The Oracle was the one I was looking for. It granted both protection from and increased ability to scry. I couldn't have asked for better skills. The Inquisitor was interesting as well, it had the Investigation skill and built on it. It would certainly come in useful when we reached the surface. Would it be useful in the dungeon itself? That was more debatable. The Valkyrie was a very potent healing specialization. But I didn't feel the need to pick it, my current ability to heal looked to be enough for the time being.
The Astrologian improved my abilities with the Arcana domain. The main advantage was that the ability to draw from the deck was turned into a skill, which left more space for useful spells. The possibility to split the deck would make it an invaluable tool as well, I'd be able to split my spells depending on the type to pull exactly what I needed at the right time.
Finally, the Sage looked to have appeared specifically for me. It required the existence of catalyst skills which, to the best of my knowledge, I was the only one to have. The skills were very interesting as well. I knew that spell duplication and synthesis were available for Mystic Witch but I was short on spell slots there, they would be a welcome addition to my kit. The Divine Catalyst skill had some implications but I wasn't certain of what they were yet. I hadn't tested how my regular catalysts interacted with divine magic at all. And the ability to set up rituals on the fly was … very broken if it worked like I hoped it did and removed the need to carve a circle on the ground.
In the end, I made my choice.
> Purchased Specialization Oracle for 36 ES
> Purchased Specialization Astrologian for 36 ES
> Purchased Specialization Sage for 36 ES
Now … to pick some spells to shield against scrying …
Anti-Scrying Barrier
Protection Domain
Create a barrier which prevents any scrying sensors from passing through.
Any target inside the barrier cannot be found by scrying spells. However, the field does not prevent any scrying sensor outside of it from observing the inside.
Anti-Beacon Barrier
Protection Domain
Create a barrier which prevents any locator beacons inside from sending a signal out.
Blackout Field
Magic Domain
Create a barrier which prevents any magical communication from passing through.
Secrecy Field
Darkness Domain
Create a barrier which blocks outside observation.
It looked like the ones I wanted were under the protection domain. The blackout field was an interesting find but it wasn't a priority at the moment, I hadn't encountered any form of long range magical communication yet. The secrecy field was more interesting since the anti-scrying barrier by itself didn't block any sensor in the vicinity from observing inside.
Before I could pick the spells, I needed to either free up my occupied slots or gain more of them. There were usually two options, a perk or mastery skill, but it seemed that the former either didn't exist or wasn't available to me. Which left me with the second option, one I had left to the side with my Mystic Witch class due to the abundance of other useful skills and easy access to the perks.
Protection Mastery (Cost: 8 ES, 6 ES)
Passive
Reduce the cost of Protection Domain spells by 5% per skill rank.
Increase the potency of Protection Domain spells by 10% per skill rank.
Increase the maximum number of Protection Domain memory slots by 1 per skill rank.
I could purchase the skills for a few domains to round out my spell selection. It was likely how other priestesses operated. With a maximum of five domains per patron, they had enough skill slots to purchase all the mastery skills with some space for extras. I didn't plan to go quite all in.
> Purchased Skill Protection Mastery at rank 3, level 1 for 26 ES
> Purchased Skill Healing Mastery at rank 3, level 1 for 26 ES
Since I was on an essence spending spree, I made some quick mental math of how far my remaining essence could get me. My purchases had already cost me nearly three hundred essence. It cost seventy-five essence to raise one skill from level one to the maximum, rank five at level one hundred, or three hundred levels. To raise a rank three skill to the maximum, around two-hundred and forty levels were needed, or sixty essence. My current reserve of seven hundred was only seven or eight skills worth, I had fifty of them.
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
But … I didn't need to get them all the way to the maximum right away. The first level of rank five was enough for the majority of them. This reduced the cost by twenty-five, which meant that a skill only cost around thirty on average, which brought the new estimate to twenty-four skills. Then there were the attribute increases to consider.
Gaia had spoiled me.
A thousand essence was more than a lot people saw in their lifetimes. The total essence that was obtained without Essence Mastery at the start of rank five was around five hundred and eight hundred at rank six. Enough to buy plenty of skills and help the important ones along but not enough to max out every single skill at rank five before a class evolution. Doing that would require massive amounts of time.
I put the thought aside for the time being.
Until I went for a hunt, I needed to prioritize which skills to raise and keep some spare essence in case of any unforeseen circumstances. First ones in line were the magic skills, to maximum level, then mastery skills and catalyst skills to rank five. Then the ones from the three specializations I had just acquired to rank three.
