Changes that will affect the story going forward:
* Swift skill change (rank 1). Instead of the first qi point invested giving +2 to Agility, it gives +1
* Swift skill change (rank 2). Description of lingering effects made more generic, vs hard numbers
* Vortex Mark upgrade altered. Instead of doubling when reaching floor 2 it has been upgraded from Static -> Adaptive. Qi regeneration from the mark is now related to the density of ambient qi
* No more impurities expelled when ranking up or clearing meridians (i didn’t want to keep writing scenes talking about how much she needed a bath every time, haha). Impurities are now cleanly 'burnt away' by qi
* The stat page view has changed (yay, tables and blue boxes abound!)
* In new stat sheet, there is now a max approximate attribute value listed that goes up when ranking up or opening meridians. This is based on aptitudes, which is also listed in the new stat sheet
* Silas now has a viewable stat sheet, which contains a skill list
* Skills are now ranked on rarity
* New lore about cultivation and cultivation patterns
* Patterns now have a distinct shape, which is formed in the dantian and is self sustaining. This shape lets cultivators store and use qi more efficiently than natural, hence the differing pool and regen sizes across patterns
* Some quests now have timers in the notification that Sam can pull up and review
* Introduction of a new 'mark' called Oathbreaker marks. A cultivator can swear an oath and a notification will appear with how many Oathbreaker marks they currently possess, and inform that breaking the given oath will give the promiser an Oathbreaker mark
* Blood Toxicity renamed to Draff Toxicity
* Excerpt from ch 23: "When herbs were processed into medicines by alchemists there were usually still some impurities left behind. The better the refinement process was, the less impurities would remain. While safe to consume in moderation, these toxins–commonly referred to as ‘draff’--would build up in the body if medicinals are taken in too-quick succession. Once there was enough draff built up in the body, the consumer would suffer from draff poisoning and become ill or possibly even die depending on the severity. This is why fighters couldn’t just eat handfuls of healing pills to keep themselves going in a fight."
Changes that will stick to volume 1:
* Ch 1-13 almost entirely revamped/rewritten. This took the most time of all the edits I made.
* In addition to smoothing things out, the fight scenes with the spitting viper, iron boar, and Braxand brothers have had significant changes
* Moved some lore introductions around about aptitudes and multi use tomes to the front of the book
* 10,000+ words of ‘fluff’ removed from some sections–esp in the gutter arc.
* General tightening of the story, smoothing out prose, tying up some unaddressed loose threads
* Samantha mentions concern about spirit beast sapience, then never brings it up again. Now there's a new convo with Silas that addresses it.
* She sends a final message to Jacob about justice for Aiden
* She actually gives her parents the gifts she bought for them
* Silas’s conversational ability made more consistent in dialogues
* Samantha’s motivations are refined
* Mega-chapters have been split up to be less daunting to read
If there’s anything else major I’ve forgotten, I’ll come back and edit this ‘chapter’ later :)
Stat sheet at end of Volume 1:
Name: Samantha Cray
Age: 17
Attributes:
Aptitude (Approximate Max Value):
Strength: 13
Average (23)
Agility: 22
Extraordinary (41)
Endurance: 17
High (32)
Resilience: 15
Average (24)
Tenets: Ambition
Cultivation Rank: Low Bronze
Pattern: Peerless Tempest (Low Bronze - Rare)
Core: Rebirth (Contains Vortex Mark)
Qi Pool: 177.6/177.6
Base: 50, Meridian(s): +24, Qi Saturation (x2), Jackalope of All Trades (x1.2)
Qi Regeneration: +48 / hour
Base: +10, Sage’s Rumination: (x2), Qi Saturation (x2), Jackalope of All Trades (x1.2)
Cleared Meridians:
Heart: +1 Endurance, +3 Qi pool
Mind: +Mental Processing Speed, +6 Qi pool
Skin: +2 Resilience, +3 Qi Pool
Left Foot: +1 Agility, +2 Qi pool
Left Leg: +1 Strength, +3 Qi Pool
Synergy: +0.5 Agility, +0.5 Strength, +1 Qi pool
Right Foot: +1 Agility, +2 Qi pool
Right Leg: +1 Strength, +3 Qi Pool
Synergy: +0.5 Agility, +0.5 Strength, +1 Qi Pool
Passive Arts:
Prey’s Awareness (Bond Ability)
Qi Cost: N/A
Standard Effect: Gain increased awareness of your surroundings. Affects all senses.
