“Come in and sit down, Theo,” Professor Petrov said. “I have booked a double session because there is a note you want more advice than just on what courses to take.”
“Yes, Ma’am. I am looking to understand what skill stones I should get.”
“Yes, and it is not often I get to give such advice, so I am looking forward to it. First, I need to know what skills you currently have.”
“Yes, Ma’am, I have written them out to save time.”
“That is thoughtful. I wish more people would do that. Let's have a look.”
Sharpen [Speed attribute]
* Razor Sharp. Level 4
* Iron rank: Sharpens any cutting or piercing object to a razor edge. Bonus penetration and cutting through material up to Iron Rank. Cost mana, Varies.
* Resistant Fur {Hair Stone} Level 3
* Iron Rank: Fur becomes resistant to cutting and piercing.
* Pierce {Hand stone} Special Attack Level 1
* Iron Rank: Use melee weapons in a piercing strike to penetrate, especially through armour.
Hunt [Spirit attribute]
* Senses of the Hunter [Perception]. Level 3
* Iron Rank: Improves Sight, sound and Smell.
* Hunter’s Step {Foot stone} Level 2
* Iron Rank: Move swiftly, lightly and quietly through the terrain. Muffles movement noise. Cost low mana/sec.
* Hunters Feast {Feast Stone} Level 2
* Iron Rank: Consume what you kill or harvest to replenish health, mana and Stamina.
Plant [Recovery]
* Blood Root Vine Summons - Ardisia Level 1
* Iron Rank: Summon a Blood Root vine. Resides in the skin may produce thorns from the skin. When it manifests, it entraps with piercing and bleeding effects. Feeds on blood to heal. Can move through the ground as roots emerge and entrap. Can’t move through non-earth or non-plant material.
* Tranquil Garden {Stone of Peace} Level 3
* Iron Rank: A small garden in a dimensional pocket. Increased growth rate. Summons can enter and heal.
* Shield {wood stone} Level 2
* Iron Rank: Create solid wooden shields of various sizes at the current Rank.
Reaper [Power]
* Reapers Aura Level 3
* Iron Rank: Increases allies' Spirit attribute in aura range, Increasing perception and judgment. Helps keep a calm mind.
* Devourer Rat Summons (Kai) {feast stone} Level 2
* Iron Rank: Summon four devourer rats. Chew and claw through any material of the same rank or less given time. Absorbed in summoners' claws and teeth, strengthening them. And enabling them to boost them up a level. Can breed to replenish numbers over a week.
* Rend {Claw Stone} Special Attack Level 1
* Iron Rank: Use claws to rip open things. Claws reach beyond the physical to rend the incorporeal.
“I also reviewed the recording of your combat assessment. While I look through this, I want to hear your assessment of that fight.”
“I learned a lot, Ma’am. I started to understand others' skills and how to use my own in combat.”
She looked up from the paper. “Yes, you are woefully inexperienced in combat. However, you did improve from being killed straight away to lasting just over a minute. You changed out your equipment, which shows adaptability and helped in your survival time. I have one major question. You have two summons. Why did you not use them in the assessment?”
“I, ah, I am not sure how, as I have never used them in combat. Also, um, I would probably be devastated if they died.”
“It is a mirage chamber. It is a place where you can try things without the consequences,” the professor replied.
“Yes, Ma’am, but I had never been in a mirage chamber before and the two bonds… Ma’am, without the support of the bonds over the last months, I …” I paused, then I steeled myself, “Ma’am, without my bonds, I would have given up on life.”
The professor looked at me a minute and then said, “I will make an appointment for you to see Healer Arabelle Remore, you need to talk through these things.”
“Yes, Ma’am, I am seeing her in two days.”
“Very good. I am also enrolling you in the course “Understanding Familiars” this semester and “Summon Management” next semester. In the meantime, I want you to think about this. The relationship between a long-term Familiar, whether it is a summons or a bond, is not one way. How do you think they would feel if you died and they didn’t do everything they could to help keep you alive or didn’t know how to fight to keep you alive? This academy is not just here to train you, but also your familiars.”
I hadn’t thought about that. I felt for my familars and I could feel their support. I could feel their support. They cared for me like I cared for them.
“Yes, Ma’am, I will think about that.”
“Let's return to your skills, as we need to discuss them first. They will affect what courses you take here. You seemed to be heading to an effective Hunter build, but I don’t understand the Plant Essence, and I have never heard of the Reaper Essence.”
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“Yes, Ma’am. I had a disaster and wanted to go down a more support line, so I chose the Plant Essence, and the Reaper confluence was a surprise to everyone.”
“Where did you get the Stone of Peace from?”
I had removed the Divine part from what I wrote. “It was a gift, ma’am.”
Her eyes narrowed, “There is more to that, but I won’t pry as it is just curiosity. The Claw stone was an unusual choice, and I am surprised the skill it produced, Rend, is under the Reaper Essence. I would have expected it under the Sharpen Essence.”
“Yes, Ma’am, I just assumed it was related to the incorporeal aspect.”
“That shouldn’t have mattered. It is curious it is limited to claws. Rend can usually be used with melee weapons. Some skills, though, don’t really shine until they get to bronze or even silver. I suspect this is one. Why did you choose the Claw Stone?”
“It was cheap, ma’am.”
