Name: Sigrid Forrester
Class: Unranked Mage
Tier 2
Soul: Unranked
Mind: Bronze
Body: Unranked
Spell Slot (Soul):
Aug 1
Aug 2
Spell Slot (Mind:) Jet (Bronze: 17%)
Aug 1:
Aug 2:
Spell Slot (Body):
Aug 1:
Aug 2:
Spell Slot (Special):
Aug 1:
Aug 2:
Boons:
Liaison
(Unknown)
(Unknown)
(Unknown)
(Unknown)
Inventory Item: Bronze Medallion
Equipment:
Mirage Wyrm Spell Rune
Mirage Boon Gem
Iron Spider Stone x2
Qek Scavenger Stone x5
Nian Rabbit Stone x1
Crafting:
2lbs of qek meat
Currency:
Gold Maefars: 2
Silver Maefars: 31
Copper Maefars: 400
Artifacts
Slot 1: Empty
Slot 2: Empty
Slot 3: Empty
Slot 4: Empty
Sigrid plucked the coins she needed from within her inventory, and paid the stall keeper, who grinned widely at her with cracked and yellow teeth. She nodded, and turned away, drawing one of the monster cores back into her hand.
[Qek Scavenger Stone: Would you like to loot?]
It was an interesting discovery, and she would’ve liked to discuss it with Erin, but the girl had run off with the local band of Monster Hunters. Supposedly in order to discover if they’d attack Dangole. Sigrid had her doubts, but Erin was too old for coddling. She realized the girl had been young before she’d come here. Possibly even younger than the body she’d been born into.
Sigrid wasn’t. She’d been considerably older than the early twenties she now resembled. She’d been shot three times, stabbed once and had endured several surgeries after she'd had a truck land on her arm during an ambush. Pain was an unwelcome, but not unfamiliar companion in her old life. Now it was like none of it had ever happened. Every ache, every rebuilt joint that ground uncomfortably when she moved; gone. Strength and speed that spat in the face of all her training and exercise were now hers. She would’ve traded it all back in a heartbeat.
Sigrid opened the door to the house that the villagers had let them use and moved to the table to sit, turning the core over in her hands. Magic was something she’d never dreamed could be real. She hadn’t had time for stuff like that.
One by one, she pulled the stones and spheres out of the inventory she’d purchased in the market and arranged them in front of her. Was the solution somewhere among them? The fingers on her free hand drummed the wood rhythmically as she continued to turn the rough-cut stone in the other one. Could she find what she needed in this bundle of magic rocks? She doubted it. It was magic, and she didn’t know the rules or if there were any, but she was certain that the answer wouldn’t come that easy. Nothing she wanted ever did. Setting those considerations aside, she focused on what she knew.
She had power in this world, and she needed to expand it, and these dimly glowing rocks and glass spheres were the key.
“Yes.” she said, belatedly answering the question about the stone still clasped in her fingers.
Qek Scavenger Stone
1 of 1
Default:
12 copper Maefars
Equipment:
Select this option to discover loot.
Since there was only one option, the prompt didn’t wait for Sigrid to make a selection, simply vanishing away as the stone in her grasp glowed with white light. In moments, it was over. The stone was gone, and on the table before her sat a small bag of coins and a short dagger with a wide blade, complete with sheath. She picked it up and bared an inch of steel. It was well made in the sense of being entirely practical. There were no adornments, nothing added for the sake of style. Just a length of sharpened steel with a handle. She set it back down, and grabbed the bag of coins, tipping the contents into her hand, where they then vanished into her inventory.
She picked up the next gemstone. This one was gray, with the appearance of fogged glass.
[Iron Spider Stone: Would you like to loot?]
She’d purchased two of these, and she plucked the second one from the table, curious if she could loot them both at once.
“Yes,” she intoned again.
Iron Spider Stone
1 of 2
Default:
8 copper Maefars
Rune Augment:
Select this option to discover loot.
Iron Spider Stone
2 of 2
Default:
9 copper Maefars
Equipment:
Select this option to discover loot.
Artifact:
Select this option to discover loot.
“Artifact,” she said, with only one choice to make between the two. Both stones glowed, and Sigrid turned her head away until it stopped.
On the table sat two bags of coins, a small glass sphere encased in flat metal bands that crisscrossed over the surface, and a small silver chalice. She plucked the chalice from the table, holding the stem delicately between her thumb and forefinger.
[Apothecaries Portable Cauldron: Any poison mixed into the contents of the chalice will become its own antidote.]
She slipped the artifact into her inventory. It wasn’t immediately useful, but she could see the benefit of keeping it around. The coins vanished into her inventory, but she ignored the Rune Augment for the moment. She had no intention of spending something like that before she’d gained a full complement of spells. Not if she had a choice, anyway.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
She picked up the last unique stone she had. The remaining 4 had all come from qek.
[Nian Rabbit Stone: Would you like to loot?]
She had no idea what a Nian Rabbit was, but it sounded rather mundane next to everything else. The cynical part of her figured that meant it was probably terrifying.
“Yes”
Nian Rabbit Stone
1 of 1
Default:
18 silver Maefars, 54 copper Maefars
Equipment:
Select this option to discover loot.
