I moved to the treasure chest and displayed all the loot that I'd managed to separate from Valentin's personal collection. The stuff I wanted to keep at least. Valentin had been an obsessive hoarder, and I had the distinct feeling that a lot of his goodies had come from previous champions. Valentin had been a player killer and team killer, but it had been real lives he'd taken, all for the sake of feeling like a big man.
There was Dark Undermaster Master Ranger Armor Set +3, a whip of light +3/+5 against undead, and a ring of giant strength. There was also another Mark of the Champion, one belonging to one of the late heroes sent by Weis.
"Interesting," Ania said. "I recognize the whip and mark."
"You do?" I asked.
Ania nodded. "Another hero who met their end at the hand of Valentin. He specialized in killing undead."
"And died at the hands of a mortal," I said, picking up the ring. "I thought I'd give you dibs on this."
"I'm not the marrying kind, Aaron," Ania said, smirking. "Though I appreciate the thought."
My eyes widened.
Ania rolled her eyes. "You are terrible at taking jokes."
"Blame my wiring," I said. "It takes me a bit to understand things that are metaphorical. I tend to take people at their word as well."
"Wow, your life must suck," Ania said, showing again that she'd been hanging around too many people from my world. "Keep the ring, Aaron. You're a sorcerer but you get in a surprising number of sword fights."
I nodded and put it on. I immediately felt a lot stronger. "You know, they have it as a girdle of hill giant strength in Dungeons and Dragons."
"Hill giants don't wear girdles," Ania said, confused.
"Ah, no," I said, pausing. "I should probably explain what Dungeons and Dragons is too."
"I've seen plenty of both," Ania said.
I blinked. "Err..."
"Yes, it's the board game of the gods," Ania said. "Just like Weis made books of my life and Garland's."
I grimaced. "So, uh, catch up on the books."
"Yes," Ania said, her expression empty. "Remind me to kill Weis if I ever see him again."
"I'll reserve you a place in line," I said, dryly. "I assume he was watching us all with his palantir or whatnot."
"His what?" Ania asked.
"His crystal ball," I clarified.
"Then just say crystal ball," Ania said, shaking her head. She went over and picked up the whip of light and looked it over. "You should keep this. You lost your sword when you used it against the mana icicles."
"I'm not proficient in exotic weaponry [whip]," I said. "I checked Agata's character sheet and... she is?"
"Yes, Sisters of Mokosh know how to use whips," Ania said. "Both in combat and recreationally."
Jon coughed, which was actually closer to a caw.
I looked over at him.
"I didn't say nothing," Jon said. "But the fanfic writers clearly had a lot more insight into this series than we ever gave them credit for."
"But she's a sorceress," Ania said. "So, she might prefer to stick with Arcane Fire, unlike you. This is Master Ranger armor, yes?"
"Yep," I said.
"Can you wear it?" Ania asked.
"I always wondered how that worked in fantasy games," I muttered. "Armor should just be armor, shouldn't it?"
"The magic is designed to cause irritation and rashes in anyone who isn't a Dark Undermaster Master Ranger," Ania said.
"Oh," I said, blinking.
"As well as uncontrollable bowel issues," Ania said.
I blinked. "I will never think the same way about not meeting stat requirements the same way."
"Well, can you?" Ania asked.
"The Master Ranger specialization unlocked when I hit eighth level," I said, pausing. "I shouldn't have been able to reach it until 12th level as a Sorcerer, but the requirements were warrior feats as well as Attack bonus that I got from my Divinity score. Really, it just opens the Ranger magical items list as well as their school of magic. A bonus against undead, which is useful in this war against Veles, I suppose. Oh, and I got tracking as a free feat."
Ania stared.
"Which makes no sense to you, I'm sure," I said, sighing.
"No, I have a Mark of the Champion too," Ania said. "It's mostly gibberish but I understand how it works. I was just curious how you were adjusting to becoming a demigod."
