Nate and Fuzzball pushed themselves to the limits. Magic arrows dotted the chamber as they maneuvered, trying to keep the swarms at bay. The bodies were stacked up to where Nate could loot en masse, temporarily blinding the living rat-moles and granting a brief reprieve.
To Nate's surprise, the motes of light were drawn into the Astral Collector, and the rat-mole pile grew. They kept coming. The central pile had been reduced, but it should be much smaller.
“We need to stop the collector,” Nate said over chat.
“I know! Any ideas?”
“You got any vegetables in your pouch to draw them away?” Nate asked as he resummoned his bow to refresh his arrows.
“Nope!” Fuzzball said as he threw another cluster of them away.
“Head for the exit. I'll camouflage myself and try to hide until I can get up to the collector.”
Nate fired two more arrows before dropping his bow and casting Camouflage. He trickled some of his Lucky power and crept along the gently curving wall, throwing some of his own vegetable stockpile from his inventory toward the doorway. Fuzzball made extra noise, and a trail of rat-moles followed him out of the room. Thankfully, rat-moles aren’t very bright.
The Astral Collector became visible as the swarm dissipated in pursuit of Fuzzball. Floating several feet into the air, it was held aloft by some unknown force. Nate thought it looked like a plumb bob from the Sims game if it was black instead of green, was 5 feet tall and 3 feet wide, and had a series of metallic strips wrapping in horizontal stripes near its center.
Nate could see that there were a series of buttons and knobs spread along the metallic strips. He avoided touching the few remaining rat-moles and reached up to touch the machine. A new pop-up window appeared.
Astral Collector is at full capacity. All further astral energies collected will be dispersed. Warning: overflow energies will create alterations within local fauna and flora.
“I think this may be what killed the forest around here,” Nate sent to Fuzzball through chat.
“Hurry it up, these things are relentless!”
Nate read on.
You can converge the astral energies held within the Astral Collector. This will create an object at the cost of the Astral Collector. Converge? Yes No.
Nate sent his question mentally to Quilly, opening a new window.
Help: Astral Collector Convergence. The created object depends on the quantity of energy stored within the Astral Collector. It is often a sigil stone, though it may create something different if certain parameters are met.
Another sigil stone! Nate closed his help window and selected the affirmative, pushing fatigue and magic into his Lucky power as he did. He felt a strange connection as the collector powered up. It made him feel… hungry?
His camouflage spell wore off a second before the Astral Collector exploded.
Obsidian shards splintered through the room, slashing any remaining rat-moles to pieces. Nate was similarly pierced by many shards, though the rat-moles that had moved to attack him when he became visible seemed to take the brunt of the shards that would have targeted his vital organs. White hot pain erupted across his body, and though he was starting to get more acquainted with pain, it proved too much and he crumpled to unconsciousness after the explosion slammed him against the wall.
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Fuzzball felt the connection of their chat line end, and he turned back, striking out at the mass of rat-moles with his gardening tools, fists, and anything he could use as a weapon along the way.
Quickly, however, it became clear that the rat-moles had lost interest and were fleeing from something else, tunneling into the walls out of sight just as a shockwave of force nearly knocked him from his feet. Fuzzball ran back, finding slowly dissolving crystalline shards in a doorway shaped grouping outside of the cylindrical room. He gingerly maneuvered around them and surveyed the room. Nate lay in a heap against the far wall. In the center of the room were several twisted metal bands and a glowing sigil stone.
Moving faster as the shards dissolved, Fuzzball crouched and leaned over his friend, relief washing over him as noticed Nate was still breathing. The dissolving shards within him left behind small holes that were slowly leaking dark purple smoke.
Fuzzball was gathering Nate into his arms when he heard a clinking sound echoing through the mineshafts.
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Hunger.
The runes sealing it in the room lost power when the Astral Collector exploded. It was free. With all its might it pushed against its shell. The orange cuboid tipped against the weakened display case and it broke through, shards of glass scattering around it as it struck the ground.
Hunger.
The egg began to roll along the ground, its strength growing with every turn.
Hunger.
The red haired creature that it had connected with was closer than ever. And it trembled with excitement at all the power it would soon be able to consume.
Hunger.
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As he stooped to pick up the sigil stone, movement made him freeze. In the doorway a large orange rectangular prism rolled into view, clinking sounds as crystal struck stone.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“That can't be good,” Fuzzball whispered, moving Nate into a fireman's carry so one of his arms would be free.
A small crack appeared across the crystalline cuboid, spreading as though in slow motion. Light began to emit from the crack, a similar dark purple to the smoke still rising from Nate's wounds.
Fuzzball tried to run over the crystal to get to the exit, but a blinding flash accompanied another energy pulse that sent Fuzzball sprawling, Nate rolling several feet away, landing on top of the sigil stone.
Nate, who had been unconscious, was pulled to semi-consciousness by a sharp pain in his chest. His journal was blinking rapidly, and a window had popped up. Somehow, he could comprehend it despite his limited awareness.
Familiar Sigil Stone. Once activated, you gain one Familiar Slot and can gain a familiar. Familiars grant you abilities based on the creature and your current rank. You may use certain essence gems to teach them new abilities. You currently have two of five active sigil stones. Once the Familiar Sigil Stone is activated, it cannot be removed. Accept? Yes No.
Nate's awareness was increasing as he healed his wounds, the roaring pain subsiding to a mewl. He considered only for a moment before accepting.
Fuzzball watched as Nate glowed with a dark purple light, even as he warily watched the creature that had come from the crystal. It was bipedal, light purple leathery skin spread over corded muscle. Darker purple sections of hard carapace shell covered its back, arms, and legs. Jagged white teeth lined its wide mouth, its four eyes glowed like starlight. White claws adorned its hands and feet.
