1 Soul Bound
1.1 Finding her Feet
1.1.6 An Innocent Profaned
1.1.6.6 Too much of a good thing
They came back to being their individual selves gently, sitting around a pile of pink heart-shaped rose quartzes. Cov is just and takes good care of his tools.
Alderney stretched like a cat after a good sleep. Tomsk, who was lying on his back, raised his legs to his chest then swung them forward and landed on his feet disdaining to use hands. Bulgaria sat crossed legged, and looked like he was meditating or deep in thought. Which left it to Bungo to break the moment.
{Wow man, what a trip. Forget this being a game. XperiSense could make a fortune just by offering people a chance to experience that.}
Rudolfo: “We have forged mightily! But what have we forged?”
They each picked up a rose heart and looked at the properties:
Heart of Light (HOLY ARTIFACT)
To activate, bury under the cornerstone of a residential dwelling in Basso.
Once activated, removing it will destroy this artifact.
If active, magical diseases act as though they were non-magical, while the patient is within 400 meters of this artifact.
Two were different, however. One looked like it was made of pure gold:
Sanctum’s Heart of Light (HOLY ARTIFACT)(UNIQUE)
To activate, bury under the Infirmary of Torello’s Sanctum.
Once activated, removing it or changing Guardian will destroy this artifact.
If active, magical diseases act as though they were non-magical, while the patient is within 400 meters of this artifact.
+10 to healing skill levels during attempts to heal patients in the Sanctum’s Infirmary.
The other was made of pink sapphire, and was filled with the glow of Zer’s pink light.
Zer’s Heart of Light (HOLY ARTIFACT)(UNIQUE)
+30% light attunement.
Immunity to poison and disease.
Regeneration (+500% to HP regen rate. Even severed limbs will grow back in time. Immune to maiming or disfiguration.)
This pink sapphire was gifted to Kafana directly by the deity Zer
Durability: 100000/100000
Bulgaria: “Well, well. Now that is interesting.”
Alderney: “You do keep being given gems. It can’t be coincidence. Do you think the algorithm crafting the game’s plots has something in mind? Or has it just picked up the pattern and decided that’s now the thematically appropriate reward for any quest you do?”
Tomsk: “That’s pretty overpowered for a crafting result. It must be a quest reward of some sort. What do we need to do to complete it and get the experience?”
Wellington: “Bury them under the houses in Basso and defeat the disease, I predict.”
[Quest: “Defeat the Red Death” - save Basso from the plague. Difficulty level: C]
Isabella: “I would not have thought to have called upon Zer as well as Cov. It looked like he really appreciated you thinking of him. I suspect he’s been just as annoyed at Bel as Cov has been. It seems you now have the direct personal attention of several deities. I warn you: avoid getting the personal attention of Bel. It will not go well for you.”
Bungo: “Yeah. You might find she has crafted a roaming world boss specifically to be your nemesis, with skills designed to counter yours, like ‘mute all music’.”
Bulgaria: {Are you deliberately trying to give Bel ideas?}
Bungo: {You said there were no such things as death flags in this game.}
Bulgaria: {There’s a magic tradition whereby if you say a powerful being’s name aloud three times, you’ll attract their attention. Let’s not push it, hey?}
Bulgaria: “I notice that Kafana’s artifact doesn’t boost her healing ability.”
Wellington: “Yes it does. By 30%. Healing comes under the attunements of light and water.”
Kafana: “Isabella, can you have the Sanctum’s priests take charge of presenting the hearts to the people of Basso and burying them with appropriate pomp and ritual? I’d like to see the church get the credit for this, not just some band of adventurers. It should also help your status as Guardian, to be seen to be visibly tied to coming up with the solution, and I think we’d all like to see Fra Nerone have to eat crow over this.”
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Isabella accepted formally: “My journeyman, speaking on behalf of the Sanctum, you have Our Thanks. We gratefully accept, and will rouse all our resources to make sure this is done properly and the people of Basso are saved.”
[Quest completed “Defeat the Red Death”]
[You have gained a level. You are now level 26.]
[You have gained a level. You are now level 27.]
*ding* [Your party’s reputation with the people of Basso has increased by 150.]
[Title gained “Saviour”]
[Skill gained “Cure Disease” level 15.]
[Skill gained “Cure Poison” level 10.]
[Skill gained “Restoration” level 5. UNIQUE]
[Skill advanced “Cure Light Wounds” to level 10.]