I frowned and lifted my bracelet to look at the display.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
ARAGORN “AARON” BARTKOWSKI
LVL: 8
CLASS: UNDERMASTER SORCERER (MASTER RANGER)
ALIGNMENT: GRAY
AGE: 34
SEX: MALE
RACE: HUMAN (Demigod)
STR: 12 (19)
AGI: 10
CON: 11
INT: 20
WIS: 9
COM: 15 (16)
CHA: 13 (14)
ARMOR CLASS: 27
ATTACK: +5 (+15 to ATTACK, 1d10+10/14 [Undead] DAM, Sword [Bleed])
HEALTH: 42
DIVINITY: 3
FEAT: Taunt, Sword and Shield, Two Handed Fighting, Tracking
SPECIAL ABILITIES: ARCANE FIRE (1d6+6 INT bonus, Eldritch Damage), BLOCK (requires shield), LESSER MAGIC (unlimited times per day), COUNTERSPELL
SPELL LIST (12/4/3/3/2):
LESSER MAGIC EFFECTS: CLEAN SELF, CREATE FOOD, CREATE FIRE, CREATE WATER, MINOR ILLUSION, REFRESH, TELEKENESIS (1 Kilo per INT bonus), VENTRILOQUISM, MEND, TORCHLIGHT, SILENT WALK, IDENTIFY MAGICAL OBJECT, LESSER SENDING (Party Only)
[1] PUSH, CURE, JUMP, ARMOR
[2] WEB, ANIMAL SUMMONING
[3] SUGGESTION, LESSER CHARM, CURE (II)
[4] POLYMORPH OTHER, DIVINE BOW
STATUS EFFECTS:
* Alchemical Stone (Red): +50lb carrying capacity
* Blessing of Mokosh: +1 to COM, +1 to CHR
* Ring of Ogre Strength: STR is 19 when wearing this
* Boots of speed: Double Movement Speed, Dodge Roll Bonus
* Ranger’s Mark: +4 to hit/damage against Undead
* +2 to all Saving Throws [Divine]
Level 8 to 9
24,000/135,000
I hadn't yet explained my +5 weapons to her, but they were listed on the Attack list. I was saving that for later. The new spells I'd gained included the ability to transform people, heal better, as well as my first ranger spell in DIVINE BOW. My INT had gone up again as had my WIS, though not so much that it was equal to "average" human WIS. Ironically, I'd wasted two of my bonus attribute points putting up my STR score. I'd thought I'd need a lot more help with my fighting abilities but hadn't counted on finding the ring of ogre strength.
"Interesting choices," Ania said, looking over my shoulder.
"The thing is, despite the fact that I'm in a video game, or at least a world that has a lot of similarities to one, my build depends on a lot of counter-intuitive assumptions about how to play," I said, accidentally starting to monologue. My ex-girlfriend, Nightchilde, hated when I did this. "You see, virtually all the other champions attempted to specialize in something in order to get the maximum number of bonuses from doing one thing really well. At least according to Jon."
"Becky wouldn't shut up about it," Jon said, referring to his guide. "She was a CON junkie who wanted to tank all possible damage. Sadly, that didn't mean much when faced with a giant. Their clubs ignore armor."
"However, specialization is made with the assumption that you can reload and a game over is just an inconvenience," I said, feeling incredibly smug about my conclusions. "If you were stupidly strong then you would be utterly boned if you encountered an INT-based challenge. If you were incredibly intelligent, you might die horribly without a high-enough CON score. It was a pretty bold idea to pursue but I believed a Jack-Of-All-Stats approach was probably the best way to survive Ledziania."
"Yes," Jon said, bobbing his head and flapping his wings. "This world is sick and wrong. It is the one where the bards are the most likely to survive."
"Because they do music well?" Ania asked, confused.
I smirked. "Private joke."
"A joke that only you get is just unfunny," Ania said, shaking her head. "Your Divinity score is as high as mine. So do you feel any different?"
I blinked. "You absorbed other bracelets?"