> Raised Skill Nature Magic to rank 5, level 100 for 54 ES (+216 levels)
> Raised Skill Arcane Magic to rank 5, level 100 for 54 ES (+214 levels)
> Raised Skill Psychic Magic to rank 5, level 100 for 55 ES (+218 levels)
> Raised Skill Catalyst Creation to rank 5, level 4 for 49 ES (+196 levels)
> Raised Skill Catalyst Assembly to rank 5, level 1 for 49 ES (+196 levels)
> Raised Skill Divine Catalyst to rank 5, level 1 for 50 ES (+200 levels)
> Raised Skill Ritual Catalyst to rank 5, level 1 for 50 ES (+200 levels)
> Raised Skill Protection Mastery to rank 5, level 4 for 31 ES (+124 levels)
> Raised Skill Healing Mastery to rank 5, level 4 for 31 ES (+124 levels)
> Raised Skill Knowledge Mastery to rank 5, level 1 for 50 ES (+200 levels)
> Raised Skill Arcana Mastery to rank 5, level 1 for 50 ES (+200 levels)
> Raised Skill Language Mastery to rank 3, level 1 for 15 ES (+60 levels)
> Raised Skill Eye of the Farseer to rank 3, level 1 for 15 ES (+60 levels)
> Raised Skill Shroud of Secrecy to rank 3, level 1 for 15 ES (+60 levels)
> Raised Skill Major Arcana to rank 3, level 1 for 15 ES (+60 levels)
> Raised Skill Minor Arcana to rank 3, level 1 for 15 ES (+60 levels)
> Raised Skill Split Deck to rank 3, level 20 for 15 ES (+60 levels)
> Raised Skill Spell Duplication to rank 3, level 1 for 15 ES (+60 levels)
> Raised Skill Spell Synthesis to rank 3, level 1 for 15 ES (+60 levels)
>
> Selected Domain Darkness (Lolth)
>
> Requested Anti-Scrying Barrier (Protection, Gaia) from patron
> Requested Anti-Beacon Barrier (Protection, Gaia) from patron
> Requested Secrecy Field (Darkness, Lolth) from patron
How to spend a thousand essence in less than two minutes…
----------------------------------------
It took a few more minutes for Vel to finish on her side. I used that time to see how I could combine my new skills to set up the protections. Cast as-is, the anti-scrying barrier only protected the caster but it was also possible to anchor it through a ritual to protect a larger area. This is where my new catalyst options came in, I could set up the ritual on the fly without the need for expensive anchor stones or a circle carved into the floor.
"I have the spells," Vel said. "I also picked my specializations for priestess."
"I am ready as well," I said, "what did you get?"
"Oracle, Valkyrie, and Dryad." She whispered to me. The last one was specialized in plant magic, a good fit for her.
"Oracle, Astrologian, and Sage on my side."
"I didn't even see that last one." She frowned.
"It's specific to my catalyst magic. I don't think it existed before today."
"I see." She nodded.
Elyssa and Katherine finished their conversation and turned toward us again.
"Do you need some help to set things up? If I remember right, those spells need a ritual anchor to cover an area."
"No need," I shook my head. "I have a skill to make things easier."
"Your floating rocks?" Katherine asked.
"They're called catalysts," I corrected her. "Stay close and don't move, I will need to focus on the next part."
I would need the help of my mental constructs to do everything. There were a lot of moving parts to the entire setup. I started with one large pyramidal catalyst around twenty centimeters across, it would be the keystone for the rest of the ritual. I flew it up near the ceiling where the top of the barriers would stop. Next I creates twelve more to delineate the boundary on the ground. I made the largest circle possible that fit inside the workshop. To complete everything, I added several dozen palm sized flat catalysts. They arrayed themselves equidistant to each other and formed the surface of the barrier.
The whole assembly formed a magical Faraday cage that would block scrying magic.
Next, I cast the spells themselves. Three circles appeared in front of me and I felt a few thousand mana disappear. All the nodes in the barriers connected to their neighbors with silver strands of magic. Between them, the barrier looked like a soap bubble and slightly blurred the outside. Once everything was in place, the spell locked itself in place and the strain on my minds lessened.
"Alright," I clapped my hands, "the anti-scrying, anti-beacon, and anti-eavesdropping wards are in place. In theory nobody should be able to look in or reach out without at least me knowing about it but I'm fairly confident that it’s completely blocked. Don't cross the boundary and don't touch the stones otherwise you'll disrupt it."
"That was impressive," Elyssa noted. "I've never seen magic like this before."
"It's a personal invention. A fusion of earth, crystal, and runic magic."
"Enough with the magic theory," Katherine said, "we have bodies to look at."
I nodded and pulled the first one out, the mage. A small pool of blood started to spread beneath the headless corpse. All of us waited with bated breath for something to happen. After a few seconds, I saw it through my sphere, a small tendril of mana.
"Something's reaching out," I said.
It shot up and slammed against the barrier but didn't go through. Instead, the moment it made contact, the tendril shattered into pieces.
"Barrier stopped it."
I cast Psychokinesis and extended a tendril of my own. I plucked a small golden medallion with a red flower engraved on top. I could see several enchantments on it.
> [Crimson Lys Medallion (Bound, Beacon)]
"Kat was right," I said, "beacon enchantment."
Instead of placing it back into my amulet, I used Dispel Magic to remove the enchantments and Void Scalpel to completely disintegrate the object afterwards.
"Let's not take any risks."
Everyone nodded.