The soldiers marched slowly in their direction, with purpose but no haste. They were quite distant, but the crunch of their boots on our gravelly ground echoed around in a way that would be intimidating to any foe.
“How much time do you think we have?” I asked.
“To live? Or to level?” Kevinar asked.
“No time for goofing around,” Ike growled, pointing at the mob. “Level now and fast. Might be that we’re going to need it.”
I entered into my level up screen, surveying over the being I was now before making my decision.
Character Name: RYAN
Attributes:
Strength: 30
Endurance: 30
Agility: 26
Wits: 10
Intelligence: 15
Luck: 6
Level: 13
Resource Pools:
Hit Points: 390
Mana Points: 195
Exertion Points: 220
Skills & Abilities:
Titan-Ax-icearigama Mastery
Raise Skeletal Ally
Ranked Skills:
S-Rank Skills:
Whips and Scourges
Whirlwind Attack: Attack all enemies in range in a circle around the user.
Disarm: Attempt to snag and acquire a weapon from an enemy’s hand.
Swing: Snag a protruding overhead ledge or object and swing over the ground in a 180-degree arc.
Weaponcraft
Fuse: For 20 exertion.
Upgrade: For 10 exertion.
Repair: For 10 exertion.
E-rank Spellcraft:
Minor Healing – Heal 1 hitpoint per second at the rate of 1 mana per hitpoint.
Soul-Union Jeldorain-Ryan: Additional Abilities:
Spells:
ASSERT - 100 mana cast to contest the magical integrity of any spell of magical item within a 500m radius. Every magical spell and item in the radius of the attack has to make a save or lose their magical function.
Clearsight - 20 mana cast to allow one being to see through any environmental obscurity with absolute species specific clarity from a fixed angle of their choice.
Sense Motive -
5 mana cast to allow a being, with the successful role of a wits check, to sense the intentions of another targeted being through the sense of smell
Frost magic -
When harnessed by Soul Sync, Jeldorain may manifest ice, frost, and snow in an offensive capacity.
No Level Requirement on equipment
Skills & Abilities:
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Titan-Ax-icearigama Mastery
Raise Skeletal Ally
S-Rank Skills:
Whips and Scourges
Whirlwind Attack: Attack all enemies in range in a circle around the user.
Disarm: Attempt to snag and acquire a weapon from an enemy’s hand.
Swing: Snag a protruding overhead ledge or object and swing over the ground in a 180-degree arc.
Weaponcraft
Fuse: For 20 exertion.
Upgrade: For 10 exertion.
Repair: For 10 exertion.
C-rank Spellcraft:
Minor Healing – Heal 1 hitpoint per second at the rate of 1 mana per hitpoint.
Spell of Shadowmeld Invocation: This spell wraps you in shadows, enhancing stealth capabilities in low-light conditions. On activation, it renders you nearly invisible when stationary, ideal for stealth operations or evading detection. The spell's effectiveness diminishes with movement or in bright light. The invisibility effect persists as long as you remain still in shadows. This spell consumes 10 mana upon casting and is instant, affecting only the caster. Ideal for reconnaissance or surprise attacks, it allows strategic positioning without being seen.
D Rank Spellcraft! Ball Lightning – 20 mana, 6-36 damage on impact, 5-30 shock damage to all within 5 feet of target, subsequent 4-24 damage to all with 10 feet of target.
B-rank Clerical Magic “Thrymheimr, Lord of Eternal Winter”
Frostweave Healing:
With this blessing, you gain the capability to envelop an injured ally in a cocoon of healing frost. The cocoon gradually restores 20-40 health points over 10 seconds and provides a temporary increase in cold resistance. This healing magic uses 10 mana per cast.
Glacial Shield:
This blessing grants the ability to conjure a protective barrier of ice around yourself or an ally. The shield absorbs up to 50 points of damage from physical or magical attacks and lasts for 30 seconds or until shattered. Casting this protective shield consumes 8 mana.
Winter Gale:
This blessing grants the ability to sweep a column of enemies with frosty breath to a distance of 50 feet, dealing 5 – 30 points of damage and a 10% chance of freezing enemies caught in the attack for 20 seconds. It costs 10 mana.
Frostfire Infusion:
This unique blessing allows you to imbue your weapons with a frostfire enchantment. For 30 seconds, your attacks gain an additional 5-10 frost and fire damage, with a 10% chance to ignite or chill the target. Activating this dual-element enchantment costs 10 mana.
