When Ruth woke his eyes opened but he did not immediately move. There was no impulsive movement to check whether he was alright or if he was safe, no complaints about what was or was not irritating the skin of his person, no worry in his mind at all.
He lay there staring at the ceiling and started to count the small tendrils of roots that had begun to spring out of the tree. He suspected that when the room had been carved out the tree had not given up reclaiming the space entirely. It had tried to continue growing downward from what was now the ceiling to the room.
Ruth sat up slowly and looked down at his feet. Earlier in the day(?) he had been barefoot. Now the scales that rippled darkly across his body had covered his feet in what appeared to be slightly thicker footwear. A casual thought and the scales receded. The clothing moved at his will, revealing the ashen hued skin of his feet. A simple thought later and the boots reformed.
The clothing had eaten the bipedal raccoon and gotten stronger. Stronger? Was that the correct word? No, perhaps not stronger, but the clothing had grown. It now covered a larger surface area of his person.
It was possible, Ruth thought to himself, that the clothing could even cover more than it currently was covering.
Ruth stretched out the arm with the ring on it and imagined claws. The clothing resisted, at first, but then started to slowly shape itself into extended fingers with clawed digits. Ruth experimentally touched the claws with his other hand -- the one that the clothing still wouldn’t wind down.
The clothing was soft in his hand despite the shape. It could take the shape but only had the consistency of leather, or lizard skin really.
Ruth turned drowsily to the room and noticed the pile of things in front of the door. Everything had been happening fast but he was pretty sure he had not put all those things there.
He slowly regained his feet and moved to the bookshelf that was blocking, or at the very least hiding from view, the portal. He stretched out his hand and gave it a push. Instead of disappearing in the portal or the portal revealing itself as the bookshelf fell through, the bookshelf hit the ground with a rather large and percussive thump. There was no longer a portal.
Satisfied that the portal wasn’t there he once again turned and regarded the pile of ‘stuff’ that was blocking the door.
“How long have I slumbered?” He wondered aloud. “Reveal yourself.”
Revealing itself might have been an exaggeration. The immortal and deadly text had been patiently waiting off to the side while Ruth re-oriented himself.
Ruth felt clear in a way he never had. There were things wrong in this room.
The first thing that felt wrong was the manner in which things had been placed in front of the doorway. He had limited time before he was forced into unconsciousness and probably hadn’t done as fine a job. The second, the portal was missing. There was no reasonable expectation that it would close itself so conveniently without some sort of interference. Interference might have come from the creatures he had thrown through? Then why had they not just come through and slain him? Perhaps they were afraid that the Cannibal Pixies would get through and close it from the other side? That was reasonable.
There could also be a third party that accounted for both.
The thought made him uneasy.
“Hello, please display the changes.” Ruth pushed those aside for now. The important thing was he didn’t hear Cannibal Pixies trying to barge inward from the outside.
> Planar Tiefling: Ruth (Level 10) (Young Adult/Lord Rush) (Lightning Specialized)
>
> ★★★★ Limited Electrical Immunity.
>
> Intelligence Favored
>
> ★★ Shock: Jolts targets within line of sight with a moderate to heavy shock, killing or incapacitating small to medium creatures. (Mana Consumption 2)
>
> ★★Thunder Struck: Channeled spell, discharging localized lightning under user direction after sufficient channel time. Due to the volatile nature of spell, effects on targets largely uncertain. (Mana Consumption 10)
>
> ★★Magnetic Field: Powerful force to repel or attract metal using the caster as a base. Lasts for 4 hours or until canceled. (Mana Consumption 1)
>
> Update:
>
> ★★ Internal Mana Circulation updated:
>
> Maximum mana 20
>
> 2 mana regenerated in 1 hour.
>
> Congratulations on learning all available templates. New Templates available.
>
> ★Lightning Chain:
>
> Bind a creature with chains of lightning. Deals moderate damage in addition to leashing a creature to the ground within a meter. Instantaneous. (1 spell slot)
>
> ★Lightning Ward:
>
> Clad yourself in lightning. Dealing favorable damage to anyone that encroaches within a meter of the caster. Negates any lightning attacks. Instantaneous. (1 spell slot).
>
> ★Lightning Wings:
>
> Wings of lightning, the heart of thunder. Instantaneous. (1 spell slot)
>
> Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
>
> Mana: 20/20
>
> 3 of 5 spell slots
Ruth studied the changes and quietly requested that the immortal and deadly text show him what Lightning Chain, Lightning Ward, and Lightning Wings entailed.
The first series of images corresponded to Lightning Chain. Ruth was a powerful man in dark black armor and wielded a spear of lightning. A deadly serpent rose from the waves off the bow of the ship he was on. The powerful man lifted his hand and called for a chain of lightning that tied itself around the serpent and held it in place. It didn’t seem to be anchored to any one thing. It wasn’t tied to the water, the ship, or even something below the surface of the waves. It simply existed.
