After the first room where Grant had clearly learned another new skill, Merownis was content to watch him work for the most part. He had gained a level simply from the act of Grant destroying the cave full of enemies. Enjoying the feel of the single Power, Regeneration and Command points it came with, he placed his five attribute points straight into Regeneration as well. Grant had a skill to make it quicker, but it was clear his recovery speeds were already much faster than Merownis’ own. However, it wasn’t his regeneration which made Merownis’ excited and worried in equal measure.
It was Grant’s growth elsewhere. His quick learning of Mana Shield could have been considered a fluke. Perhaps the skill had been close to forming before their game. Merownis would have been fine with that explanation until he saw Grant upgrade a completely separate skill. The fairy had started eating and distracted him, but now that the Sundercat had time to think, he was struggling with a choice. Should he tell Grant how important skill levels were, and encourage him to chase more, or allow him to go in his own way?
All of Merownis’ knowledge about how things were “supposed to be” came from the System itself, mixed awkwardly with a fake life that seemed more storybook by the minute. He had never spent a night under the stars of that false world, not really. His mother had not brushed his fur at night and taught him magic in secret when his arrows and blades never landed clean hits. It had been the System, the Tree itself, which had given Merownis that ability. All of that memory simply came from the skills which had been written onto his soul at the time of creation.
Skills given by the System were exactly that - memories of those who learned things the hard way beforehand, etched into one’s pathways by the System itself. The soul and System together tore apart the structure into something which fit the individual, leaving a skill structure in their pathways. The process was instantaneous, but there was a tiny leakage to the user which then informed them on how the skill worked. Merownis couldn’t say why, but the System was normally incredibly stingy with releasing these packets of information.
He kept thinking and wondering, occasionally fighting alongside Grant but mostly leaving him to it. The human had levelled another time and a new feeling clicked into place. “You’re level twenty four, right?” Grant asked. Merownis hadn’t told him of his own level up, so apparently the man had sensed it somehow. The Sundercat could only smile and shake his head. This really was an interesting situation. “My Party Leader skill should kick in now,” Grant explained.
Unable to keep quiet any longer, Merownis spoke up as he tapped some of the demolished scorpions for their loot. “How many skills do you have, Grant?” Those with one Aspect often had a skill from their connection to the truth. With Guidance Stones, another couple of skills were possible. Of course, Grant had grasped the potency of magic quickly, so he had learned a few simple tricks of mana control on his own. Having seven or eight skills at their level was almost mind boggling. Merownis himself had three.
Skills
Magic Missile (Level 4)
Common
Conjured Claw (Level 3)
Uncommon
Bestial Force (Level 2)
Uncommon
Each had started at level one with his evolution, and had leapt in progress quickly. Grant himself didn’t have a benchmark for these gains but Merownis knew their strength was rising at a ridiculous rate. He had gained three levels in Magic Missile during his and Grant’s game, which had been the only reason Merownis could keep up. As his mana didn’t recover as quickly as the regeneration monster Grant already was, Merownis had used his skill sparingly and as efficiently as possible. It still jumped by a large amount.
Conjured Claw used a large amount of mana in a more destructive manner than his missiles, creating a spectral hand in the air to swipe at enemies. Within the caverns, he hadn’t had much chance to fight with these skills but the early levels were the quickest. The feeling of getting stronger was intoxicating, and ultimately the reason the Sundercat would encourage Grant to chase this power. The System would notice, of course, but challenges would come regardless. They would just need to get even stronger before the System noticed…
“Fifteen.” Grant’s casual answer was so outside of Merownis’ calculations that his thoughts stuttered to a halt abruptly. Well, the System would definitely notice that amount of concentrated power. Grant smiled at him, happy to share the information. Merownis smiled back, not quite sure how to tell Grant he was a ticking time bomb of trials. The more valuable a soul, whether it be achievements, skill levels and stages, or some other metric, the more the System would exist in opposition to them.
“Oh,” he answered meekly. “That’s quite a lot…” Floating up behind them came the answer to his quandary, with a surprisingly loud burp. How could he tell Grant? He wouldn’t. Unable to forget the sounds of her eating, Merownis turned and faced the fairy with newfound fear. Logically, thanks to the System, he knew that Naea’s ability to devour the creatures of the dungeon only worked on the deceased, but still…
All those teeth.
