Level Up!
+ 1 Dex
+ 1 End
+ 1 Ala
+ 1 Wll
+ 4 Free Points
Dodge had increased to level 5.
Soul Guard has increased to level 7.
Wind Blade has increased to level 5.
Mana Blade has increased to level 2.
Mana Blade has increased to level 3.
Cass’s knees gave out as the last shadow melted before her Mana Blade and she collapsed to the floor. The gloom of the room hung heavy over her, pulling her toward the promised peace of unconsciousness.
The rush of the level-up was all that kept her conscious. She was ragged in a way unrelated to her Health, Stamina, or Focus.
Everything was raw, like someone had taken a tenderizer to her body and shaved off her skin. Like someone had dropped ice in her stomach and her brain and then shaken her. Like someone had taken her insides through a sieve and only put back the fine particles that had made it through to the other side.
The unguarded touch of the shadows had cut away at her desire to live and only Soul Guard had kept her functional through it all. Now, that sinking apathy had been replaced with an overwhelming need to curl up and cry.
But her eyes were dry and her body too tired for that kind of emotional release.
Every nerve was torn. The slightest setback would leave her a trembling, melting mess.
She took a deep breath. And then another. She clenched her staff. Its weight was comforting in her lap. She had survived. That was all that mattered.
She had survived and was stronger for it.
—but you should try channeling—she could hear Salos’s voice. His cadence suggested he was in the middle of a thought, rather than the beginning. He paused suddenly. What happened?
Was he serious? She wasn’t sure whether she was concerned he’d cut off in pain, mad he hadn’t warned her about the danger here, or just too tired to care.
“That’s what I wanted to ask you.”
Where did the living shadows go? He asked slowly.
“Dead. Or banished. Or something.” Can you kill something that wasn’t really alive? Maybe that was why the System used the terminology ‘Slay’. Or maybe it just thought it sounded cooler.
How?
Cass explained what he’d missed.
“You want to tell me what happened to you now?”
I think, he spoke slowly, testing each word as if he expected to fall through the ice, I tried to access information that I do not have anymore.
“You’re going to need to explain that in more detail.”
I mentioned that demons are a collection of broken pieces of a soul or souls.
Cass nodded.
Well, the pieces I have don’t contain all of my memories. Apparently. My mind did not realize that there was a gap in my memories and plunged off into the void trying to find whatever that information was.
“Is that going to happen every time you try to remember something you used to know?” Cass asked.
No. It was enough of a shock, my subconscious should prevent that from happening again.
Probably.
Definitely for that particular approach to that particular memory.
“You don’t sound overly confident.”
Well, I’m not. His frustration overflowed into her, scalding against her own injured soul.
Cass winced, her entire body flinching.
Are you okay? His tone softened. She could feel him pulling back, the edges of his consciousness against hers never so clear as right now.
Cass grunted. “Probably?”
Stamina: 13/48
Focus: 32/216
Health: 36/39
“Stamina and Focus are low but manageable. Health is untouched since the last fight, somehow. But I feel like I’ve been through a blender.”
Well, given soul damage doesn’t touch Health, that is hardly surprising. It eats through Focus and cuts into effective Vitality pretty badly though.
“What does that mean for me?” Cass asked.
It will heal in due time. Lower Vitality means regeneration will be slower for a while, but we have time.
Try not to take any more damage if you can avoid it. Soul damage is the first step in creating demons. An unsettled quiet descended between the two of them.
Someone had done this to Salos? Someone had torn him to pieces and left him raw and broken. For what? Why?
She ached. Ached in a way she didn’t know a person could ache. Was this just his existence? Was this how he felt all the time?
“Are you going to be okay?”
He hesitated.
Yes. The single word wavered between them. He did not elaborate. Instead, he said, Did you get a level for all that at least?
Cass nodded.
Good, then let’s talk about that. There was a pep in his voice that didn’t quite feel genuine. You have Free Points to spend, yes? Where were you going to put them?
