It was the first meeting of the student group that would delve into the Labyrinth and most of the upper echelon students were giving the halfling girl the stink-eye. She had finally mastered mental communication yesterday so we could talk without words and the fear of someone eavesdropping. Mr. Collins was rambling about basic Labyrinth survival and etiquette and how none of us should stray from the main group. The hunters the Academy hired to guide us would bring monsters suitable for us to fight.
I caught something odd with her word choice.
She made a guilty face and shook her head.
Maybe she had something. I knew I did.
> Capstone Perks: These Perks are rewards for reaching the level cap. Each grants a 25% bonus Exp. Current bonus: 95,3%.
>
> * The Cosmos Within (Capstone): +10 Ego and the ability to demand the full attention of a target for up to (4+Ego/10) minutes/day
> * The Leader (Capstone) +10 Charisma and the ability to modify someone's reaction by 10 steps during an interaction, (1+ Charisma/10) times per day.
> * The Four-Leaf Clover (capstone): +10 Luck and the ability to turn one bad event on its head, (1+Luck/50) times per day. You do not choose when this Trait triggers.
I probed her.
She jumped, making the people glaring at her like she didn't belong scowl even more.
She protested and poked my cover.
My intention was simple. Reading mom's last journal entry, when Barbara had rescued her from the vault prison, she wondered if Barbara was someone important to her. Cross-referencing other entries, I learned that if mom's suspicions were correct, Barbara would have one of two special Perks she blessed important people with before the Cataclysm.
She whimpered and cowed, drawing a smirk from the mean girls.
Her lips cracked into a coy smile,
Before she could turn around, Mr. Collins shouted her name, "Ambrose!"
"Coming!"
She didn't go. Two mean girls bumped their hips one after another on either side of the halfling, causing Barbara to spin and fall on her face.
"Are you okay?" Lord Hamilton asked, offering her a gloved hand.
She didn't take it as it would soil the pure white glove. Barbara got on her feet on her own. "Yes, thank you, My Lord," she replied without making eye contact. "Excuse me," she added before hurrying to answer the teacher.
Mr. Collins gave her a scroll for a {Force Shield} spell, telling her she should master it before the expedition. She took the rolled vellum and we departed back to the dorm.
*
----------------------------------------
*
We should train [Spellcaster] but people wouldn't leave Barbara alone. As we reached the dorm, a male student named Jerrick, which mom nicknamed "Ron" for some reason, was waiting for her outside the door.
> > Level 15 male half-human-dwarf [Wizard]
"Barbara," his voice cracked, going to soprano at the second "a".
"Jerrick, hi! How are you doing?" She replied with the utmost friendliness and aplomb.
It was obvious that this Jerrick guy was important to her but not in the way he hoped. I examined him and found nothing special.
"I'm fine, thanks for asking," he replied as he rubbed the back of his head without making eye contact with the girl. "You've been busy for a month. I rather miss our time together."
She smiled and moved a half-step closer to him, "Things got hectic, yes. Is something the matter?"
He froze, swallowed, blinked seven times, then sucked in his lips for a brief moment before finally meeting her gaze, "Would you like to go to the city fair tonight with me?"
To him, Barbara froze. Her cheeks got some dashes of pink and I could feel her heartbeat going off. Was she having a prey reaction to this guy? I would shove some of mom's favorite {Force Javelins} up his ass if he did anything.
She squealed and touched his arm just below the shoulder, "I'd be delighted to go with you, Jerrick!"
The guy exhaled, finally remembering flesh beings needed to breathe.
"Then we leave at sundown," he said. "I'm going to book two seats on the carriage and get us off-campus passes."
"You do that. I'll take some time to get ready," she cheered on him, and then the guy was off running. Strange, why would he run? We still had some time before dusk.
Odd guy.
*
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*
Barbara placed me on her desk, picked her toiletry bag and towel, then rushed out the door.
Ignoring her protest, I continued,
*
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*
I had a job to do. Help mom escape her prison. Reading about the curse the Broodmother placed on her, I knew the way about it was to get her Perks unlocked. If enough Perks and Proficiencies were unlocked, her future incarnations would have an easier time. I didn't know why I could unlock her Perks but maybe it was because I was her child and she wasn't using them right now. Nonetheless, I had a duty to do so. Fortunately, mom gave me something to work with.
