwizard Class, I had just over 1,000 [Evil] Karma Left. If I didn't Soulburn the Boon for Carnal power at Level 2, I probably wouldn't ever have Carnal abilities. I was certainly not going to change my mind and do lots of [Evil] stuff later on just to get the Boon. It was do it soon or never. I knew I was going to do it. It was just not a comfortable feeling.
The group moved on to a trash cleanup Quest after the hospital. It was a nice diversion from my thoughts. It didn't take too long. I got my 10% Quest XP and some [Law] Karma. As the sun was setting. I popped into the temple soup kitchen for my free evening meal. It was rabbit with mixed vegetables. The meat was well flavored. It was time to see if I had what it took. Next stop was the Adventurers Guild.