When she decided to land on Merownis’ shoulder, he shivered and Naea giggled. She patted his head and whispered a quiet warning in his ear. “Don’t spoil the surprise, kitty cat.” Merownis nodded quickly and accepted that he was just going to have to watch the eventual fallout of this. Grant was protected from the System’s attention by the dungeon in certain ways. It seemed that protection extended even to the dungeon’s fairy. Just what was Naea planning?
The density of the fairy’s mana was increasing with each large room she was able to guzzle, so at least that much made sense to the Sundercat. If Grant kept assaulting this strange dungeon in the way he had, Naea herself would become powerful. Whatever that ultimately meant for a dungeon fairy was her own business. Considering Merownis had tied his own wagon to Grant at the first chance he got, walking through the evolution door and becoming an Earth Sundercat, he couldn’t say anything.
“Uhh, let’s keep moving?” Grant asked. There was no argument from Merownis. Naea wasn’t even trying to wait for them to leave at this point, already crunching and slurping loudly in the darkness. It was with much gratitude that Merownis watched Grant create an airtight barrier in the next tunnel they chose. Their direction was random as far as Merownis could tell, but Grant seemed to have a destination in mind.
They walked in silence. Neither of them were particularly talkative in general, and they were currently behind enemy lines. In their quiet walking to the next cavern, the Sundercat’s thoughts wandered to the future. Imagining what would come from the System sensing the value of Grant’s soul lead to the obvious next question. What would happen to Merownis once the dungeon was defeated? He wasn’t connected to the System as he had been, but it was an intimidating thought to have. Would he be able to leave? To the so-called real world?
“Oh, weird. Speak of the devil?” Grant mumbled, looking at Merownis. For a moment, the tigerman was confused. A confusion which was blasted away as the connection between himself and Grant became taut. There was a weight there, one which Merownis had to pull with all of his mental control. The connection threatened to snap under the force of it, but a shove from behind helped Merownis gather the energy. It was a bundle of Spirit, he realised.
Skill Unlocked! - Stealth (Common)
A common tool for most beings in creation, but slowly refined in your hands. Unlike a one-time crook, you have begun to see stealth for the art form it is.
“What?” Merownis asked the air. He hadn’t even been doing anything special. Arguably he was sneaking but this was…
“I think it was me, actually. For lack of a better description, there was a pulling on my Stealth skill by the Party Leader one. I let the skills do as they wanted.” Grant’s explanation was quick and quiet. He rubbed his chest and then his hands together quickly as though suddenly cold. “Apparently that meant a bundle of Spirit your way? What did it do?”
Merownis gulped. “I think you unlocked the Stealth skill for me.” While not at the level of a Guidance Stone’s skill, hadn’t Grant just done something incredible? As subtle lessons filled his mind on how to better apply his weight and find true silence in sneaking, he took a deep breath. These were the memory fragments the System used, but altered. It was as though they were coloured by Grant’s touch.
“Oh. Cool!” Grant seemed genuinely excited at the idea, and with Naea’s warning in his fluffy ear, Merownis could say nothing. It wasn’t like Grant was doing anything wrong, or even necessarily dangerous. The System would simply take notice of him and change the danger levels of his world slightly in accordance with the new strength he brought with him when he left the dungeon. Whatever problems arose, Merownis decided they were issues for later.
Saying nothing else, the young man continued into the next room where he immediately set to work destroying the masses. Watching him work, Merownis had to snort. It wasn’t like he would be able to slow Grant down if he even wanted to at this point. There was a fire in his eyes, and these scorpions had ignited it somehow. There were strange things happening in this dungeon, Merownis himself more than proof of that.
Yet, Grant didn’t notice them at all. He simply pressed forward into increasing danger, using his own growing strength to plough through the System’s defences and pilfer it for more than it was planning to give. It was quite fascinating to be a part of, even if he expected it would ultimately get him killed. Simply being born in the dungeon as opposition for Grant would have got him killed just as surely, after all.
Mana Bolts flashed through the air, annihilating any of the scorpions they hit first and often crippling those beyond. The power of those magical orbs was becoming more impressive by the cavern, and Merownis suspected he had levelled the skill once or even twice since entering the tunnels together. Whenever a scorpion snuck through the barrage of magical destruction, all which awaited them was Grant’s true weapon.
For while his magic was extremely potent, it was limited by form. Mana Bolts could never be the vessel for immense power, they simply didn’t have the form to create such a function. Unluckily for the scorpions, Grant had something with the perfect form to be the repository of Grant’s strength. The Jingu Bang shattered rock and carapace alike as it was brought to bear against his enemies.
