The pain set in as soon as the adrenaline wore off, and it was hands down the worst that Ander had ever experienced. Ander stared at his leg wound in horror. The only reson that he wasn’t dead was that the flaming javelins had seared him all the way through, cauterizing the wound quite effectively. The wound in his arm had incapacitated it, and that was by only being grazed. His leg, on the other hand, would not survive with mundane medicine, even if he had hundreds of levels in the skill. The hole was an inch and a half wide, and there was another inch of cooked flesh all around it. There was barely any healthy leg left, and that was not enough. Ander was no doctor, but he was pretty sure that most of the major blood vessels had been destroyed entirely, and he was lucky to have any bone left in the effected area. The really had only one hope to keep the leg.
Ander fought to steady his agonized breaths as he tried to enter the void of his Walker of Memories skill. It felt like someone stabbed his heart with one of those flaming javelins, and then ripped it up through his body and into his head. Ander’s concentration was immediately shattered. He sat there breathing hard and shuddering. He didn’t want to try again. The very thought caused bile to rise in his throat. But he pressed on. The pain roared through his body as Ander entered the void.
Millions of threads, maybe billions, all packed densely together. They touched each other and sprang away creating a tangle far beyond what Ander could imagine. Ander stood there shocked, struggling to keep the broken skill active. There had been many threads before, thousands of them. This was on an entirely different level. As Ander watched, he saw something that he did not like. Black tendrils, far less numerous than the threads but there nonetheless, were intertwined with the threads. While they were hard to pick out against the black void, but when they came in front of a particularly dense section of threads, they were as clear as day. They writhed and twisted, snaking their way around the threads, but seeming to do no damage.
Ander clenched his one good fist, knowing there was nothing he could do about the dark tendrils. He likely couldn’t do anything while he was healthy, much less in the state he was in. He had to take the risk. Ander sent his will out into the void, and the field of threads rushed around him before he came to one thread in particular. He had passed several tendrils, but they did not seem to take notice of his presence, doing whatever it was they had been doing before.
Ander examined the thread, and sensed what he could from it. He got the sense that this had been a healer, no surprise there. As ander examined the thread, one bead lit up. It was near the beginning of the thread like most of these were, though farther along than the bead that had shown him that day in the life of the kid Scori. Not gleaning more from the thread, Ander dived into the bead.
. . .
The first thing that Ander noticed was his own self consciousness. It was jarring when he had expected to be fully consumed within another person for a time. The second thing he noticed were all the dying people. Rows upon rows of people were laid out on pallets of straw on the floor of the church which had been cleared of the pews that would normally reside there. Ander was startled by a man next to him bursting out in a round of bloody coughing. Ander quickly knelt, turning the man on his side to prevent him from choking on his own blood. Normally he would have no idea this was necessary, but the man whose body he was borrowing offered his memories to Ander as well.
He was Kiran, or at least he was supposed to be. He was an assistant to the doctor for the area. It was rural, and the Doctor and Kiran usually serviced a number of small villages. But they had been stuck inside the church for a week now with no end in sight. More victims of the plague were being brought in as quickly as death could take them out. The Doctor and Kiran could do nothing other than make these miserable people a little more comfortable in their last days. The priest was able to help them, at least a little. But his magic was weak. At best he could heal one person a day, make them immune to the plague. But that would not last for long. People were already desperate. What would they do when the priest told them he couldn’t help? They had already barricaded the doors, only allowing the sick or dead in and out. All that had been healed were inside caring for the others who had been afflicted so horribly.
Kiran had always been a sensitive person. Now he had to hold back tears every time his eyes landed on one of the sick, writhing in their filth and agony. A scream tore from a man in the corner of the room, and Ander hurried to his side. There was nothing Ander could do, not really, as he watched the man’s muscles break his own bones. That was the odd part of the plague. It hit the strong men the hardest. Their muscles would cramp and twist until their bones snapped. It was, horrible. Kiran had thought that this plague had been created as a torture device by the Mad Mage who was currently burning swaths across the lands with his neverending army of mutants.