"No, I was born with this," Ania said.
I paused, remembering the common fan theory that Ania was Mokosh's daughter. Not the least reason being that she had the same hair color as the goddess and Lord Tomas Rose had been Mokosh's lover. I'd gotten a pretty good look at Mokosh's hair in her sacred grotto as well.
"Right," I said, awkwardly.
Ania frowned. "It could be due to any number of reasons."
"Sure," I said. "No, it doesn't list any special abilities from being a demigod. However, there's a lot of passive things going on behind the scenes with the rules."
"Uh huh," Ania said, as if I was speaking Greek.
I picked up the Mark of the Champion and stared at it, remembering how powerful it had made me feel. "I was wondering if I should remove the temptation and share it with other members of the party with marks."
"So, me or Agata," Ania said dryly.
"Yes," I said. "Maybe give it to Bloodstorm or Sparky."
“I doubt it would work with Bloodstorm,” Ania said. “The bracelets don’t allow me to absorb energy, and I consulted with the Wise Man once when he wasn’t just relying on people from your world. He said that being tied to another god causes the bracelets to disrupt your energy. Perun’s power would interfere with their magic and possibly cause severe damage to even a demigod."
That was useful information. “So Agata is out because she’s a priestess, you’re out because of…reasons, and Bloodstorm is out because his mother is Baba Yaga. She’s close enough to a goddess to not really matter. There’s still Sparky.”
"Yes, because that's what we need, a demigod dragon with the mind of a child," Jon said.
"He is a child," I replied. "Or a teenager. I think."
Okay, I was really failing my diplomacy checks.
"He's definitely a teenager," Ania said. "He spent quite a bit of time with initiate Dahna. She's an elf about his age. Mentally and physically."
I blinked, processing that. It was hard to think of Sparky as someone who had hit puberty, even though he was technically twenty-seven or so. He preferred to live as a dog and a dragon, so it was sometimes hard to remember he was about fourteen years old in his human form. "Ah. So that's what we're going with development wise, huh?"
"He's coming out of his feral years," Ania said. "The isolation and living as an animal didn't prevent his development. Just...made it rougher."
It was hard to imagine Sparky with a lady, not the least because I treated him as much as a pet as a squire, but I sighed. "Well, I suppose someone should give him the talk."
"I think the sex priestesses have it covered," Jon said.
"I'll try and treat him more as, uh, young man then," I muttered.
"He looks up to you," Ania said. "God knows why."
I glared at her.
Ania paused, embarrassed. "Sorry, I used to make these kinds of jokes to Garland. He found them funny and returned the favor. I keep forgetting that's not how...friends work."
"Friends," I said, not taking the word quite as well as she wanted.
"Lovers," Ania said, kissing me on the cheek. "Non-exclusive, emotionally detached lovers."
I glared.
Ania seemed to think I was joking and smiled. "I noticed you had a +5 weapon on your sheet with a bleed effect. I know enough about how these math magic sheets work to know that means you have a powerful weapon to replace the Ghost Sword. Where did you get it and where is it?"
I was a bit reluctant to show off my new toys, but I'd discovered them in the brazier where we'd slain Chernabog. They'd been covered up by the ashen remains of the god and I'd needed some time to master them. Still, I went to the treasure chest and proceeded to pull out the two black jagged scimitars. Immediately, the weapons started whispering to me in their demonic voices.
Murder.
Chaos.
Conquest.
"Ta da!" I said, showing them off. The Blades of Chernabog were an award for defeating the first of the Old Gods and were +5 vampiric weapons that also inflicted bleed damage. Yeah, they were kind of evil, but I didn't seem to be affected by them despite my low WIS score. Since I'd accidentally bought the two-weapon fighting feat while falling to my (near) death, I figured they were perfect as a substitute for the Ghost Sword.
Ania stared in horror and tackled me to the ground, attempting to pry the swords from my hands.
"Do I need to leave the room?" Jon asked.