Augment Rune
Select this option to discover loot.
Spell Rune
Select this option to discover loot.
“Spell rune.”
After a brief glow, she tucked the coins into her inventory, and set the glass sphere aside with the others, and picked up the four remaining qek stones in one hand.
[Qek Scavenger Stone: would you like to loot?]
“All of them.”
Qek Scavenger Stone
1 of 4
Default:
12 copper Maefars
Equipment:
Select this option to discover loot.
Qek Scavenger Stone
2 of 4
Default:
6 copper Maefars
Equipment:
Select this option to discover loot.
Artifact:
Select this option to discover loot.
Qek Scavenger Stone
3 of 4
Default:
7 copper Maefars
Equipment:
Select this option to discover loot.
Qek Scavenger Stone
4 of 4
Default:
4 copper Maefars
Equipment:
Select this option to discover loot.
Spell Rune:
Select this option to discover loot.
“Artifact and Spell Rune.” This time, as the gems glowed, Sigrid set them on the table. It didn’t matter if she was holding them or not. The loot seemed to appear on the nearest flat surface. 4 small bags of coins clumped together, a cast iron pan, a plain but well crafted short sword, a refilling vial of healing potion like Erins, and black runes twisting and turning inside a glass sphere.
“That makes three,” she said to herself, depositing all the coins into her inventory, along with the vial and setting aside the equipment for now.
Positioned directly in front of her sat three glass spheres, each of them containing a spell. It was enough to fill out all of her spell slots. Sigrid’s understanding was that most spells could be removed and changed for other spells and then replaced later. There was some sort of ritual involved, and then there was a period before the ritual could be performed again. It didn’t matter to her now, of course. She didn’t have enough spells to be changing them out.
She picked up the nearest of the spheres.
[Nian Rabbit Spell Rune: Would you like to absorb it?]
She took a steadying breath, trying to keep her heart rate even. Sigrid closed her eyes.
“Yes,” she whispered, and she felt the sphere break down in her hand. The runes slipping free of their glassy enclosure to spiral up her skin, pressing into her flesh like a living tattoo.
A display opened in her mind, a scrolling list of spells. First their name, and then the slot they fit in. Mind, Soul, Body, Special or Unassigned. She was methodical. Going through each spell one at a time, reading every description, mostly with an eye toward the future effects.
There was no obvious solution to her problem here, but with time, one might grow out of an unusual combination. She sat almost perfectly still for the better part of an hour, her eyes closed. Eventually, shade made her choice.
Ice -
Unranked Spell: Frost Shield
Slot: Soul
Description: When this ability is triggered, the caster creates a thick sheet of ice in front of them, capable of absorbing a moderate amount of physical damage.
The Spell Rune she’d gained from the qek took another hour. Sigrid wasn’t in the habit of rushing things. She read each spell, made a short list and read through those again. Weighing one against the other until only a single option remained.
Nature -
Unranked Spell: Rapid regeneration.
Slot: Body
Description: When this ability is triggered, the caster begins to heal at an accelerated rate for a short period of time.
Note: This spell requires unbroken concentration to remain active.
Now all that remained was the Mirage Wyrm rune. As she held it in her hand, she was certain it felt different from the others. She knew what to expect as she absorbed it. Erin had received the same Spell Rune on the night they met, and they’d discussed at some length the spells within. It was as she’d expected, mostly. Some things Erin had talked about were missing, and there were many options that she’d never mentioned. Sigrid diligently sorted through them all, one at a time, but she knew her choice already. As it was, her options were narrowed down to Special, or Unassigned, as the first three slots had been filled, and she was determined to gain a full set of spells.
Blood-
Unranked Spell: Dragons Blood
Slot: Special
Description: You have consumed draconic essence in its purest form. Your nature will forever reflect this alteration.
Note: This rune cannot be removed once selected.
I think that’ll do.
Sigrid made her selection, and the sphere broke apart as the runes slithered free. But rather than the usual inky blackness, these pulsed with vibrant colors, reds, blues, greens with the occasional black still showing underneath. When it had finished, for a moment Sigrid frowned, but then the voice, her Liaison, spoke.
[Spell slots filled. Rank: Bronze. Bronze State unlocked.]
What the hell is the Bronze State?
Name: Sigrid Forrester
Class: Bronze Mage
Tier 2
Soul: Bronze
Mind: Bronze
Body: Bronze
Spell Slot (Soul): Frost Shield (Bronze: 0%)
Aug 1
Aug 2
Spell Slot (Mind:) Jet (Bronze: 17%)
Aug 1:
Aug 2:
Spell Slot (Body): Rapid Regeneration (Bronze: 0%)
Aug 1:
Aug 2:
Spell Slot (Special): Dragons Blood (Bronze: 0%)
Aug 1:
Aug 2:
Boons:
Liaison
Bronze State
(Unknown)
(Unknown)
(Unknown)
Inventory Item: Bronze Medallion
Equipment:
Mirage Boon Gem
Crafting:
2lbs of qek meat
Currency:
Gold Maefars: 2
Silver Maefars: 49
Copper Maefars: 512
Artifacts
Slot 1: Apothecaries Portable Cauldron
Slot 2: Empty
Slot 3: Empty
Slot 4: Empty