The second series of images were for Lightning Ward. Ruth imagined himself as a woman who was fighting with a light rapier. Arcs of electricity surrounded Ruth as she laughed and danced with a brute of a creature with red skin, horns, and cloven feet. Every time he tried to grab her he winced and fell backward as lightning played across his skin. Frustrated, the red-skinned man threw a large rock at her and it exploded, struck by lightning.
The final images were of formless wings winding their way out of a thin man who leaped off a stronghold wall. He turned around and smiled upward as his pursuers moved to the edge of the wall to watch him plummet. Halfway down the mountain and while in freefall, the wings finally opened up and lit up the air. The man smiled and fell to safety. It wasn’t as graceful as he imagined, the limbs of the trees buffeting his fall and striking him, but he did land without harm.
Ruth slowly opened his eyes and stared at the immortal and deadly text.
“I would like to speak with Tamara.”
> I am Tamara.
Ruth considered the statement and finally shook his head, “no.”
> No?
“No. I don’t think so. Explain to me how you are Tamara?”
> I am Tamara…
“No, I don’t think so.”
> I am the part of Tamara tasked with watching you. I am Tamara.
“The part,” Ruth stressed.
The immortal and deadly text froze and then started to slowly move toward him. It opened wider for a moment and the words that came were somehow sharper.
> Speak.
“What do you want?” Ruth was genuinely confused. Was this the real Tamara? Was he finally speaking directly to his patron?
> Boring. No.
“Can we at least,” Ruth started to try again and stopped when the immortal and deadly text seemed to lose a little something.
> No.
“She’s gone isn’t she?” Ruth said sadly.
> No.
“Ah. Next time I’ll ask a better question.” Ruth stood up and stretched. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed at this point but it had been a while. His stomach growling at him informed him that time had indeed passed, though.
That wasn’t saying much. This new stomach was always hungry.
Wait! Come to think of it, he vaguely remembered -- “Tell me how long it takes to regenerate a spell slot?”
> 1 Spell Slot Regenerates Every 4.8 Hours.
Ruth smiled. He was quite pleased to figure out that it had been in the neighborhood of 9 hours.
The immortal and deadly text shook from side to side in a slow and exaggerated manner as if it were less impressed.
> Reminder of:
>
> ★Unlock Internal Clock: Ability to understand the passage of time.
>
> Current time: 16:09:82.
Fine. So he had been capable of keeping track of the passage of time before now and hadn’t paid any attention to it! His eyes widened and his mouth turned into a displeased curve. Way to rain on his parade you piece of crap immortal and deadly text!
“Haven’t you reported everything?” He sneered. “Disappear.”
The immortal and deadly box froze as it always did when there was a life-altering dilemma presented to it. Truly, the Ruth creature had a point. It had displayed all the pertinent information. He was updated on his current knowledge and had asked questions, obviously receiving satisfactory answers! In addition, the immortal and deadly text had nothing new to tell Ruth of given his current statistics and attributes.
The immortal and deadly text felt… reluctant.
The immortal and deadly text felt… that alien feeling again. That sensation it got whenever the Ruth creature displayed a certain behavior; or as an example, when the Ruth creature was right.
Almost as if reluctant, the immortal and deadly text began to disappear. It was incredibly slow.
Ruth felt a little guilty after the first minute passed and the immortal and deadly text was almost completely transparent. He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Uh, actually, I may have more questions.”
He immediately frowned when the box brightened almost immediately.
Disgustingly clingy thing.
↢↦
Malika opened her eyes, surprised to find that she was alive. She sat upright and looked around with dewey blinking eyes. Her brother, Murnack, was beside her as he had been when they were in the Haberdasher’s evil lair with their mother.
Her nose twitched and she almost screeched kinslayer right there and then.
Murnack held out a hand to forestall her comment and sent her a guarded look. His motion made her pause. She looked around and her eyes widened as she realized where she was.
Somehow, inexplicably, against all odds -- she and Murnack were now resting in the burrow of their mother. The dark and black eyes of many of her kin were all on her and Murnack, waiting for them to gather their strength and explain.
“Mother has perished along with the Haberdasher,” Murnack said carefully. “It is also expected that the creature that killed them died there. A pity, yes?”
“Yes?” Still a little slow on the uptake, Malika thought about it. Murnack had obviously seen more of what happened before he had gone unconscious. He was slightly larger than her, after all, so there was the possibility that he knew more about current events. Still, she found herself narrowing her eyes dangerously at him. “Mother fell then?”
“Yes,” he said soberly. “It was truly horrific. May she live on in our memories, the…” his eyes also had a fervent glow. Left unspoken was the finished statement kinslayer.
“...the former queen, Mother Chaka,” Malika said solemnly. Murnack nodded.
“Is… is the calamity over?” Malika asked hesitantly.
One of her sisters came over and took her hand in sympathy. Malika almost couldn’t stand the way she was looking at her with such a pitying gaze.
“It rages on in the northern woods. For now, the Cannibal Pixie tide has waned. Many are the losses,” she said quietly. “Is it true that the creature that was kinslayer is no more? Slain by Mother Chaka?”
“Sure,” Malika said, “why not?”