Merownis had barely left the tunnel when Grant started. The Sundercat waited for him to finish, just thanking his lucky stars that Grant had decided he was an ally instead of an enemy. Merownis didn’t much fancy a taste of what happened to Grant’s enemies. Almost too quickly, Grant was finished with another cavern full of powerful arachnid enemies. It seemed this room gave him what he had been looking for as Grant fist pumped the air with a cheer. A swirl of energy surrounded Grant and Merownis could only sigh.
Seriously? Merownis wanted to throw his hands up in the air. It seemed his worries would only become more tangible by the minute. They had been chasing an achievement? Even the Sundercat, not particularly keyed into the feeling, could sense the mass of Spirit which was sitting on Grant’s soul. I’m sure it’ll be fine, Merownis thought, not quite able to believe the lie just yet.
the poison I realised I had a weapon. Except, it could be used as a shield, too.
Dragonburn as a skill was strange. It didn’t create an effect like the other skills, instead influencing whatever else I tried to do with my magic. As I gained more control over the mana inside, the unwieldy nature of Dragonburn was morphing into something closer to my Spirit Well. Both altered the effect of a skill. However, unlike Spirit, which I could use to change my mana in any way I could imagine, Dragonburn only had one setting.
Dominance and power.
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I felt like my whole body was on fire as I began to direct my mana with the force of Dragonburn at its back. Though I was technically in control, there was an impetus behind the moving energy which seemed to say “watch this.” In a strange state of half-consciousness, I did as I was told and kept my attention on my mana. Like a brave hand around a wasp, it swept over the poison and contained it, turning the opposing mana into something I could use. The invasive mana met its match and bent to my will instead.
Of course, it was still a nasty fucking poison, so I couldn’t keep it inside. With an uncomfortable pop, a Mana Bolt appeared in my hand. The creation had cost me nothing in terms of my own mana pool, though a headache was forming from controlling the disparate mana within myself. My hand stung a little from holding the orb, but it was better than when the pain had been inside of myself. This was only a portion of the energy they had used against me, but I was more than happy to give it back.
“Now, which one of you was it?” I wondered aloud. A quick look gave me my answer, and told me the Scorpion King hadn’t moved. It was further away now, and the tendrils of dark power buried in the ground around it pulsed with energy. I needed to interrupt it as soon as possible. Though he was behind the dunes at this point, I could still feel Merownis fighting hard, but the energy I had given him was nearly out.
My target had chosen itself by having my blood on its stinger. The level 27 Scorpion Prince, flanked by the level 28 and the almost crippled level 25. Their dust clouds were thinner than before. Running out of mana are we? It was either a clever way to get me to drop my guard or the fighting wasn’t easy for any of us. Good.
Wholly unwilling to miss with this attack, I shot forward. The scorpions were happy to charge in response, but easily tricked. A flip over the Jingu Bang along with an extension of the staff vaulted me high over their incoming attacks and perfectly over the top of the Scorpion Prince. With a heave, I tossed the burning Mana Bolt straight down. Instead of the dull impact a bolt normally had, this one fizzed. The Scorpion Prince wailed and fell, the other two rearing up to fight.
Haste. Serious Swing.
Exposing their underbellies was an opportunity I wouldn’t forgive. Strolling forward so as not to strain my body with the speed, I was able to casually fall into a baseball player's batting form underneath the weaker, injured prince. Without a hint of playfulness left in me, I struck. Halfway through the strike, all on its own, the Jingu Bang stretched out and made itself much heavier for just an instant. I couldn’t help smiling, even as a stinger forced me to back up a little more.
The sight of the Scorpion Prince’s broken form sailing through the air and crashing next to the Scorpion King was just too perfect. “Yeah,” I grunted between dodges, “you’re next big guy.”
FORGED ANEW - CHAPTER FORTY SIX - REGICIDE
I looted the bodies, but didn’t have time to check what they gave me. The more pressing thought in my mind was how close I was to levelling up. The small fraction of experience I needed was an itch which threatened to distract me. With a conscious force of will, I ignored the voice in my head which told me to quickly attack a few of the crowd Merownis was handling. Instead, I turned on the so-called king.
It had kingly enough abilities, I supposed. Able to influence an army from a distance, and from what I could sense in Merownis’ mana and the faintest whiffs of Spirit in the energy being given off, it made the units stronger. I had no doubt Merownis would be fine, the scorpions and Sundercat were not built equally. At a higher level than them, even with the boost they wouldn’t be able to pin him down.
