Half an hour later, I had three Skills picked out and I wasn’t exactly happy with them. I had one passive, one martial, and I’d begrudgingly selected a single combat Spell. At my request, Gabrielle produced all three [Skill Scrolls] so I could look them over with [Essence Reading]. They each told a different, equally impressive, story of who I could become in the future.
[Embody the Water Droplet - 86% Mastery Skill Scroll
Skill Description - This passive allows the user to slowly wear down nearly anything, given enough time and effort. For attacks, the process is obvious as each attack on the same target grants the user a stack that gives one percent of additional piercing (max 100 stacks) and when the target dies, the stacks can be spent to deliver twenty percent of the total damage dealt by the user to another target. The use for non-combat Skills is less obvious, but no less useful. When working on a long project, the user will find it gets easier, not harder, as time goes by. This portion of the ability has no set limit of stacks, as there is no percentage growth.]
This thing is unreal. If I’d had this against that damn Hydra, I wouldn’t have needed to use [Ice Bolt] and Mindy wouldn’t have gotten injured. It’s definitely amazing, but I’m supposed to be our party’s burst damage dealer, not the sustained DPS. That’s Jaegan’s job. If I were a crafter, I’d take it right now, but I haven’t really spent much time looking into crafting yet. There’s no use thinking about it so much when I haven’t even seen what the others do. Moving on.
[Dragon Claws - 97% Mastery Skill Scroll
Skill Description - Dragon Claws grants the user the ability to summon a pair of powerful claws made of elemental energy covering their fingers. The user can choose the element of the claws, such as fire, ice, or lightning, etc., altering their properties and attacks accordingly. Upon striking a target, the user can choose to leave behind a single claw inside their target. Once five claws have been deposited inside a single target, the user can detonate them at will for up to a week potentially turning the target into a single massive bomb. The damage dealt by these claws is based on the user’s combined Wits and Arcane stats.]
It’s a lot more straightforward than [Embody the Water Droplet], but damnit if it wouldn’t be effective. I don’t have many close up combat Skills that don’t need me to have a weapon, so it’d be nice to have this to fall back on if things really go to shit. One more to go… I hope the last one isn’t as good as it looked on paper, but how likely is that?
[Sun God’s Gaze - Evolved Skill Scroll - Will grant Sun Apostle’s Perdition instead, due to the evolved state of base Skill.
Skill Description - Sun Apostle’s Perdition allows the user to channel the divine light of the sun, unleashing beams of radiant energy that can both heal allies and scorch enemies. Used by Light’s high apostles, this Skill has been known to evolve into Sun God's Gaze, granting the user even greater power and versatility in their ability to manipulate solar energy.]
Grandpa would lose it if he knew someone had sold a scroll of his God’s favorite Skill to a member of Verdant’s nobility. Sunofabitch, I have to take it, don’t I? Grandpa would never forgive me for leaving it behind. On the plus side, Dominus did say I was going to get the [Scion of the Sun] Class, so maybe it’d feel natural? I pondered it for a moment before something else occurred to me. I wonder what’ll happen when it evolves with my current Chosen status? Hell, will it be able to evolve for me? It’d suck to have a Skill stuck at ninety-nine percent for all time.
In the end, I knew what I had to do. I sat forward and waved to get Gabrielle’s attention. “[Sun God’s Gaze] please.”
“Drat.” She threw me a cheeky smile. “I was almost sure you’d take [Dragon Claws] after hearing the story of your fight with the hydra.”
Shaking my head, I leaned back on the couch one last time. “If that was what I was worried about, I’d have taken [Embody the Water Droplet]. Stacking penetration buffs are rare and that one is particularly potent.” I shrugged. “[Dragon Claws] was my third pick though, to be fair, after [Sun God’s Gaze] and [Embody the Water Droplet].”
Something heavy thumped into my chest, making my eyes snap open as I caught whatever it was. When I looked down at the offending object, I found a gold and ruby encrusted scroll case. I looked up at Gabrielle and she mimed me opening the case with a big grin.
At first, it wouldn’t open, but as soon as I threaded a bit of Mana into it, the cap popped off in my hands without me doing anything more. Slowly, reverently, I pulled the most gilded and fancy piece of parchment from the tube, which I left on the table. It almost looked like the lettering was done in gold while the punctuation was made up of tiny rubies.
Upon closer inspection, I found I was actually correct which rocked me back a bit. “What the hell is going on with this thing?”
“It’s for an Evolved Skill, that kind of thing needs a hell of a lot of Mana capacity to store the Skill properly.” Gabrielle acted like it was totally normal. “That one came from a [High Priest of Light] who owed my grandmother a favor and happened to be dying in Chalcedony. He actually gave me the damn thing, if you’d believe that!”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
With a groan, I took to my feet, which did nothing to alleviate the difference in our heights. “Actually, I do. He wanted to pass it on to another golden elf and hoped you’d be kind enough to find it a good home. Which you did.” I quickly tucked the scroll back into its case before storing the lot in my ring.
“It was good talking to you governess,” I put on a fake serious tone as I walked toward the door, “you drive a hard bargain. I’ll deal with the Tower, but you and Verdant will owe me for it!”
She gaped at me for a moment before figuring out what I was going for. Taking to her feet, she walked closer to the door. “Get it done quickly, peasant! I have more important things to deal with than some trumped up pile of rocks.”
She mouthed ‘Thank you,’ before I turned and walked down the hall toward the stairs.