Alternate Effect (Rank 1: 15 foot sphere): Can enter a hyper-focused state that greatly enhances spatial awareness of immediate vicinity.
Poison Connoisseur (Bond Ability)
Qi Cost: N/A
Inherit the toxin processing abilities of your bond. You will more easily gain resistances to any poisons you encounter.
Current Resistances:
Draff Toxicity: Rank 3 - 22% (-¾ effectiveness and duration)
Corrosive Poison: Rank 2 - 59% (-⅔ effectiveness and duration)
Sleep Poison: Rank 2 - 9% (-⅔ effectiveness and duration)
Paralyzation Poison: Rank 1 - 71% (-½ effectiveness and duration)
Hemotoxin: Rank 1 - 35% (-½ effectiveness and duration)
Jackalope of All Trades - Rank 2 (Bond Ability)
Qi Cost: Variable
Effect 1: You and your bond will gain the ability to instantly swap places or transport to the other’s location while within 500 feet of each other so long as movement to the other party is not impeded (qi cost increases with distance).
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Effect 2: If your bond suffers a killing blow and their body isn’t completely destroyed, their spirit will reside in your dantian for up to a month and their physical form will be put in stasis. If their body is not restored to a survivable condition within that time, your binding thread will be dissolved and your bond will truly die.
Effect 3: You will gain a 20% overall increase to qi pool and regeneration and your bond will have 20% faster cooldowns
Transfer Vitality (Bond Ability)
Qi Cost: N/A
You and your bond can share healing or regenerative energies through your binding thread. If shared, the healing effects can be split equally between the two parties (effects for each party will be halved) or full effects of the healing can be passed through the bond (the other party receives full effects of the healing).
Combat Arts:
Inspect (Common)
Qi Cost: Variable [+50% Efficiency]
By focusing your spiritual senses on a target and expending qi, you can either retrieve basic information or gain useful insights that can be used in combat.
Swift - Rank 1 (Bond Ability)
Qi Cost: 0.5 qi/second [100% Efficiency]
For every 0.5 qi points spent per second, gain +1 Agility. While active, your steps gain perfect traction.
Flurry (Bond Ability)
Qi Cost: 1 qi/second [100% Efficiency]
By spending 1 qi point per second, your kick speed will be doubled and kick damage will be increased by half.
Translucence - Rank 1 (Bond Ability)
Qi Cost: 1 qi/30 seconds
For every 1 qi point spent, you will become partially transparent for 30 seconds. Remaining motionless while translucent will make you exceedingly difficult to spot.
Indomitable Body (Rare)
Qi Cost: 1 qi/6 seconds
Expend 1 qi point to saturate a chosen body part with fortifying energy, temporarily increasing the Resilience of that part by 10 points for 6 seconds or until the energy is spent absorbing damage.
Cloud Step (Rare)
Qi Cost: 1 qi/ platform
Meridian Requirements: Left Foot, Right Foot
Spend 1 qi point to create a solid surface of condensed qi directly beneath a chosen foot. This platform will remain a steady and usable platform until one second has passed or the user chooses to move their foot to another place.
Flawless Healing Touch (Rare)
Qi Cost: 10 qi
Meridian Requirements: External reaching meridian
When touching near an injury on yourself or others, you can near instantaneously heal the wound to perfect condition.