“Are you sure you want to talk about this now?” Cass asked. She wasn’t sure she did. The Focus depletion headache was storming her head full force already.
If not now, then when? Salos asked.
Cass shrugged. “Later?”
No time like the present, Salos said.
“Sure, alright, what do you suggest?” Cass asked. Did he just want a distraction? She could use one just as much, she supposed.
To confirm, you intend to become a Mage, correct?
“Somebody who throws magic at the problem from a distance,” Cass confirmed with a nod.
Difficult to do without a team around you, but doable, especially with the amount of Focus you seem to possess. He paused. How much do you have?
“216,” Cass said after checking her stats.
Salos was silent for a long minute.
Maybe he wanted her current Focus? “But only 34 right now.”
He still didn’t say anything.
“Are you still there?” Worry wormed its way back into her voice. She could still feel him there with her though. There was no pain. Just, a numb shock?
216! he screamed. You have 72 Resolve?
Cass flinched back. “No? Only 24.”
Only 24? His words were drenched in disbelief. You’re only level 10, aren’t you?
Cass nodded.
I should hardly be surprised it's high for her level, yet it still is not high enough to make sense. But those numbers do not compute. How… Salos was muttering to himself.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“Is something wrong?” Cass asked. “Is 24 too low? Or too high?”
Yes, Salos said, frustration hanging heavy on the single word. It is too high for someone at level 10. The average value at level 1 for a given stat is about 5. Most races get between 1 and 3 Free Points per level. For simplicity, let's call that 2 per level. Plus another 9 points for reaching the First Step. That’s a total of 29 Free Points.
You would have needed to put almost every Free Point into it to reach 24. And, I won’t say there are no mages who do this, Gods beyond, there is a mage who has gone all in on each stat somewhere, but—
“Um,” Cass interrupted him softly. “I actually get 4 Free Points per level.”
Of course, slyphids do, he said with an exasperated sigh. Alright. Well, too high for most races unless they made a concerted effort to reach where you are.
As for why it's too low, for all that I just said, simply, you defeated me. I still had access to all of my pre-demonic growth. I was level 74. Do you have any idea what the Will of a level 74 assassin looks like? It was about 200, Cass. An entire order of magnitude higher than 24. I should have crushed you.
This isn’t me bragging. 200 Will at level 74 is hardly impressive, honestly. This is just how it is.
Additionally, with 24 Resolve you should only have 72 Focus. The conversion is 3 Focus per Resolve, just like it is 3 Stamina per Endurance and 3 Health per Vitality. For you to have 9 times your Resolve instead… I do not understand how that is possible.
Cass pursed her lips. “Could it be a trait?”
He sighed. Probably. I cannot think of anything else that might do this. Would you mind sharing your traits?
“Sure,” Cass said and opened the Trait menu. “I don’t know if you can see this.”
I can if you want me to, he assured her.
Contrary Will (Inborn)
[You have a contrary nature. It's fine, we won’t hold it against you. But may the gods help any who try to make you do something you do not want to do.
Your Will counts for 10 times its listed value when resisting any Social, Coercive, or Manipulation related actions.
Your Will is highly resistant to Hierarchical Debuffs]
Bloated Soul
[You managed to hold onto all the Mana making up your original body and incorporated it into your Slyphid core.
Triple mana core storage and growth. ]
Extradimensional Damage
[You don’t want to be here and, now, neither do they.
Bonus damage to all entities not from your home realm.
Bonus damage to all entities not from your current realm.]
The feeling that flowed over their bond wasn’t quite frustration, but closer to the feeling she got back home on game nights, gambling with her siblings, and Robin drew a Four of a Kind for the third time in a row.
Yeah, this would explain both. Bloated Soul there is increasing your total Focus by a factor of 3. Focus is not mana the same way that ice is not water. It is all a matter of context and application.
Contrary Will just about explains how you survived a demon possession. What’s your Will?
“23?”
Bringing your effective Resolve in cases of demon possession, among other things, to 254. Add home-field advantage and that Soul Guard skill and I hardly had a dream of a chance.