It was daunting, looking through the powers and abilities I had now and thinking about where they had been. I could choose two skills, and as far as I’d ascertained, they could really be in anything. There were so many types of abilities, as many as could be imagined. And there wasn’t much time to decide. Something sparked in my head, an idea that would make no sense for anyone else, a skill that wouldn’t possibly exist unless we had some creative input in the physics of this world. Something that I couldn’t even put to words.
So I imagined a magic field around myself from which a soul could be made real. In my head, I separated from my infernal host, becoming my real fleshy self, clad in arms and armor. But it crackled and glitched, the vision sparking. So I tried again, this time envisioning Jeldorain’s soul pushing out of me, becoming another solid infernal standing next to my own. Stars sparkled in my head and fireworks boomed as a new skill appeared.
E-Rank Soul Divergence
Skill Description:
* Effect: Allows user to separate an intertwined soul from his soul and materialize it alongside himself. The two separate beings that can act independently in combat or other situations.
* Duration: Temporary; the duration is based on available mana.
* Mana Cost: High; At rank E this skill consumes 1 mana per second. Subsequent upgrades to this skill will substantially lessen this cost.
* Cooldown: This skill can only be used once per day.
* Additional Effects: While separated, both retain their individual skills and abilities, but when recombining, any damage done to the separated soul transfers to those of the user.
I gaped and Jeldorain pumped his fist. This sort of freedom will help us well, champion. And it may be part of the answer to our problem!
I nodded, putting my next skill point into Soul Divergence and watching as the Mana Cost changed to one mana per ten seconds. It wasn’t a lot, but the multiples would quite obviously stack if I kept raising my stat.
And, looking at the soul of Jeldorain cavort and dance at this promise of daily temporary freedom, real-life solitude in a body of his own, I knew that even if it wasn’t the best tactical decision, it was the right one.
“You’re welcome,” I whispered, a broad smile revealing the icy pillars of my infernal teeth as I stared at the oncoming army.
“Wazzat?” Ike asked, blearily coming to from his own leveling escapades.
“Nothing much,” I replied. The army was almost here, and as Kevinar came out of his level up, they stopped. A rough half-mile of distance separated us now, and I could see from their blobby heat signatures that they were indeed the short and stout warriors of Lords of Chaos lore. I also saw something else that was interesting — their beards radiated their own inner heat, well blazing in my vision. Like a cat and his tail, I thought, mesmerized by the idea that dwarven beard hair was an actual appendage.
From the rank and file of the regiments before us, three dwarves moved out, picking their way across the graveled plains and not stopping until they’d come close enough to warrant worry.
The three dwarves from Khazud-Tharik halted a stone's throw away, their figures shadowy in the glow of the fungal light and imposing against the backdrop of their massed army. The center figure stood like a sentinel, his chest broad and his thick exposed arms muscular. A braided chestnut beard covered his platemail armor, the warhammer he held was sigiled by runes that gave off the same murky glow as the lichen of his kingdom walls.
Beside him stood a woman whose beard was as long as her hair, and whose shield hid the weapon she surely held in her other hand. The fiery red of her tightly woven braids glittered like stars, hinting at even more magic among this retinue. Her scale mail armor glinted dimly in the cavern light, while her emerald-green eyes scanned us with a warrior's appraisal.
The last dwarf was shorter than his companions. His hair and beard were a chaotic mix of graying black, metal, and ash. A leather tunic and tool-laden vest covered his chest, and my heart sped a little as I realized that he was a tinker class. In Lords of Chaos those guys could easily become a nightmare depending on how many craftables they kept upon their person.
They were adventurers, through and through, no aspect of NPC about them. It made me realize that we were in incredibly dire straits.
The first’s voice broke the silence, his deep voice pounding through the cavern. “You standing in the Kingdom of Khazud-Tharik. Who're you? And what’ve ya done to me monster, Rocky?”
I stepped forward, their gazes upon. “I am Ryan,” I said,
“The crusty fissure talks, ya ken? Where’s my coins, Durgin?” the shield dwarf said, looking pointedly at the tinker. He sighed and loosened a pouch, tossing it to her.
“We are Ryan, Kevinar, and Ike,” I said. “We killed your monster and we seek audience with your king. Secret audience was the plan, though it looks like probably the whole kingdom knows about it now.”
The warrior dwarf hmphed, muttering into his beard. “Yer secret enough. This side of the kingdom don’t get visited much. Come along, you’ll see our king. I suspect he has a lot he wishes to speak to you about.”