***
“Oof!”
Before the door even clicked shut behind me, Raiju bowled me onto the bed in the corner of our room at the inn. Her massive paws pressed me deep into the surprisingly soft bed.
“You went somewhere without me… again!” Her ears lay low against her head as she laid down on top of me. “It’s my job to keep you safe and I can’t do that if you keep sending me off or sneaking away.” A soft keening sound welled up from the back of her throat and, despite my best efforts, I wasn’t able to move her full-sized form.
Looking around her enormous paws and head, I was able to see very little of the room, so I just lay there and let her have the moment she needed for a few minutes. Volta and Voltaire looked down at me questioningly from the corners near the ceiling they’d flowed into, but I softly shook my head.
From behind the white wall of fur I was mildly annoyed to hear Jaegan’s soft cackling. “She’s been a mess since we woke her up to come to the room. Ylsa did her best to calm her down, but it didn’t seem to do much.”
Ylsa’s towering form loomed into view over Raiju’s paw. She bowed low enough to pass out of view before straightening up again. “My apologies Storm-Blessed. I attempted to comfort Storm-Runner, but she was inconsolable.” She sighed deeply. “The best I could do was convince her to spar with me and later keep her from using her connection to you to follow you to the lord’s keep.”
I have to remember I’m not on my own. It isn’t like when I’d ditch my parents on vacation to go explore, Raiju and Ylsa aren’t used to my disappearing acts yet. Hell, Mom never really got used to them, but Dad was so good at tracking me down that she just sicked him on me to get me back when it became too much for her. I can’t help but wonder if he had something he could track on me, that would make some weird sort of sense.
Running my fingers through the hair behind her whiskers I spoke quietly so only she could hear me despite knowing I could use the Party Interface to speak to her mentally. This was so much more intimate. “Raiju, I’m always going to come back. OK? Sometimes I’ll have to go away, but I’ll always come back to my best friend.” Throwing my arms around her neck, I hugged her tightly. “You were my first real friend and I’m so Dominus brought us together.”
“You’re my favorite thing.” Big lupine tears streamed down her cheeks before splashing onto my forehead, “Even more than playing chase or that stew you made a while ago.”
Jaegan and I chuckled to ourselves at that, but the next time I tried to get up, she shifted to put her head in my lap instead of splaying her form across my whole body. I ran my fingers through the hair on her head as I looked around the room. It wasn’t huge, but there was a bed in each corner and a table in the center. Jaegan sat on the bed directly opposite me and Ylsa paced alongside the table. There was plenty of space for us to stay a few days if necessary, though that wasn’t likely given what I was about to propose.
Clearing my throat, I got everyone’s attention before pulling a drawing of the Tower I’d found in the street as I walked back to the inn. There was a boot print in the bottom corner, but it didn’t interfere with its use as a visual aid.
“How’s everyone doing after the first wave from the Tower? I know I’m good, though I’ll need a real night’s rest when we get done with all of this.”
Jaegan shrugged. “I got six hours of sleep, so I should be good to go.”
“Five for me, but that’s more than I used to get before being imprisoned and then becoming your vassal.” Ylsa began stretching. “I’m always your willing guardian.”
“Not going anywhere without me.” Raiju’s voice rumbled through my body before she whimpered. “Plus, I got lots of sleep.”
As I gave her reassuring pats, I looked up to my [Arcweaver] compatriots. “Volta, Voltaire, how are you two doing? Do you need to return to your realm any time soon?”
“That shouldn’t be necessary,” Volta bowed from where she floated, “as long as you are willing to keep us around, we’ll be happy to remain your willing servants.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Should I contact your Duke and see if I can work out something permanent for your services?”
As [Arcweavers] originated in a subdomain of the Fire and Air elemental planes, rather than reporting directly to one of the Elemental Monarchs, Volta and Voltaire were instead bound to follow an Elemental Duke. I didn’t know as much about them as I did the Monarchs, but I knew the Lightning Duke wasn’t exactly the most stable.
Her face literally lit up with excitement. “That would be preferred, yes. Our entire battalion of knights would like to serve you indefinitely, but I know my current liege would be remiss to lose all of us.” Her eyes flicked over to her brother, who was a lot better at hiding his emotions than she was. “Voltaire and I have been working for centuries with our battalion and they would likely be fine without our continued presence.”
Got it, so there’s a reason they came instead of any of their contemporaries. Their Duke likely has something against them, or vice versa. Either way, it’s not a bad idea to get them contracted for an extended amount of time, it’d release the tiny bit of my Mana and regeneration they have locked down at the moment.
“I’m not as familiar with the Dukes as I am the Monarchs, does your liege,” Volta winced almost imperceptibly and I noted it before moving on, “have a particular thing he prefers for trade besides pure Mana?”
“Fulgurite, sir.” Voltaire saved his sister. “He takes great pleasure in destroying as many pieces of it as he can get his hands on, as his rival the Sand Duchess loves it and he enjoys the way she reacts.”
“Noted. I have a cousin who makes some of the finest fulgurite artwork in a shop in Sunhome.” I mused with a hand on my chin. “I’ll have to stop and see her when we make our way there with Gabrielle.”
“Who’s Gabrielle?” Ylsa and Raiju intoned as Jaegan groaned and flopped back on the bed.
“I guess we have a few minutes.” I set the picture of the Tower down on the bed beside me and settled in. “Well you see, I went to visit the Duchess…”