Focusing on the Scorpion King, I first took in its appearance. Distinctly less insectoid in various places, it was a real horror show even amongst the monsters I had faced so far. The gold of its carapace hid the gruesome nature of its form. Large, partially misshapen and asymmetrical legs sank into the sand from its weight. Two bulbous eyes, mostly black but with enough white to make me uncomfortable, sat above a nose that snorted as it smelled the air. All it was missing was a mouth, though the mandibles below were vicious and dripping with venom. “They aren’t supposed to have venomous bites, are they? That feels like cheating.” My gripe fell on deaf sand, but it made me feel better.
With its honour guard - or sons? - destroyed, the Scorpion King was in no mood to sit around. I approached cautiously, ready to move fast if it looked like it might retreat. I reminded myself that while the weaker scorpions were the norm, this thing was some kind of elite. Whatever advantages I had with my attributes were likely erased by similar buffs this thing had received from the System. I was about three quarters full of Spirit, half in health and mana. Scooping another handful from the Spirit Well, I impressed it upon Manasight.
The information I received didn’t change, my vision didn’t blur or become sharper. Instead, a silhouette of the Scorpion King rose up behind the real thing, dominating the skyline. This was its power. I was suddenly certain this thing wasn’t going to run from me. Its presence wouldn’t allow it, same as mine. I disliked that we were somewhat kindred, even down to giving power to our allies. Discomforted by the idea, I looked behind me to the distant sounds of battle and saw a smaller version of the same shadowy depiction of a scorpion, the conglomeration of soldier scorpions creating a similar effect though much less defined.
When I turned back to my fight, I yelped. Batting the unexpected projectile from the air, I couldn’t help tilting my head. “A potshot? Really?” I was truly offended. More importantly, I had been lucky. The attack had contained no signature of the threat it carried, silently aimed for the back of my neck. The tingle of fear which crept through my limbs served to shake away the final dregs of stiffness. Confidence and cowardice both disappeared.
In their place, a cool certainty slotted into my mind. One of us would die here, and that was it. Like a promise being made with Naea, the world seemed to agree. Two regal combatants were enforcing their claims upon the world. The sounds of Merownis tearing through the scorpions faded. The heat of the sun dulled. Even the sand beneath my feet seemed to compact, urging me to take the heavy step.
I pressed forward.
Without the Jingu Bang, all of my attributes and the good sense to activate Haste just before I got into range, I was barely able to avoid instant death. The fear tried to return, but instead I smiled. Ambushes, assassination attempts and the hidden blade of immense strength under its cloak? This thing really did fight like a king. I laughed. Anything less would have been too little. Dancing on the edge of death, I burned through my mana and faced the Scorpion King in an all out brawl.
Claw met Mana Bolt, staff met stinger and the force of our clashes caused shockwaves of sound to flatten the nearby sand. Soon we fought in a bowl of our own making and while I was aware we were getting closer to the underground caverns I didn’t stop. The first one here to take a step back would lose. With my accelerated speed and the weight of the Jingu Bang combined, I chipped at the king’s magically resistant body. I had given up on using Mana Bolts when a golden claw smashed aside one laced with destructive Spirit. This thing wasn’t called “Elite” for nothing.
Though the physical battle only lasted around ten seconds in real time, my time-bending skill had made it feel more like a minute. A minute of full exertion, compressed into such a short time, left me not just with a build up of exhaustion and a deficit of mana, but something new, too. In truth, the growing tension of the weapon in my hand was a large part of the reason I broke away.
Heavy in my hand, the Jingu Bang did what it could to voice its disappointment. Oh, you were enjoying that, were you? The staff was buzzing with unfulfilled potential. The true description of the weapon came to my mind easily and I understood immediately. Getting used to me, I see.
Item - Jingu Bang (Artefact)
The mischievous nature of its original owner still thrives within the wood of the Jingu Bang. It longs for adventure and will aid its wielder upon any path it believes to be interesting. If provided with a consistent source of mana, the Jingu Bang can become more attuned to its wielder.
As my regeneration had risen, the amount of mana fed into the staff had started at substantial and doubled since. Each time I attacked with the weapon, the swing felt a little more natural, the staff’s weight modulating for maximum effect. I had never considered the artefact a simple stick, but in terms of usage, I had been downright disrespectful compared to the skill with which Master Thorn wielded it. Over the days since, I had become at least passable in the use of the staff.