Utility Arts:
Geas (Common)
Qi Cost: Minimum 5 qi/geas
By reserving 5-20 qi of your overall pool, you can form a contractual thread between you and your target. Each contractual thread can be assigned a single, well-defined task which the target must be able to reasonably complete. If the target knowingly refuses to complete the task, they will receive damage to their cultivation base proportional to the amount of qi reserved. When the task is completed, the contractual thread will be harmlessly dissolved and the invested qi will no longer be reserved.
Mindsets:
Sage’s Rumination (Rare)
Qi Cost: N/A
Embodies unshakable tranquility and allows one to maintain a meditative state without entering a trance.
Hyperfocus (Uncommon)
Qi Cost: N/A
Meridian Requirements: Mind
While this passive mental technique is practiced, reaction and mental processing speeds will be doubled.
Spirit Bonds:
Lunar Wolpertinger (Rank 5 - Low) [ View More ]
Silas - Lunar Wolpertinger
Rank 5 - Low
Attributes:
Aptitude (Approximate Max Value):
Strength: 8
Average (16)
Agility: 20
Exceptional (28)
Endurance: 12
Average (16)
Resilience: 10
Average (16)
Active Abilities:
Passive Abilities:
Thump
Cooldown: 24 Seconds
Herb Hunter
Leap
Cooldown: 8 Seconds
Poison Connoisseur
Swift
Cooldown: Variable
Prey’s Perception
Translucence
Cooldown: Variable
Iron Gut
Antler Genesis
Cooldown: Variable
Transfer Vitality
Antler Shot
Cooldown: Variable
Savage Bite
Cooldown: 48 Seconds
Offered Bond Abilities:
Bond Ability Points (BP) Remaining: 1
Swift (Rank 2)
[2 BP]
For every 0.5 qi points spent per second, gain +2 Agility. After ability ends, effects will linger for a short time before returning to original levels. While active, your steps gain perfect traction.
Herb Hunter
[1 BP]
Like the Lunar Hare, you have the uncanny ability for finding the best quality herbs around.
Translucence (Rank 2)
[2 BP]
For every 1 qi point spent, you will become mostly transparent for 60 seconds. All other signs of your presence will be partially muted (sound, smell, aura, etc). Remaining motionless while translucent will make you exceedingly difficult to spot.
Antler Genesis
[1 BP]
You can spend at least 1 qi point to grow an antler from any bone. Size and shape of the antler can be affected by increasing qi investment during creation. Once disconnected from the body, the antler will continue to exist for 1 minute or until consciously dismissed.
Jackalope of all Trades (Rank 3)
*Mongrel Bloodline
(0/3 Bond Ability Points Invested):
Always Close [1 BP] - You and your bond will gain the ability to instantly swap places or transport to the other’s location so long as movement to the other party is not impeded (qi cost increases with distance).
Moonlight Step [2 BP] - You gain the ability to set two waypoints (5 qi reserved per waypoint). So long as you stand under the light of a true or artificial celestial body, you can spend half of your overall qi pool to instantly transport yourself and your bond (as long as you are within 5 feet of each other) to a waypoint.
Spectral Projection [1 BP] - You gain the ability to temporarily project your consciousness outside of your body. You can maintain the projection for the cost of 1 qi per minute, and upon canceling the ability or running out of qi your consciousness will be returned to your body.
Duplicate [1 BP] - Your bond gains the ability to manifest and control a second body formed from qi, which can be dispersed at will. Each body can use their abilities independently, but cooldowns take twice as long.
Abundant Spring [2 BP] - You and your bond’s qi pool and regeneration combine into one (40 + 50 = 90 base + 24 from meridians = 114 * 2 * 1.2 = 273.6 qi pool, 10 + 10 = 20 base * 2 * 1.2 = 48 qi regen/hour). Your bond’s cooldowns will be significantly reduced in exchange for a small consumption of qi per ability use.
Piercing Strike
[1 BP]
*Mongrel Bloodline
Spend 1 qi point to coat and reinforce a small area with piercing energy and increase the damage of the next attack by half. Qi coating will last for 5 seconds or until a target is struck.