[Skill upgraded “Cure Light Wounds” now “Cure Wounds” level 10]
[Skill advanced “Holy Inscription” to level 5]
[Skill advanced “Prayer” to level 4]
[Skill advanced “Mana Regeneration” to level 7]
[Skill upgraded all buff skills now merged into a single skill “Buff” level 15]
[Skill advanced “Calm” to level 2]
[Skill advanced “Group Performance” to level 10]
[Skill upgraded “Group Performance” - you may add people to an ongoing performance and they gain the benefit of any buffs already affecting the group at no additional mana cost.]
[Skill advanced “Aura Of Authority” to level 5]
[Skill advanced “Priestess” to level 12]
[Group skill advanced “Combine Senses” - activate 2 times a day. You can combine more than just your senses.]
The feeling from that many simultaneous advances was indescribable.
Alderney: {Flipping out for 5 mins.}
Bungo: {Uh, me too.}
Tomsk: {I take it that I’m not the only one who gained levels in anything even remotely connected to what we just did?}
Bulgaria, softly: {No, you’re not. This is dangerous, very dangerous. I’m going to set some limiters on my tiara. There’s a real danger that, if XperiSense offered me that feeling again, I’d do anything, even betray people, to get it. Flipping out.}
Wellington: {Bulgaria is right. I am stupid. Like Kafana, I guarded against my brain being exposed to sensations that were too negative. I didn’t think to guard against sensations that are too positive. If their disclaimer was not so air-tight and in China’s legal jurisdiction, they could be sued for this, like injecting someone with crack cocaine without their consent. Flipping out.}
Tomsk: {Kafana, you’ve not said anything. Kafana? Kafana!!}
Someone was shaking her. That was fine.
Alderney: {Back. I just had to post that whole ‘Defeat the Red Death’ sequence. Too good not to.}
Tomsk: {Alderney, Kafana’s not responding. We just got the side effect. Kafana must have used practically every skill she had in that. I think the quest reward of ‘put up all relevant skills’ has fried her brain.}
What was Tomsk worrying about? She was fine. She was still in here. He’d be fine. She didn’t need to do anything yet, just experience life. Everything was fine.
Alderney: {Fuck. I’ll go help her in arlife. Out.}
[Nadine, Monitor here. Heather has entered your room. Emergency disconnect activated.]
Something wasn’t fine. She felt cold, why was her body cold? Heather was looking into her eyes, with a very worried expression shining a bright light at her and moving it from side to side. Sound came back.
“Nadine. Nadine please wake up. Talk. Blink. Move your eyes left right left. Something, anything.”
She could do that. She looked left, then looked right, then looked left again. Easy peasy. She waited to see what Heather wanted next.
Heather choked a sob back and made her voice encouraging. “Good. Good Nadine! If you can hear me, blink twice.”
Blink. Blink. That wasn’t too bad. It didn’t require her to move anything that would require her to leave her nice womb-like perfect state.
Heather: “Oh good girl, good girl. Right keep listening to my voice, don’t drift away, you can do this. I’m going to count down from 10. And with each number you’re going to become more and more awake.”
“10, you are relaxed and listening to me, awake on the inside.”
Yes, that was true.
“9, you realise you’ll have to move eventually, because you don’t want to starve to death, which would hurt and yank you out nastily rather than peacefully.”
Logical.
“8, you feel energy flowing into you, warming your muscles, helping your body prepare to move.”
“7, you feel less lethargic now, lighter, like moving once you choose to move will be effortless.”
“6, you choose that on 5 you will say ‘Hello Heather’ to me.”
She could do that. She would do that.
“5, say hello now, please.”
Nadine: “Hello Heather”.
Heather: “Hello Kafana, welcome back. 4, please tell me your current state.”
Nadine: “I appear to be very passive and relaxed. Overly so. I ought to be worried about what happened and my body being in shock, shouldn’t I?”
Heather: “That will come naturally in a little while. For now, let’s get you back in control of yourself. 3, when I say ‘2, I will be in control of myself at 1’ you’ll say the line along with me, and then do 1 by yourself.”
Heather: “2, I will be in control of myself at 1.”
Nadine: “2, I will be in control of myself at 1.”
Nadine: “1, I am now back in control. Thank you, Heather.”
She slowly sat up and examined herself, missing the enhanced senses she had in-game.
Nadine: “I think what I need is a nice hot sweet cup of coffee.”
Heather: “Let’s go get you one. I’m going to support you down the stairs.”