Kiran had always been a sensitive and kind person, but he hated that mage Kyrtech, and the hatred grew as Ander drew the knife at Kiran’s belt. He approached the man, sadness welling up inside of him, along with a sudden inferno of rage. He would not let another die. He would not let one more person be it man woman or child perish from this horrible disease. He had seen the priest at work, and knew that there was so much waste in those spells. If a doctor, or even a doctor’s assistant had that kind of magic they could do incredible things. Ander quested out with his mind toward the man, emanating mama from one hand. Ander had no idea this was something he could do, but Kiran did.
Ander guided the mana into the screaming man, using it to force his muscles to relax. He guided the mana to the broken bone and tied the bone back in place with bonds of magic, before he sent the magic into his bloodstream to purge the sickness. It was hard, and took every ounce of Kiran’s magical ability to keep going, but eventually he retreated from the man. The man was looking at him with awe and reverence, tears making trails down his grimy face.
“You healed me.” The man said, pure shock and incomprehension turning to gratitude in the span of a second. “You healed me!” The man was shouting this time as he jumped to his feet. Ander could only sit back, tired from the effort.
“Boy, what did you do?” The doctor came up from behind, and helped Ander to his feet.
“I used my mana. Did my best to copy what the priest did.” Ander shrugged.
“Well boy, can you do it again?” Ander could see the desperation in the Doctor’s eyes. Ander checked his, no, Kiran’s notifications.
Congratulations! Skill: Healer's Touch has evolved!
You have gained Skill: Arcane Resurgence.
Skill: Arcane Resurgence
Level 68 (Level maintained)
Epic
Use mana projections to sense the condition of other’s bodies, and use it to guide healing energies where they are most needed. Evolved from Healer’s Touch, this ability gains a soothing effect on the victim, repairing minor damage automatically wherever your senses touch.
Congratulations! You are a novice in Skill: Arcane Resurgence!
Bodysense clarity is greatly increased. Dexterity of mana greatly increased.
Congratulations! You are a Journeyman in Skill: Arcane Resurgence!
Your Skill’s soothing effect is greatly increased. You passively apply a regenerative Heal Over Time on the target of your ministrations. This Heal over time will help to slowly regenerate missing flesh at a rate of 0.01 Inches per day.
Congratulations! You are an Adept in Skill: Arcane Resurgence!
Bodysense clarity is greatly increased. Dexterity of mana greatly increased.
Your focus on healing the sick gives you a greater chance at healing diseases. Recovery chance greatly increased.
Ander smiled at the old doctor.
“You aren’t going to get on me for reckless experimentation?”
“Reckless experimentation! Boy, all these people are dead if you can’t do that again. We are far past concerns of reckless experimentation!”
“I can do it again. As many times as needed.”
. . .
Ander retreated from the vision to find a forest of black tendrils around him. They crowded the space, forcing other threads away, but seeming to do no real damage. It was eerie, watching them ripple and wave almost like they were in a current. But they didn’t do anything, so Ander moved on.
It was not lost on Ander that the man Kiran had hated so much bore the same name as the man Gadreel and Ansiel both served. It was troubling, as Ander had gotten a sense of honor from Ansiel, if not from Gadreel. Plagueletting and conquering were not the kinds of things Ansiel would have been a part of given the choice. Also, Ander was pretty sure Kyrtech was The Creator. As in, the one who had denied use of magic to everyone.
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Ander flew through the forest of black tendrils before returning to the mass of gold threads. He then retreated from the skill and sighed in relief as the pain in his chest and his head finally went away. It left him with the relatively dull ache of his nearly severed leg. Ander checked his notifications.
Congratulations! Skill: Healing (Mundane) has evolved!
You have gained Skill: Arcane Resurgence.
Skill: Arcane Resurgence
Level 1 (Level maintained)
Epic
Use mana projections to sense the condition of other’s bodies, and use it to guide healing energies where they are most needed. Evolved from Healing (Mundane), this skill gains greater effectiveness from knowledge of the biology of the individual you are healing.
Congratulations! Skill: Walker of Memories has transformed!
