Chapter 24
Let the training begin.
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AUTHORS NOTE
Welcome back , hope you guys enjoy.
Any questions feel free to ask about the new skills if u don't understand anything.
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Craig just took a quick shower and grabbed some food , as he had already spent 24 hours in the capsule. As soon as his dishes landed in the dish washer he ran back towards the capsule intent of figuring out why the High-elfs could have survived against all adverseries if they had no ' real ' strength.
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" Lilith , can you listen to me for a while? " Sturm said as soon as he was inside of the Icy maze.
The blue flame that hovered over the offering bowl flickered and the mental image Sturm associated with the godess Lilith appeared. This time she even had clothes on from the beginning which greatly pleased Sturm so he relaxed the tense shoulders he didn't even knew he had.
" Yes what is it , my Champion? " Lilith said with a smile.
As Sturm heard not one bit of sarcasm through her rather sly words his mood increased even further. He had no idea if the godess did this on purpose , but now as they were alone she was definetly better to deal with.
" As far as my ' adventure ' goes i have found out a few things. " Sturm decided to play a game.
He could not reveal everything he had from the start , so he used his pokerface like smile and played a game he already played once against Palanthalos , and lost. But he wouldn't be himself if he wouldn't Gamble with everything he had.
" Oho , oho . Hmm i wonder what my cute little Champion may have found out on his little stroll around the premises. " The godess knew this game and she went with the flow.
Even though Sturm hated to be called cute , like really no guy likes that , he neither flinched nor did his smile disappear so the conversation went along smoothly.
" To my regret i have to say , my beautiful , great and loving godess must have forgotten to give me something. I can understand that the Ice in which you have been trapped must have somehow affected your greatness , so i just wanted to remind you that i would be greatful for everything my godess ' personally ' gives me. " Sturm said.
Literally Sturm was bluffing , he knew that something must be wrong. He thought and thought and thought throughout the whole yeti killing spree , but he came to no conclusion. Sturm was by no means perfect but something with his race or class made no sense.
Especially he should have been reborn as a nother Avatar. Why did the Bond with Thalia remain or the leadership stat or skill. His blacksmithing also remained but that also had probably something to do with his race.
" Yes yes , my mislead sister has caused this to happen. My champion i hope you can forgive me . Do you want to receive your gift now? " The godess said while smiling her brightest smile so far.
As soon as she said that a change in her mental image occured. Sturm was baffled. Now he understood everything. Why there was only 1 of the insane King so far. Why he was so weak. Everything made perfect sense as Sturm saw beautiful cut gems materializing in the forehead of the godess.
" There is nothing to forgive my godess. Yes i would love to receive it now. " Sturm told her as he took a knee.
A searing pain assaulted Sturms body and he lost consciousness.
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He woke up and the godess was staring at him. Sturm shook his head very fast in quick succession to get rid of the numbness he felt in his body. While the time when he got the rubys was just painful now it felt like electricity was still coursing through his body.
The godess didn't speak but just stared at him with beaming eyes and Sturm knew she was waiting for something. But before he could answer he saw multiple windows open in his field of vision so he skimmed over him.
" HOLY MOTHER! " Sturms surprise delighted the godess.
She was smiling like a mother that witnessed her babys first steps.
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The topazes in your head have set a Spell specialization for you
Spell specialization (Lightning)
This is a skill that comes from the topazes that are directly imbeded in your flesh. Increases the damage output of Lightning spells by 40%. Decreases Fire and Wind spell damage by 20%. Doesn't affect inter-cardinal elements such as Ice , Lava or Wood.
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You have been adopted by the long forgotten house of Tirithon.
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As you are the Head of the house of Tirithon you have gained additional effects.
Your Born to lead skill has changed in propertys as its proficiency has been restarted.
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Topazes have been imbedded in your flesh and you have completed the coming-of-age ceremony of the High-elfs. You are now a specialized mage for Lightning due to the topazes influence
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Arc Lightning (1/100)
[quart=Arcing projectile,Nature]800+(40+8%) damage,Lightning[/quart]
[quart=Mana consumption,Arcs]600,2[/quart]
[quart=Distance for arcs,total distance]5 yards,15 yards[/quart]
Arc Lightning
You have been granted the first spell of the High-elf specialization to Lightning. Sends a arc of Electricity to your target that originates from your hand. Travels 5 yards in a straight line and then has to arc off air or a target before it can reach its final destination.
Spell slots available 1/6
Now Sturm understood what happend completly. He was still considered a Child before , but for being a child he was already strong. But a ambitious smile returned for the first time on Sturms face as he bowed to the godess.
" I do this for all my Children and no Child of mine will ever bow. " The godess said in a angered tone.
Sturms body instantly bolted back into a upright position. As he assesed the situation he thought about rethinking his grudge against the gods in general. After all she seemed nicer and more whimsical then Palanthalos and this made Sturm comfortable around her , for now.
" Good , Champion now your real training begins. Behind me through another hidden door is the ancient training ground for your kind. There you can at least gain the ability to hit your targets with your spells. No monsters lurk there but it is a training course. Give it your all. " The godess said and a door opened behind her.
Sturm with just a simple thank you that was sincere left the godess alone once again.
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Sturm was breathing heavily as he just evaded another one of the swinging sand bags. With the side step he sent out his bodily active mana and formed 5 Ice shards simultainously with 1 spell. After a split second they were formed and after another second all 5 of them hit the sandbag that just had barely missed Sturm.