Anyway. This gives me a better idea of where you’re at. A slyphid’s level growth was what again?
“I get a point in Dexterity, Endurance, and Alacrity and four Free Points every level. Oh, and one more for the extension thing in Will.”
Those are good base growths. You could have been an excellent assassin-style fighter. But, I get the feeling your temperament isn’t right for it.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Cass asked.
You don’t seem the most patient of people. Or the most careful. And you are easily startled.
“Hey!” She considered her defense before settling on, “I’m careful!”
He snorted. Says the woman who went ahead and trusted the demon in her head.
“Am I wrong to do so?”
He shifted uncomfortably but didn’t address it.
In any case, solo mage is what we’re looking at. A mage has a couple priorities: fueling their spells, making those spells hurt, and avoiding enemy attacks.
Your Bloated Soul is already handling the first of these. Fueling spells is the biggest problem with young mages. Spells are expensive, I’m sure you don’t need me telling you that. Many would-be-mages pick Resolve as their Extension to try to compensate for it. This is more than covered between the already high Resolve and the multiplicative factor of your stupidly, unreasonable trait.
As for making your spells hurt, there are two general strategies: a few big attacks empowered by Will or a storm of small attacks guided by Alacrity. It's the Strength vs Dexterity question, but for mages. There is no right answer, but if there was it would be the latter.
Cass snorted. “Really?”
A smugness leaked into his voice as he said, I’ll have you know that as an accomplished assassin-style fighter my Control-based fighting style was never beaten by any Strength fighter. Dexterity is better than Strength.
“Uh-huh? So you definitely aren’t biased toward Dexterity and the Control column in general?”
Definitely not, he said. Realistically, you’ve already set your extension to Will. I would have recommended Resolve if you had intended to follow an Alacrity style, given you already had that as a natural growth. But either is still valid at this stage, even if control is always better than power.
“Alright, alright, I get it, you like Dexterity. What else do I need to keep in mind?”
Not getting hurt yourself. There are endless ways to accomplish this. The most common is simply that mages don’t go out to the front lines in combat. Whether that’s because they keep a powerful team of front liners they can trust or because they are the ace of an army, the best way to protect the mage is to make sure no one can threaten them in the first place.
“Seems like that doesn’t help me much,” Cass said.
Well, no. But, you need to understand you are never going to be the average here. Not by a long shot. Most mages have the bare minimum Fortitude and Dexterity and a small amount of Vitality to assist in Focus recovery.
I recommend you get comfortable Dodging if nothing else.
“Is that another biased recommendation for Dexterity?” Cass asked.
This is a serious recommendation, he said, neither confirming nor denying Cass’s accusation. You get Dexterity per level already. It's already high enough you could masquerade as a rogue student if you wanted. Avoiding attacks is going to be a better strategy for you than trying to tank them or heal them off later.
Cass thought about it. What he said made sense. She didn’t exactly have a large amount of Fortitude or Vitality, and she would rather not be hurt if she could avoid it.
Still, “Isn’t it too optimistic to just plan on not getting hit?”
Salos chuckled. Sure, but that is why you have some points in Fortitude and Vitality. I believe I mentioned that you cannot completely ignore any stat. Every stat has a use and a place in your overall strategy.
Most people try to get all their stats to 9 by their First Step and at least 18 by the time they pass the Gate at level 27. You have already hit that baseline and the next is so far out I would not worry about it now. Focus on your primary stats for now.
“So, in summary,” Cass clapped her hands together, “My focus should be on the Mental Row, followed by Dexterity? Do I have that right?”
You probably do not need to actually put any into Dexterity directly, just let your natural level-ups handle it, he grumbled. I would throw a little Perception on that, but yes.
That seemed a straightforward enough plan.
Wll 23 -> 25
Ala 18 -> 19
Res 24 -> 25
There was a rush as the points settled over her. She felt more in control. Less frayed. Like the world was a little clearer. A little simpler to grasp.
She breathed in, soaking in the feeling. Memorizing it. This would carry her home. She’d get stronger and survive.