Skill: Walker of Memories is now Skill: Minds of the Void.
Minds of the Void:
Epic
While meditating you can reach out to your ancestors and experience what they experienced first hand. This skill retains the abilities granted by Ancestral memory, personal memory, and Walker of Memories, namely knowledge of culture, language, etiquette, money and other things necessary to navigating life as an Exodari. However, by experiencing memories first hand you can both gain and train skills. Due to horrific experiences with the creatures of the void, and the damage done to the skill, the shackles placed on your skill have been removed. You now retain self awareness while walking memories, and lives previously barred have now been made available. Be warned however, limits were placed not only to restrict but to protect, and dangers await the uncautious.
WARNING!
This skill has been deemed heretical, and use of it has been denied by order of the Creator. Please return to a high priestess to get the skill reverted to a form fitting a faithful follower of the Creator.
ERR 36214: a local patch has caused adverse effects. Please contact a local System administrator to rectify this problem.
ERR 36214.86352 Skill denied in error.
Administrator Ander, what would you like to do?
Revert skill to previous state.
Uphold denial of skill
Deny erroneous denial of skill
Report to Administrator Lvl 2
Ander blinked several times before it finally registered what he was seeing. Of course he had expected to see Arcane Resurgence, but then to get a skill transformation? Moreover, it seemed that the patch did far more than deny the use of magic, it apparently stopped people from using a variety of skills as well. He immediately chose to deny the erroneous denial of skill option and got a notification saying that the patch had been lifted in this case for a period of three months, and that a report was being sent to a Level 2 administrator. Ander wasn’t worried about that as there were no level 2 administrators.
Ander closed his notifications and focused on his leg, doing his best to push healing magic into his wound. The problem was, now that he was back in his own body he no longer had Kiran’s years of experience. The man had spent more than five years as the doctor’s apprentice, and then took on the role as an assistant for another 10. Ander could remember some things, but they were only the things that were related to his experiences inside the memory. Which meant that his new Epic skill was absolutely worthless. Ander could tell that time moved much faster in the memories, but not fast enough to gain all the experience necessary to heal his leg before it rotted off his body. Arcane Resurgence was an amazing skill, but it wasn’t good enough.
Bracing against the pain, Ander dived back into the field of golden threads and black tendrils, casting his intent out into the void. He traveled quickly, going from thread to thread, each one he touched promising healing arts of unsurpassed quality. But none were enough. He didn’t have the time to train with any of them. Until, eventually, he came to a thread with a luster beyond that of other threads. Ander knew at first glance that this was the one. The single bead he required glowed to his senses, and he dived in.
. . .
Angmar the Unbroken burned the oncoming armies with divine fire. Or rather, Ander did with Angmar’s body. He stood on a battlefield facing thousands of Exodar with an army of less than half that size. Angmar burned another swath of enemy mutants, before one of their monstrously large generals standing at near 8 feet tall, engaged him. They traded blows for several seconds before Angmar lept and swung his greatsword to chop off the general’s head. These mutated humans were more like bugs, they couldn’t live without their generals keeping them in line with their hideous mind magic. A whole section of the enemy army fell apart with the death of their general, but not as big as Ander had hoped.
Ander went back to burning Exodar by the dozens, using his flames to help the beleaguered defensive line where it was about to collapse. They had been fighting for days and their army had been significantly reduced. The enemy had taken casualties in the realm of four deaths to every one of his. It didn’t matter. Unless they were to kill all the generals, who were usually very slippery, they would simply come back in a year with an army twice the size. Those mutants bred so fast. The elves had gone on for so many centuries about how humans bred like rabbits. Well these Exodar bred like bees. Every general a queen, though they were male.
Ander felt Angmar’s hatred of the mutants and their Creator. The Creator wasn’t even a real god, just a powerful mortal. To show these creatures, Ander knelt and prayed.
“Great Celeste of the Highest Star! Bless us with thy purifying flame to burn our enemies and remove their taint from this land!” In the moment he spoke his last word, a column of fire lanced down from the sky and plunged into the enemy army. It hit a barrier before shattering it and slamming into the ground. The effect was less than spectacular. Hundreds of enemy soldiers had died, sure, but the attack should have killed them all. The barrier had soaked up most of the damage, allowing very little through to the army beneath. It was then that Ander saw one of their line breakers making its way in his direction.