> > You have 9 rank 2 Perks.
She left me the nine perks she got for killing the bone guy who locked her in the book. It took me all the free time I had since I was born to come up with this plan. It was simple. While mom was in the vampire's prison, she got the "red message" telling her she unlocked something. What I needed to do was to get as many red messages as I could. The advantage I had was that I could read on my mom which choices would unlock her Perk combinations.
For example, selecting {Wind Magic Affinity} with one of the Perks she gave me, had the following result:
> > ERROR. This User already has a superiorPerk.
>
> > You unlocked the Perk, Elemental Magic Affinity (2/7)...
The number next to the Perk was how many times it had been unlocked so far. At seven out of seven, it would be free of the curse. Mom kindly listed the requirements for all of her Perks for me. I was so proud of her. My mom was nothing if not diligent. I quickly unlocked all of her Affinities.
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> > Magic Affinity: Spells are 50% stronger, 25% cheaper, and 50% harder to dispel. Resist 25% of the damage and harmful effects last 25% less.
>
> * Somatic Magic (2/7): Animal, Blood, Flesh, Healing, Nature, Necromantic.
> * Elemental Magic (2/7): Darkness, Earth, Fire, Ice, Light, Lightning, Water, Wind.
> * Transcendental Magic (1/7): Shadow, Ritual, Fate, Divine, Mental, Summoning.
> * Environmental Magic (2/7): House, Force, Bardic, Ward, Illusion, Weather.
All of her twenty-six Affinities, unlocked. And further we went, searching my species and Class Perk list to see what I could unlock. A Perk to add Mind to my MP pool got me {All-Resource Booster}. Something to fight bigger creatures, {Titan Slayer}. Mimics could shapeshift, and that gave me {Master Shapeshifter}. A spellcasting boost landed me on {Magic-Infused}. Any {Detection} Perk gave me {Detect}. A random movement Perk unlocked {Boundless Mobility}.
* All-Resource Booster (1/7): Add half of all Attributes to determine all Resource Pools. Add Faith to Magic for the MP pool. Increase Attribute weight on HP by 50%. MP and SP are fused into Energy. Add 10% of your HP to Energy and vice versa.
* Titan Slayer (1/7): When fighting big creatures (cumulative): 1 size larger, 25% evasion. 2 sizes larger, 2x damage. Riding:(Dexterity)% evasion and accuracy against that enemy. Add Dexterity to contests to remove you. If an attack misses you, it hits your ride instead.
* Master Shapeshifter (1/7): After 1 second, take the shape of any species of your previous lives, any non-magical animal (including dire shapes), a were-jaguar, or a boggart. +10 to Physical Attributes. Gain the abilities of these shapes. Mix and match body parts among them. Add (Ego/2) to resist harmful shape effects. Mundane perception cannot discern the shapeshift. You can speak in any shape.
* Magic-Infused(1/7): +1 Magic at every level divisible by 4. Your magic is 50% stronger. {Force} can be shaped and is 50% stronger and cheaper. Pay half the spell with HP, increasing effect by 100%. Cast (50+Mind)% faster. Add Magic to Willpower for spell resolution. Spells that affect the body or mind are 25% stronger.
* Mystic Hunter (1/7): [Divinity, Monster, Assassin Contract, Favored Enemy[see list], Spirit, Living Sentients, Tremorsense, Echolocation, Treasure, Royalty, Aquatic Creatures, Blood, Poison, Thoughts]: On a successful Mind test (Add Soul if they're living or spiritual, add Willpower if they're hostile), You can sense them in a range of 40 x Mind meters. Concentrate for 10 seconds: Detect direction to a chosen target in 800 x Mind meters in a 45 degree cone. Test Magic to pierce magical protections. Your favored enemies are: [Humans], [Dragons], [Abominations], [Orcs], [Undead], [Demons], [Demigod], [Giants], [Goblins], [Trolls], [Kobolds], [Gnomes], [Beast-Kin], [Dwarves], [Elves], [Minotaurs], [Halflings], [Silk-Folk], [Centaurs], [Harpies], [Mermaids], [Ogres], [Avians], [Insectoids], [Beasts], [Reptilians], [Aquatic], [Elementals], [Golems], [Plantoids], [Saurians], and [Chimeras]. Against these, you deal double damage, gain 3x Exp and 25% Accuracy, Evasion, Damage Reduction, and critical chance.