It was a shallow shield against the constant near death, but she’d take what she could where she could.
She took another deep breath and forced herself to stand. She didn’t intend on moving on for a while, but she should figure out where they would go next sooner rather than later, just in case.
The room had seemed like a dead end while she had run from the Living Shadows, but with their demise, a pair of doors had revealed themselves.
“Any idea where we are now?” Cass asked. She looked back and forth between the two available doors. Atmospheric Sense found stale air in every direction. Mana Sense suggested the door behind the altar had a higher concentration than the one in the middle of the longest wall.
Yes, this is the Shadow Hall. It is not supposed to be this close to the entrance. In fact… he trailed off again, lost in a thought.
“You still there?”
Huh! Yes. Apologies. It's just, the point of the Shadow Hall was that it was behind the Lord’s chambers. You had to go deeper than necessary to find it. It should be an extra challenge, not the opening one.
The only time it should be mathematically possible to get a permutation of the Temple with the Shadow Hall at the front like this would be if it was during the Quiet because no one is insane enough to enter the Valley during the Quiet or the Storm. That is suicide.
Besides you said it was the beginning of the Wet Season, so—
“I don’t think I said it was the Wet Season.” A creeping worry slipped up her spine. “I think I said it had looked like it was about to rain since I got here. What is ‘the Quiet’ and ‘the Storm’?”
The Uvana Valley experiences consistent if unique, seasonal weather patterns. For most of the year, the weather is fairly normal. Mild, misty mornings, warm afternoons, and clear nights are standard. But ordinary rain isn’t uncommon. This is generally called the ‘Dry Season’ though, it isn’t all that dry.
This is followed by a couple months of near-continuous torrential rains. Most of the Deep floods, but it is still technically traversable, this is the ‘Wet Season’.
But then the Lightningwood wake up, for lack of a better word. The trees always absorb some amount of moisture in the air through their bark and needles. However, the more water in the air the more greedily they soak it up. At the heaviest downpour of the Wet Season, the trees are able to suck in enough water they start draining the clouds before they can rain. Once it is that strong, they can pull every cloud for miles into their sphere, increasing the density of the clouds, increasing the area they can pull, and so on.
This period, while the trees are draining the clouds and accumulating more, is called the Quiet, because for a moment everything seems calm. This usually lasts a month, maybe two if it was a drier year.
This all comes to a head when the trees are filled to capacity. As soon as they are unable to absorb any more water, the equilibrium breaks, and all the gathered clouds dump everything on the Valley all at once. This is the Storm. It doesn’t usually last very long, usually only a week or two. But the first couple of hours is the worst.
“That just sounds like a lot of rain.” She knew that ‘a lot of rain’ was nothing to sneeze at. Flooding meant drowning after all. But Cass was from California and as such had a poor grasp on what rain really was.
The rain is one thing. But they drop everything. The wind explodes from the pressure abruptly changing with nothing pulling everything to the center. Rain turns to hail.
And the lightning. All the lightning those clouds might have ever generated, and more, get dropped on the Valley in the first couple hours.
Anyone unfortunate to be caught in it will be struck. It's simply a matter of numbers. The only wildlife that naturally lives in this valley are highly resistant to lightning or exceptional at creating shelter to avoid it.
“So the fact that it was overcast and stormy looking for the entire week I was on the surface, and the fact the Temple is arranged like this…”
It's the Quiet. Almost certainly.
“And I assume we still need to worry about the Temple flooding?”
The flooding is worse during the Storm. But it's the lightning I am more concerned about.
Cass wanted to suggest they’d be safe from that underground, but the flooding was going to push them out. Talk about a rock and a hard place.
“So we have a time limit now?”
We’ve always had a time limit. Now it is much shorter. Best case, we have a little under two months, if it was a dry year and you got here just as the season started. Still optimistically, but more realistically it was a normal year and we have a little over two weeks remaining.
Unfortunately, there is no way to know. We could have no time at all if our timing is bad.
“So, finish this as quickly as possible and get out. Got it.”