“I see. I have spent too much time among the rich. That is partly a consequence of rank, though.” She looked down at the skill list again for a bit, then looked up at me, “Let me tell you what I see here in your skills, and we can then discuss where to go from here.”
I nodded.
“The main thing I see here is that you could be a devastating melee fighter, with the exception of this Garden, which I don’t understand. Think about the assessment fight you just had. If Astrid had to worry about avoiding vine tentacles as well as rats nipping at her heels and you using your Pierce and Rend effectively, you could have at least fought her to a standstill. She is well-trained but you could have had a chance.
“That is option one. Double down on the melee combat.
“Option two. Your Hunter senses are fantastic. Together with your Hunter's Step and the Devouring Rats, they form a foundation for a hunter-tracker-scout build.
“For both these options, you need more movement skills, and I am not just saying that because it is my speciality. Hunters Step is fantastic, and at Silver, it should add a short-range teleport.” She saw my surprise and smiled, “You didn’t know that? I know a lot about movement skills. But you need at least one more.”
“If you want to go the hunter-tracker route, get the Harvest Awakening Stone. It often allows for the harvesting of monsters in conjunction with the Hunter essence. It can give a full looting ability. If the Reaper Essence is related to harvesting, the chances of a looting ability are good. I recommend getting it regardless. It is uncommon and generally available. A looting ability is a good form of income. Even just harvesting monsters will give valuable resources and will give food for your Hunters Feast.”
That just went to the top of my list. “Yes, Ma’am, I will check it out.”
“If you want to go the hunter-scout route, then you will need a ranged skill. You should probably also learn the Bow for that.
“As for the support role, The only thing you have there is your Garden. Your Hunters Feast will probably widen to be able to feed others at silver, but that is all I see here.”
“You think I should go with the melee option,” I said.
“Yes, definitely. However, I think you should refine that even further. The real world is not a duelling arena. The duelling arena favours only certain types of fighters. I think that, especially with your Blood Root Vine, your senses, and your stealth movement, you should follow the line of the ambush predator. You track your prey, lay traps with your vine and other traps and then take it down in devastating melee.”
Now, that raised my interest. I felt a connection to that type of fighting. “That is fantastic advice. That is where I want to go. How do I get there?”
The professor beamed at my reaction. “Ok, first up, Awakening stones. Here’s what I think you should get.”
“For an ambush predator, you need a stealth or camouflage skill. The typical awakening stones for that are the stealth, shadow, mask and camouflage stones. They are in demand by the rogue builds, which bumps the price. What you will find here is that people use the tried and tested stones for abilities. Lesser-known stones are cheaper, and a lot of animals have good camouflage abilities. There is no guarantee, of course, but it is worth looking at. Lesser-known stones also give lesser-known abilities that can be unexpected in fighting others.
“Now to my area of expertise. Movement skills. Your Hunters Step will become cheaper as it levels and will be good for moving quietly into position. What you need is a sprint or charge skill to get from your ambush position to your prey suddenly and unexpectedly. You can use your shield with it to make an impact and keep your opponent off balance. Heavy defenders favour stones like Momentum as the skills add momentum to their existing weight. You want more of a sprint. Dash, bolt, and charge are common stones and are in demand. For less common stones, try animals like the cheetahs or smaller animals like your rats that can dart quickly between spots. A lot of people avoid stones that indicate fleeing and hiding, but they can be some of the fastest, and you can easily use them in the opposite direction. It comes from having a brain and will over instinct.”
Her tone implied a lot of people did not have that.
“A sprint-type skill is, of course, also useful to get you out of trouble, and I think it is essential to everyone. Not that I am consulted much.
“Elemental stones can also give you movement skills, air stones particularly, but also fire and lightning. Light-based stones also give movement skills, sun, moon etc. There are a lot around. It is probably less likey to get movement from these types of stones with your essence combination, though.
“Except this Reaper Essence puzzles me. Spirit aura, devouring rats and Rend with claws. There does not seem to be any clue as to its purpose, which you would normally get.
“The next thing you need to look for are traps. Your Blood Root Vine is key with tentacles, roots, and thorns, but you should have a more versatile set than that. You don’t have the Trap Essence, but traps can come from a variety of Awakening Stones. A number of plants have traps, including the Sickly Sap Tree, but you should look for the Giant Venus Trap plant. It is not native to this area, but stone can be imported easily. Either of those will match your plant essence well.
“Think about animals that trap as well. I am thinking of the spider in particular. You don’t have the Spider Essence, but the Web Awakening Stone is not popular. It often allows the production of a sticky web, which is hard to use and clean up, but an intelligent person could think of many traps to create with something like that. It sometimes gives set web designs and other types of web, so there is no guarantee.
“Is that enough to go on with for now?”
I nodded eagerly.
“Good. Don’t forget to stop by reception and pick up the list of merchants that will provide you with a student discount. The academy went to a lot of trouble negotiating those and we want to support those merchants.” She smiled at me.
“Come back to me if you get stuck on what to do or if there is a stone you are not sure about. I am happy to help. The academy also has a magic department, and the third-year ritualists need the practice and will perform the awakening rituals for free. Any questions?”
My mind was whirling, “No, Ma’am.”
“Good. Now, bearing that direction in mind, we will move on to the course selection.”