A primal fear washed over Fuzzball, though he didn't know why. It locked him in place.
The creature tilted its head as it stared at Nate, who opened his eyes slowly. He groaned as he sat up, then jumped to his feet. He felt different. He could sense the presence of the creature and of Fuzzball. He could feel the power of the beast before him. Feel the fear from Fuzzball.
The purple creature moved slowly toward Nate, but not in a hostile way. It cooed, which Nate would have found adorable if it didn't sound like a death rattle. It stood as tall as it could, just reaching to Nate's waist. He tentatively reached out to touch it.
Astral Maw wants to be your familiar. Accept? Yes No.
“Astral Maw, huh?” he patted the creature on its head. “Welcome to the family! Accept.”
Astral Maw is now your familiar. Astral Maw's attributes will increase commensurate with your level and rank. You gain the following ability.
Astral Sense. Ability type: Passive. Cooldown: None. You can sense astral energies. You can channel them into your familiar for a boost to its attributes at a small magic point per second cost.
The Astral Maw, upon becoming Nate's familiar, increased in size as its attributes were raised to match Nate's. It now stood up to Nate's shoulder.
The fear that had gripped Fuzzball released upon the transition.
“You okay?” Nate asked as his new familiar pushed into him for more head pats, its forked tongue happily lolling from its mouth.
“What just happened?”
“I just got a familiar, I think? Not sure what that means exactly yet.”
“What's an astral maw?”
“No idea! Cute and badass at the same time! Go say hi to Fuzzball, Terry.”
“Terry?” Fuzzball asked as Terry loped over to him, making happy, short death rattle noises.
“He doesn't look like a Terry to you?”
“I couldn't say.” Fuzzball gingerly touched Terry, finding him to be cool to the touch. Terry decided it liked Fuzzball's warm hands and nuzzled him affectionately.
“Aww! He likes you!”
“Did you cast your Lore Dump spell before accepting this creature?”
Nate hesitated. “No, but I feel like that would have gone very differently had I chosen no. I hope it's good this time, Quilly.” He approached Terry and cast his spell.
Astral Maw. These colossal apocalyptic creatures roam the Astral Plane, devouring the energies of the multiverse. Commonly seen as harbingers of doom, as their presence often results in planetary death.
“Well?” Fuzzball asked.
“It's… fine,” Nate swallowed hard. “Everything is fine.”
They walked out of the mine and back to the temple. Fuzzball remained at Nate's side, fascinated by the Astral Maw and the Interface Podium.
The door with the protective barrier had been blown off its hinges. The runic markings were all dormant now, showing signs of sudden and violent deactivation.
“Do you think Terry affected the collector?” Nate said, poking his head into the room. He could feel the diminishing link between the room and the Astral Collector.
“It would explain a few things. I don't think they usually explode unless trapped or acted upon by an outside force.”
Terry was actively avoiding even looking at the room.
“Well, I imagine if I had been trapped in a room for who knows how long, I would be jumping at any option to be free.”
Fuzzball grew introspective, “Agreed. I was not aware of my imprisonment in that chest, but I still feel angry about my entrapment when I think on it.”
“Were you aware the whole time, Terry?” Nate asked, not sure he really wanted to know. Terry nodded. “I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner, buddy.” Terry pushed his plated head into Nate's hand.
“You're welcome. Now let's go look at this podium thing!”
Nate sat in the front pew before approaching the podium, “I'm going to sort through my interface messages before we look at this.” Fuzzball nodded and sat next to him. Terry curled up against Fuzzball like a large dog who still thought it was small enough to sit in his lap.
Archery had increased from Novice 14 to Novice 18. Total Health has increased by 4. Progression to Level 9 at 100%. Progression to Level 10 at 4%.
Athletics has increased from Novice 14 to Novice 19. Total Health has increased by 5. Progression to Level 10 at 24%.
Sneak has increased from Novice 11 to Novice 15. Total Fatigue has increased by 4. Progression to Level 10 at 40%.
Indomitable Spirit has increased from Novice 5 to Novice 11. Total Magic has increased by 6. Progression to Level 10 at 64%.
This one had a subwindow that displayed all the instances of rat-mole fever he'd been resisting and reducing the duration of during their time fixing up the mine. His magic still hadn't fully recovered since healing himself. Rat-mole fever was very unpleasant indeed.
Tenacity has automatically triggered. Astral shard's damage is decreased. There were many, many instances of the second sentence.
Tenacity has increased from Novice 1 to Novice 8. Total Health has increased by 7. Progression to Level 10 at 92%.
Upon accepting your third sigil stone, you have gained a confluent aura, Familial Luckomancy.
Familial Luckomancy. Aura. Cooldown: None. Effect: The passive luck increase from the Lucky Sigil Stone is increased further based on the number of friends and/or family within the range of your Interface party chat. Allies within your aura have increased luck. Enemies within your aura have decreased luck. Each ally within your aura reduces the cost of your Lucky power.
Nate's mouth was open with shock as he read the last entry. “I think I just became Dom Toretto.”
“Who's Dom Toretto?” Fuzzball asked as he patted Terry's gently snoring form.
“He's a character from a super hero franchise from my world. They tried to hide it as a series of car racing movies, but the true fans realized what it really was. Dom is extremely lucky, and his luck, like mine, increased as he gained more and more family members. I doubt mine will have exponential growth like his, but I'm excited to find out.”
“Be careful with that. Luck only goes so far. You nearly died today. Again.”