It seemed that the Jingu Bang considered me adequate, too. It was practically begging me to return to my hasted state, but I glanced at my mana pool and grimaced. As much as I wanted to see what the staff was building to, it could wait another minute. The Scorpion King was gracious enough to give me the few seconds breather I needed thanks to its own tiredness. While I hated that it had an approximation of a face, I was able to use that grim visage to see the thing was surprised.
I glanced at its claws. The speed of the combat had left them smoking from friction alone, stress fractures clear as dark flesh showed through the golden armour. I rolled my neck. “Yeah, I’ve got a sting, too. Let’s go.” Half of my mana recovery spent on myself, half on the Jingu Bang, I shot forward.
I had just enough time to awkwardly swipe a Mana Shield in front of the incoming blow before it landed. The shimmering barrier slowed the attack by less than a blink. Expectations being the bitch they were, I was smashed hard into the sand because the staff had refused to fight. It did so by making one end incredibly heavy, allowing the shaft to extend as much as I wanted.
I was basically left holding a petulant bungee cord. Thankfully, the retraction had pulled me away from the worst of the damage the Scorpion King tried to inflict. It still hurt like hell, and I cursed the weapon at my side. If I hadn’t given Merownis Severance, I would be swapping the two. Despite the mana I fed it, There was a genuine reticence in the staff to fight at full strength without the effects of Haste, which set my teeth on edge.
If it hadn’t also saved me from dying, I would have tried to snap the thing over my leg. While I would probably just break my femur for the trouble, the gesture would have felt good. Even if the staff hadn’t interceded, the speed of the king was more than I had expected. It had been holding back in the first clash, then? After the other sneaky tactics it had employed, I shouldn’t have been surprised but I couldn’t help being impressed.
“Fine,” I huffed. The Jingu Bang didn’t have many ways to express itself, being a fancy measuring stick, but it managed to convey an apology by refusing the mana I fed it for a moment. I understood the gesture and shook my head. “You’re forgiven already.” While I didn’t like conceding control to the weapon, the close brush to death had reminded me which of us was more experienced in a fight. “Take it away.”
Haste.
At level one, the skill had been able to eat only a few mana per second. The effect had been intoxicating, but more of an equaliser between myself and those with higher speed. Against Master Thorn it had barely kept me in the fight, the ratman still eclipsing me in acuity even without the skill. However, at level two, that changed. Able to use up to eight mana per real time second on the skill now, the effect became much more pronounced. Even more of the frozen world had come under my control, and it took something special like an Elite monster to challenge my reign there.
I didn’t like the provocation. There was a growing sacredness to the dampened world of slowness which I was protective of. It was my court. Only I was allowed here, and this Scorpion King had enough speed to break into my realm. So, the Jingu Bang was granted a place here at my right hand. Invited, it brought with it a gift. Some of the mana I had given it raced up my arm.
With time to spare thanks to the skill, I watched the mana flash through my channels and arrive at its destination. Unlike my own mana, which felt like either a nearly imperceptible flow of water, or the crystals of draconic power, this was something more solid. This mana sang a song of battle, my heart beating with the force of a war drum at its presence. The quality was staggering. The mana aimed itself right for the Haste skill bundle in my calves and when the two met, the complexity exploded. No longer contained on my ankles and lower leg, the skill wound itself all the way up and over my knee.
Then, before the System could tell me anything, I fed the skill all the mana I could.
“Shall we?” A voice asked in my head. While I had never heard the voice before, its childlike excitement was known to me. I smiled, not even needing to answer the question as the staff blurred into action all on its own. My body moved by instinct, but they weren’t my instincts. The soul of combat existing within the Jingu Bang was in control now. Mostly. “You’ll have to stop fighting me, so I can fight the nasty bug!”
“Sorry,” I apologised, not even phased by having a conversation with my weapon. I relaxed my muscles, and the battering of the Scorpion Prince continued. Its screech was deepened by my speeding perception, but it was all music to my ears. Just die, you gaudy roadblock.
In short order, the Scorpion King did just that. While the Jingu Bang was finishing the fight, I took the time to read the System explanation for the skill.
Congratulations! Skill created due to cohesion between your weapon and a skill!
Haste + Mana Savant + ??? -> King’s Training (Epic)
The previous wielder of your weapon underwent a grand journey with it. While wielding the Jingu Bang, for a large mana cost, the techniques and talents of the previous wielder are imprinted upon the bearer.