* Boundless Mobility (1/7): +5 Dexterity and Mind. Your reflexes are twice as fast. When moving, you make no noise and exert no pressure. If still, no sound reflects off of you. 5x Movement rate, ignore terrain penalties. No maximum speed for movement Perks. Become incorporeal for 100 Energy/s. While incorporeal: pass through force constructs at a tenth speed. Senses extend up to (Magic/10) meters away from the surface you are inside. Manipulate solid objects while phased. Unphased inside an object deals heinous damage. Effects that inhibit, incapacitate, or control your body, mind, or soul have their effectiveness and/or duration reduced by 67% and are 67% easier to escape. Immune to stagger. Stun, restraint, or similar debuffs last 50% less. Collisions with rocks deal no damage. You may move through rocks at half speed and leave a tunnel if you wish.
The resistances were also easy to obtain once I exposed me to my own Affinities. I had the one for the Elemental group, onto the other three. I had to spend three out of the nine Perks I had, but it was worth it.
* Somatic Magic Resistance (1/7): Reduce the effects and duration of all harmful Somatic magic by 80%.
* Environmental Magic Resistance (1/7): Reduce the effects and duration of all harmful Environmental magic by 80%.
* Transcendental Magic Resistance (1/7): Reduce the effects and duration of all harmful Transcendental magic by 80%.
Finally, an HP regeneration Perk brought the awesome {Titan Body} back to the game.
> > ERROR. This User already has a superior Perk.
>
> > {Hardness}, {Faster Rejuvenation}, {Lifelike Glow}, {Unholy Strength V}, and {Necrotic Resilience} combined into {Titan Body}:
>
> * Titan Body (1/7): Absolute Damage Reduction 93%. Your integument is always impeccable and can be colored at will. Bonus to stealth equal to the percentile of exposed skin. You can stretch body parts along their longest dimension up to 3 times the normal length without losing strength, accuracy, or balance. Add a tenth of your maximum HP to your maximum Energy. Add a quarter of your base HP to determine HP regeneration. Divide HP recovery tick by 24. Missing body parts regrow in the time needed to regenerate 2% of your maximum HP. Immune to Bleeding, Muscle Paralysis, integument afflictions including damage from fine particulate at normal speeds. No Attributes are locked to you. You gain 60 HP, 30 Energy, +32 HP/level, +22 Energy/level, (75+(Strength+Dexterity+Endurance)/20) hardness, +15 base damage, +10 to all Attributes, and another +5 to all Physical Attributes plus Charisma.
What else could I unlock now? I didn't even notice Barbara returning from her bath and changing clothes.
"Studying?" She asked, startling me.
> > You gained the perk, Indomitability(uncommon) …
>
> > ERROR. This User already has a superior Perk.
>
> * Indomitable Vitality (1/7): x1,000,000 negative HP threshold. Cannot die under direct sunlight, regardless of accumulated damage. For each of the following conditions, increase resource regeneration by linear 50%: Underwater; in the Ethereal plane; line of sight to the sky; surrounded by stone; under sunlight.
I opened an eye on my back cover.
I could see the girl was itching to come closer and take a look at the open pages on mom. Her Perk list was surely impressive. I was proud of my contractor when she refrained from invading my mother's privacy.
"Did you find anything nice?"
She took a step back. "I'm not stabbing you."
"Still… Wait, you're still level zero."
"I trust you. But I won't hurt you just because of that. I have to go, Nethe. Stay safe."
She picked me up. "How do I look?"
My cover opened and pages flipped. A glowing diagram painted on it created a static illusion, a perfect copy of Barbara.