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While dodging multiple sandbags , 120 were placed around the course , that began to swing as soon as he came close he tested out his new skills. This was after 1 week of just learning to lock on to targets properly with iceshards and arc lightning.
And after another whole week he had gained the ability to sub conciously spread out his mana to instantly form spells while walking , talking or eating. It took quite some time for him at the start just to notice the Sandbags that swung towards him while he was preparing a spell.
Sturm had the advantage to not have cast time with motions or words , but that didn't meant he had no cast time at all. They process of telling his mana to form a spell was easy , even while evading sandbags. But if he had to form them with a specific intent of hitting a target it was hard.
The ice shards and arc lightning both were linear spells. There was no homming function in them. That meant Sturm had to anticipate the swinging sand bags movement and in a split second decide where the moving target would be after his spell had formed , materialized and started to accelerate.
He also had to take in consideration the wind that frequently blew through the training cave as well as the distance between him and the target. All of Sturms spells could only be create within close proximity of his own body , but the effects varied so he could send out the spells.
2 weeks after he had achieved large achievements. His Ice shards spell as well as his arc lightning spell had made an incredible leap of proficiency.
Ice shards had gained the ability to summon 5 shards with one spell with a little increased cost in mana. While Arc lightning gained another arcing bow it could perform further increasing the maximum distance it could travel by 5 yards and the dmg output but on the down side it cost 700 mana now.
Sturm even trained to block with his barrier and to deep freeze the sandbags. Only a little training went to his ' blink ' spell as it took a whole hour of complete rest or meditation to fill the mental strength bar back up.
With diligence Sturm did those ' exercises ' of evading and hitting the sandbags until his mana pool ran complelty empty. At the start it took him 1 hours as alot of spells didn't fire of or weren't properly built so the effect didn't occur.
Now it took him about 10 seconds , depending on the distance of the sandbags , to run past one fire 5 iceshards in its dead center and do it all over again with another 10 seconds. Just by this his mana would be empty in 3 minutes but with his current mana he regernerated 0.1% of his max mana per second.
This was only due to the surrounding area being cold which doubled his mana regeneration. With this he could cast for almost another minute which totaled in 4 minutes of extensive training. But would that be enough for the Sturm we knew? Naturally not.
In a resting area , there was a basin filled with special water. This water , when drunk , would restore 200 mana per gulp. Sturm filled up 10 canteens of water he found around and everytime he cast a spell he swallowed a mouthful of water restoring additonal 200 while running. With all of this he came to 42 repetitions before he needed a 60 seconds break to refill the canteens.
7 minutes of extensive training with 1 minute of rest. Every 6 hours he took a one hour break to eat some of the food Iz had cooked up for him before she left but even this supply was getting sparse. So after 2 weeks of extensive training Sturm left the training hall.
Just to be greeted by a smiling Godess. She noticed the changes in his eyes and was greatly pleased. Even the topazes in his skull shone brightly now as soon as he came close enough a window popped open with the familiar * tring*
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Due to your extensive training you have gained 39 Wis , 41 Vit , 57 Dex and 3 Strength.
And another window appeared.
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As you have used mana in an efficent way , you sight has been adjusted to see the natural flow of dormant mana wherever you go.
' I got golden shining eyes now ... That is kind of unfortunate. ' Sturm thought.
" I see you have gained , what you had trained for my Champion. " The godess spoke with dignity.
Now Sturm slammed his right fist into the left side of his chest and performed the traditional salute the High-elfs gave their superiors. Sturm had found , during one of his breaks , some engraved walls with pictures.
There he learned a few customes which his new people used to hold. He found out about the coming-of-age ceremony and some festivals the High-elfs used to hold. Also some other historical events which he still didn't understand.
" Some manners as well as i see. Very good child. Now i have a task for you. The guardian Palanthalos has placed as a precaution against my return has grown stronger then i had anticipated. The group of the other three and yourself won't be enough for this task anymore. We need to gather more chosen ones ... with special abilitys. " She said.
* tring*
The Godess Lilith has granted you permission for a quest.
> Seek your allys <
You need to find 4 additional chosen ones of different races.
All of them have suffered under the gods of some sort , their minds are planning for revenge.
You can identifie them by the natural mana flow , as they are seeking revenge the dormant mana has bundled around them in various different colors.
Reward: By accepting this quest you will receive the reward while on completion more riches await you.
Failure: The godess Lilith may loose the last bit of her power.
Rank: A difficulty.
" Yes my Godess , i will be glad to gather like minded people. " Sturm said while slamming his fist across his chest once again.
* tring*
You have accepted the quest
" Go through the portal behind me , then seek out unnatural flow of Mana. Mana that is going against the current for air is your first target. Then look for water mana that flows against the rivers flow. Look for fire that behaves strange and at last look for earth that deforms itself with the help of mana. This will be how you find these 4. " She started.
" Offer them revenge on the gods that have used the poor souls , and offer them the quest the other 3 already received. I have granted you my blessing to share the hard task. Now go Champion and spread my love to those 4 poor souls. " She finished.
Sturm filled his canteens before he left through the next now unveiled door to find a stash of equipment and necessitys waiting for a traveler to pick them up. After he had put on all the new things he bid the godess goodbye once again and promised of his soon to come return. He breathed in heavily before he stepped through the Portal stones and disappeared.
Now as the godess Lilith was alone once again she prayed to her mother and father , the ones that were still on her side , that they may guide her Champion to fullfill his promise as fast as he could. Since also a godess could become lonely.
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