Lorelai’s mind was a whirlwind, her senses overloaded as the world around her spun in a dizzying blur, a side effect from bottoming out her mana. Her heart hammered in her chest, and her breath came in shallow bursts. She lay sprawled on the cold dungeon floor, her body aching from the strain of the battle against the Goblin Champion.
The last thing she remembered was wielding the spear oversaturated with a powerful surge of magic; she laced her spear with lightning and manipulated the weight. This enabled her to throw the spear with an impossible amount of force, it was far more destructive than she anticipated. Her body felt like it was still reeling from the combined energies of the spell, her lightning magic crackling through the air as it found its target. Then everything went black.
Now, as her eyes fluttered open, the first thing Lorelai noticed was the soft, steady pressure of a hand on her shoulder. Her vision swam before coming into focus, revealing Aeryn standing over her, her expression unreadable.
“You’re awake,” the vampire said softly, her voice devoid of her usual playful tone. There was something else now, the fire of competition, the vampire had been inspired. "You really pushed yourself that time."
Lorelai groaned and shifted her weight, feeling the strain in her muscles and bones. She could still feel the raw remnants of power coursing through her veins—the aftershocks of the energy she had unleashed.
“I... I did it, didn’t I?” Lorelai giggled, her voice hoarse as she slowly tried to sit up.
“You did,” Aeryn said, though there a saturation of triumph in her voice. Only a guarded seriousness. “The Goblin Champion’s dead so now you can check your notifications. I have leveled three times since being here!”
Lorelai blinked, trying to process the words. She had only leveled up once since awakening, and now between the fodder goblins and the champion, she had leveled up three times? She felt like she had reached other milestones, not just level five. She sat up and looked for her sword which had been knocked out of reach by the champion. She wanted to feel its reassuring weight in her hand.
Lorelai went through the notifications in the order she had received them:
[Level up 2 --> 3! +2 stat points]
Fairly standard message with no surprises, she then looked at her next message.
[By combining the use of lightning and gravity magic the tier 2 lightning magic, subcategory has unlocked: Electromagnetism]
[New Spell: Repulse - Any metal under the effects of lightning clad can be repelled at great speeds, it also allows you to pull the item back to your hand. The greater the distance the more mana required]
"Electromagnetism??!" Lorelai nearly shouted.
Aeryn watched her with interest, “That stunt with the spear unlocked a different form of magic or affinity for you? How interesting...I may have to explore my own magic more thoroughly.”
Lorelai frowned, trying to focus through the lingering dizziness. Electromagnetism? The name echoed in her mind, and she could almost feel the hum of it, powerful and dangerous. She had manipulated the weight of the spear in mid-flight and used her lightning magic in a different way; a way she hadn't thought of before. This, however, was more than just manipulating weight; it was controlling the magnetic pull that surrounded all objects, the way electricity interacted with the world itself. Now it was clear, the act of combining magic or applying outside of its initial description opens of magic, paths that hadn’t been accessible before. It was a strong hypothesis, but she put the thought aside to check her next notification.
[Lightning Clad has increased in rank +1 WIS --> Lightning Clad II: Cover limbs or weapons in lightning drastically enhancing offensive capabilities, small chance of paralysis effect. Paralysis duration 1s]
It also appears that spells and skills can increase in rank adding additional effects, and by ranking up the skill she even received a skill point. She was elated by the unexpected boon. The next notification congratulated her on defeating the floor boss, and the last notification had to do with her reaching her level requirement.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
[Level up 3 -->5! +4 stat points]
[Reached a level that is an increment of 5, +2 INT]
Lorelai had six stat points to assign, and since Aeryn was taking the time to review all her levels, skills, and stat point increases Lorelai thought it appropriate to do follow suit.