"You are quite good at it," she remarked. "Yes, I think this will do," she huffed as if preparing to compete on the track, then shook her hands. "Wish me luck, Nethe."
She giggled, grinned, then took her coin pouch and left. I went back to unlocking Perks.
> > You gained the Perk, Weapon Training (uncommon): You gain Weapon proficiencies 10% faster.
>
> > ERROR. This User already has a superior Perk.
>
> * Eternal Trainee (1/7): +20 to all Attributes, +30% lifespan. Title: [Master of Magic]. Friendly units in the same area as you learn 50% faster. At midnight of your birthday, gain 1 fast-growth on the following Proficiencies: above 50, Assassination, Spellcaster, Alchemy, Diplomat, Enchanter, Metalsmith, along with the 3 lowest Combat and 5 lowest Technical. You learn all Proficiencies 500% faster. Every 5 levels give 1 point of Proficiency in: Chemist, Silkweaver, Surgeon, Appraise, Jeweler, Metalsmith, Mason, and Sculptor. Each level gives 1 point of Proficiency in: War Technique, Spellcaster, Rune Scriber. You cannot spend a pick on the latter three Proficiencies. When picking a new Technical Proficiency, gain 20+SQRT(highest Technical score) Fast-growth points in it.
>
> > One Mystical proficiency pick was refunded.
Sixteen unlocks, not bad. It was about a fifth of mom's combined Perks. Mom…
As the improved mental Attributes jump-started my mental processes, I began to question my situation. Mom's Perks were mostly classified as (unique) and it didn't make sense that I had them. As I began to realize my predicament, I flitted to mom's last thoughts as recorded in the [Lost Sage's Encyclopedia].
> No longer bound, my soul started to seep out of its containment. I felt my consciousness slip as a free soul would surely return to the wheel of reincarnation. That's when the last two lines of the description caught my eye as the Grimoire spat a smaller copy of itself on the grass and my soul was drawn to it.
>
> The Brood-whore's curse activated and forced me to forget...
----------------------------------------
Drawn to the smaller copy. My assumptions were wrong. I had mom's Perks because I was her. I felt a faint familiarity with the passages on the book but also a detachment. They didn't feel like my own memories.
Only one way to find out. I selected {Tiny Animal Shapes} from my species Perk list.
> > ERROR. This User already has a superior Perk.
>
> * Master Shapeshifter (1/7): +10 to Physical Attributes. After 1 second, take the shape of any species of your previous lives, any non-magical animal (including dire shapes), and others. Gain the abilities of these shapes. Mix and match body parts among them. Add (Ego/2) to resist harmful shape effects. Mundane perception cannot discern the shapeshift. You can speak in any shape. Were-Jaguar: You may infect creatures with therianthropy. Boggart: you are immaterial and can fly at your normal walking speed. You can telekinetically move objects at a distance according to your Strength score.
Then I tried shapeshifting into mom's last form, the [Dullahan Revenant] Raina. As my book form molded and became humanoid and grew to her full size, I got another message.
> > You unlocked a required species Perk.
>
> * Dullahan (2/7): Attacks that hit your head merely cause it to detach, dealing no damage or effects. Your effects may originate from either body or head, whichever is beneficial. While your head is up to (Soul) kilometers away, it functions normally and floats at your normal walking speed. Further away you only know the general direction. It never slips from your grasp. While touching you, add (Soul/2) to Perception. Your neck sheds cold fire like a torch when the head is not on it. Detach at will, reattach with 24 hours of rest.
How naive can a newborn mimic with a score of 4 in Mind be? A lot, it seems. The detachment from my previous lives remained but I could rationalize it now. I learned about myself in a book. And hell yes, I had to break free from my curse. I needed the Wellspring and the curse-breaking Perks if I wanted to make any forays on this issue. The Wellspring was a third-rank Perk and probably out of my reach. Thankfully, I had one stopgap solution.
> > You gained the Perk, Suppress Curse (rare): Once per day, ignore one curse for 1 hour.
>
> > ERROR. This User already has a superior Perk.