The line breakers were monsters even amongst the Exodar generals. Standing over 10 feet tall, they were stocky enough to look more dwarven in stature. Ander readied himself, knowing that this fight would be far harder than the one with the last general. The moment the line breaker came into range, Ander bombarded it with divine flame, finding that it was far more resilient than it should be. But it wasn’t a problem. He had more tricks up his sleeve.
The line breaker’s axe came down in a vicious arc, spinning in a series of blinding attacks that gave Angmar no room to respond. However, when the monster left himself overextended for but a moment, Ander knew it was his time. He lanced out with his greatsword in his enemy's moment of weakness, and was shocked to see his bleeding arm fall to the ground. Another axe blow to Ander’s chestplate sent him flying onto the back ranks of the army. Ander laid there as men scurried around him, trying to get him help. He knew it was too late. The chestplate had dented, shattering his ribs and puncturing his heart. He knew enough of the healing arts to know that there was no healer who could get to him in time. As the world faded, he heard a soft whisper.
“I am not yet done with you, my most loyal and faithful servant. You will serve me in my halls yet, but not today.” A notification pressed into Ander’s sight without his permission.
Congratulations! You have been granted a boon!
You have been granted Skill: Divine Vitality.
Skill: Divine Vitality
Level 1
Legendary
You gain regeneration equal to 1% of your total health pool 1/minute. This is not a magical effect and therefore cannot be counterspelled. You gain perfect bodysense, and are able to perfectly tell the condition of your body at any time. This does not extend to other people. Your ability to sense other people will increase with skill level. When activated, this skill will rapidly heal any wound, replacing missing flesh and bone at a rate of 1 inch per minute. This skill will cause intense hunger if overused, and may cause malnutrition if sufficient food is not consumed. The active skill can be used on others to the extent of your bodysense.
Ander gasped, and used a knife to cut off his suddenly too restrictive breastplate. He could see his collapsed rib cage inflate at visible speed. He could also see his arm regenerating at visible speed. He was in awe.
. . .
Ander tore himself away from the Minds of the Void the moment he had the opportunity. Minds of the Void was still damaged, though he could tell it was far better after the change. He immediately opened his notifications.
Congratulations! Skill: Arcane Resurgence has evolved!
You have gained Skill: Divine Vitality.
Skill: Divine Vitality
Level 1
Legendary
You gain regeneration equal to 1% of your total health pool 1/minute. This is not a magical effect and therefore cannot be counterspelled. You gain perfect bodysense, and are able to perfectly tell the condition of your body at any time. This does not extend to other people. Your ability to sense other people will increase with skill level. When activated, this skill will rapidly heal any wound, replacing missing flesh and bone at a rate of 1 inch per minute. This skill will cause intense hunger if overused, and may cause malnutrition if sufficient food is not consumed. The active skill can be used on others to the extent of your bodysense.
Congratulations! Due to resonance with Skill: Way of the Wind, Skill: Divine Vitality has transformed!
Skill: Divine Vitality is now Skill: Aeolian Vitality.
Skill: Aeolian Vitality
Level 1
Legendary
You gain regeneration equal to 1% of your total health pool 1/minute. This is not a magical effect and therefore cannot be counterspelled. You gain perfect bodysense, and are able to perfectly tell the condition of your body at any time. This does not extend to other people. Your ability to sense other people will increase with skill level. When activated, this skill will rapidly heal any wound, replacing missing flesh and bone at a rate of 1 inch per minute. This skill will cause intense hunger if overused, and may cause malnutrition if sufficient food is not consumed. The active skill can be used on others to the extent of your bodysense. This skill can be used at range within the windsense granted by Way of the Wind, granting Allies within your windsense access to your regeneration, and allowing you to heal at range.
WARNING:
You have reached your skill limit for your level. Please level up to gain more soul space, or take a class to alter your soul architecture.