Lorelai Lvl 5 (6 points available)
Str - 7
Agi - 7
Will - 10
End - 6
Int- 14
Lorelai stat panel was brought up with a thought as she reviewed her numbers. She had to carefully consider what the best build for her would be, but her problem was that she found each stat useful. Since she received free points to INT, she would not increase that on her own until she felt forced to do so.. Her WIS stat also received a bonus for increasing a spells rank by moldering her magic to fit a need. She has been fighting on the front lines, and its far more exhausting than she anticipated. She needed to be able to recover her stamina faster and shrug off hits. She put three available points in END, she also needed a balance between speed and power so she put two available points into AGI and the rest into STR.
Lorelai Lvl 5
Str - 8
Agi - 9
Will - 10
End - 9
Int- 14
She flexed her fingers, feeling the energy coursing through her hands, she felt stronger than she ever had. She wanted to test her knew branch of magic, she focused on the spear that had imbedded itself into the dungeon wall, with some concentration the spear looked like it was flashing with charges of electricity. She willed pull on the metal. Her spear quivered in the wall, and for a brief moment, she could feel the connection with it grow taught. Then, with a quick yank the power intensified and the spear sprang from the wall. It flew right on the path she pulled it on, and caught it with her outstretched hand. The spear head had been obliterated..
"That was... different," she muttered, her voice laced with both awe and excitement. "I can feel it. It’s like I’ve got more depth to it, the battlefield has opened up to me."
“That's because it has," Aeryn said, a small, approving smile tugging at her lips. “The fight didn’t just get you more power, Lorelai. It seems like you’ve got a whole new arsenal now. You have been here a week and have already discovered two new branches of magic...maybe you can get into the Athenaeum again..."
Before she could say more, something caught her eye, a shimmering chest that had appeared where the Goblin Champion had fallen.
Aeryn bent down and flicked the lock open with a delicate touch. Inside, a pulse of magical energy flared, and Lorelai felt her stomach tighten as she looked inside.
“It’s the boss' chest,” Aeryn said, her voice a little more reverent now. “That means we're getting rewarded, there should be something inside for each of us.”
Lorelai took a look inside the chest in Aeryn’s hands, there were two spell tomes inside. One looked as if someone had been dripping blood all over it; Lorelai didn't need to read the title of it to know it was a blood magic tome. The other was a deep purple in color. She picked it up feeling the cool surface of the weightless book. She flipped it open, and the magic flared, embedding itself into her mind. The spell etched itself into her consciousness with a sudden, almost painful clarity. Lorelai gasped as she absorbed the new knowledge.
Gravity Magic: Oppression - Greatly increase the gravitational pressure in designated aoe. Strength and AoE increases according to WIS.
Her vision swirled again as the gravity spell settled into her system. Lorelai could feel it in the very air around her—the pull of the dungeon’s stone walls seemed to grow heavier, the weight pressing down on her from all sides. This spell wasn’t just about manipulating weight, it was about forcing opponents into the dirt by increasing the gravitational force in a specific area.
Her desire to test the spell snuffed out any logical thought that came after, she focused on the dead champion, the area around it seemed to warp, the stone groaning as the gravity increased sharply.
She felt a thrill as the stone floor creaked and began to crack, the pressure becoming almost unbearable. The pressure abruptly stopped as she grew dizzy and retched, apparently she still hasn't recovered enough mana to test her spells out, either that or gravity magic uses lots of mana. She was under the impression it was a combination of the two. The power of it was immense, a weight she could definitely use to her advantage.
“This is...” Lorelai’s voice trailed off as she stared at the pillar, her mind racing with possibilities. “This is amazing. I can’t believe I can control this now. Gravity itself.”
Aeryn’s lips curved into a smile, though it was tinged with a hint of caution. “It’s a powerful spell, but be careful. Gravity magic could be a double-edged sword. You don’t want to bring the dungeon down on top of your head.”
Lorelai nodded, though a part of her was already imagining the ways she could use the spell. Crushing her enemies with the weight of the world… Oppression could be a game-changer.
She thoughts flowed a different direction as she and Aeryn started navigating to the dungeon entrance. Demos, the Bone Devil. What would he ask of her? She knew this much: her favor would demand something more than just her silence.