>
> * Unraveler of Curses (1/7): Suppress one curse for 1 hour, once a day. Each Mp spent to break a curse is worth [100+140*(1+Luck/100)]% more. MP pool full: 2x MP regeneration erodes a chosen curse. Cost: (1,000,000*Rarity*([Magic]-Magic)^3)). When all MP is paid off, you may break the curse or pay the same amount to change it to a Perk. The cost to cast a curse on you is increased a hundredfold. This applies even when this Perk is locked.
I checked the cost to break the Broodmother's curse. With my current score of 55 Magic, I needed 2.5 Quadrillion MP to break the curse. It would take billions of years to break it. But I didn't need to worry about that right now. Armed with {Suppress Curse} or its buffed-up sibling, I activated it.
Were it not for my mental resilience boosted by the System, I was sure my head would explode from the sheer pressure of having everything coming back in place at once. I screamed in pain and dropped to my knees, hitting my cheeks and causing my head to roll under the bed.
*
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*
My memories, my Status, my Perks. For one hour, all was back in place except for Nenandil and Pandora, which were still grayed out. As I cleared the bright spots in my vision, I floated my head back and shapeshifted to Haru's form. I never felt happier for having those overgrown smoking pipe cleaners behind me.
The first thing I did was to upgrade my Class to five slots, giving me an extra 2 Attribute Points per level. That would hopefully keep the Perk required to do so unlocked.
* Life Crossroads (2/7): You can have up to five Class Paths and combine them in any way you want. Your species is considered one rarity above. You gain two bonus Proficiencies.
The unlock counter increased by 1. Fingers crossed.
The door opened and the dorm mother Mrs. Cormak entered. Before she could notice my presence I was invisible and ethereal, cursing myself for leaving the [Lost Sage's Encyclopedia] on the desk. At least I could use a mental command to shift the pages to some harmless cooking recipes. I also remembered the freaking legendary spear on the roof, undiscovered to this day. I sent it to the item box remotely.
She examined the room, then remarked Barbara was out visiting the city with Jerrick. I felt a pang of jealousy, I was surer than ever that she was Lorna. She even had one of the girl's Perks. Madge or Mona, which one was she? Fate never let me find out until the very end.
The woman finally left the room.
I had little time to act. I thought about using a shit-ton of {Messenger Birds} but they would probably disappear when the curse returned. But I had the next best thing. I opened the item box and called my draconic clones.
The golems of my previous lives cast invisible spells on themselves and flew out on their dragon wings. I used the time I had left to craft an item for myself and enchant it, hoping it would help.
> [Mother's Home-knit Dust Jacket] - Level 0 living silk dust jacket.
>
> +20 Endurance, Magic, and Luck.
>
> 75% Armor.
>
> Grants flight. Speed, 20 meters per second. (72 km/h, 44.7 mi/h)
>
> Stores 2 cubic meters of items.
>
> Soulbound to the Netherbane Syllabus.
>
> * Please keep my darling book dry, warm, and safe. A gift from your mother to her favorite Syllabus. It will help by keeping curses away and growing one's Magic and Luck. Remember this. Invest in Magic and Luck, Netherbane.
>
> For crafting a level 60 item, you gained 4,284,669 Exp (base 2,197,266 x1.95 capstone).
>
> You reached level Bibliomimic (base, 5 slots, unique) level 20. Your contractor reached level 20. Your familiars are out of range.
>
> You ranked up. All unallocated Exp was divided by 100.
>
> You reached Bibliomimic (rank 1, 5 slots, unique) level 4.
That would bring its own hornet's nest of problems. Barbara had just ranked up out of the blue and shot to level 24 of all things.
*
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*
The hour ended and I clattered on the floor. What was I doing here? Oh, a gift from mom... no. From myself.
*
*
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*
*
Loki watched as the clones flew off and split, each going to a different region of the world. He knew the fairy was underneath Fulgen, and so did the High Elves. He had to think of something to keep them from reuniting. It was too soon. As he had an idea on how to trick them into not meeting, he grinned.
The Asgardian waited too long to claim his prize. He had no problem allowing the Old Soul her memories back but not before he could get what he wanted.