Papa Ptol walked with Tim as he circled the first floor’s main area. “As an aura mage, you build power by refining your cultivation mana, which you do by using skills to gain experience and new skills. Cultivators evolve through exercise.” Papa Ptol whispered the last part as he crept toward a corner in the walkway. His spirit splashed beyond the confines of human form and passed through the wall to catch a raccoon-sized vermin.
Tim hopped from aura remnant to remnant, eager to see both of his classes nearing a level up.
Dryfu fed on the many bugs caught in spiderwebs and overall seemed more aloof than usual.
“A murphy is similar to a cultivation evolution in that it grows through exercise. Its difference is that the power comes from its victims. If we face it, you’ll take HP, MP and C-mana damage. It can’t absorb these remnant swaths as you can, but it can steal it once you’ve metabolized it into your cultivation channels.”
“That’s why there’s so much aura left from the slaughter?”
“That and the tale of their demise spread far enough to leave this place alone. The cartel had already taken everything but the rings they needed to summon our Murphy.”
A shiny metal edge sticking out from under a wool tarp drew Tim’s eye. “So, it wants my c-mana. Got it. What does it look like? How does it fight?”
“It can look like anything it’s consumed and can separate itself to form many different opponents.”
“Oh, that sounds easy. Does it have weaknesses?”
“Aura attacks deal fifty percent more damage than physical and twenty-five percent more than purely magic like fire spells. It helps you’re an aura mage in that sense. You being its main target balances out that advantage, though.”
“I love your bedside manner, doc.” Tim carefully lifted the blanket. A small silver embossed wooden chest lay underneath. Pink swirling smoke slipped out of the keyhole like a vine climbing toward Tim’s aura field. The vapor released and thinned out as it spread out from his forearm toward the vine.
No!
The vine hardened into a long sharp point. Tim’s Danger Sense gave him a split-second heads up. Wow, that was fast.
His forearm caught the burning blade before it could reach his face. The blade retracted and stabbed back out too fast for him to block with his throbbing arm. It pierced his vest and stabbed deeply into his stomach. The pain surged up like dragon’s breath into his lungs and pressed on his heart. HP lost half its number, at 22. His Magic Hunt’s c-mana took a hefty hit down to midway.
Tim stomped Battleground into the table holding the chest and cast Draw through its blade before it could retract. He gained a quarter back of what he lost.
Dryfu struck the box at full speed. His wing stabbed into the keyhole, creating a flash of white light. He twisted as the blade shot through the hole, carving a red line across his side.
Tim thought of his dagger as particularly useful against aura magic and stabbed that at the keyhole. The metal outline cracked around the hole. He swung his axe down. The chest’s lid burst apart. Fragments of wood and metal burned inside his skin like a hundred bee stings at once. Tim’s axe blew back. He tightened his grip and swung it for the kill shot. Pain lanced up his chest into his heart. He powered through even as his fingers went numb. The axe punctured a glowing blue sac. Aura sprayed into his face. He’d hit it with Spirit Blade without realizing it. His blade cut right through and opened up its aura storage.
Critical hit!
You defeated a mimic lv 9!
You have gained two class levels! Now Level 12 Ranger and Level 5 Aura Mage. Congratulations! Your Aura Mage skills and equipable items are now Tier 2 accessible.
Instant relief flushed through his wounds, muting the pain while the aura boosted his health and MP back over half.
Levels gained in the following Skills:
Small Blades (9)
Parrying (7)
Spirit Blade (3)
A reward is building for you reaching number fourteen in power rankings for anyone with an Aura Mage class. Beware, most of those higher than you in world rankings would not take kindly to your ascension.
Thanks for the warning, Dryfu.
You’re welcome. Now spend wisely. You have earned 10 AP and four die rolls.
His HP rolls totaled 19 and MP 9.
New MAX HP: 145
New MAX MP: 93
Current HP: 73
Current MP: 50
On the run to get here, Tim had spent the last two levels of AP from Aura Mage mostly on Constitution (8) and 2 to Strength, so his current list read:
Str 15, Dex 14, Con 17 (-1 racial), Wis 18 (+1 second to c-mana), Int 11 (+2 racial), Char 6
On the eve of a boss fight, Tim considered his two best stats in Constitution and Wisdom. Both impacted his c-mana storage and flow. His min-max strategy had been forced to adapt in the heat of battle. One thing Gregor mentioned was how intelligence is key no matter if you’re a general or a small band of soldiers out in the field. You need scouts and an awareness of your enemy before you can properly prepare for battle. Those who don’t are almost always the ones to leave their lifeblood in the ground. If reaching 20 in Wisdom earned him another second of c-mana storage per skill, he better start there.
+2 to Wis (20 +2 seconds to c-mana)
A rush of expansion soared through his veins and arteries. Strengthened channels which somehow found a way to take more space. His muscles and tendons tightened as the barge drove through. Forcing more space where there wasn’t any and melting away to reform channels needed to allow its passage. Tim fought through the pain reassuring himself this was part of the “reward” for his growth and that it would settle soon.
You’re okay. It’s part of the Aura Mage reaching a new tier. Spend wisely on your remaining points while the friction is fresh to maximize your evolution.
Okay. Tim tried to think quickly. With Wisdom already high, he thought it best to spend toward Intelligence and lift some of the other middle ground stats.
If that was going to be the cost, he might have to keep it balanced more than his prior min-max goal he’d started with. He finished his spend with:
+2 to Int (13 +2 racial)
+1 to Dex (15)
+3 to Str (18)
And +2 to Con (19 -1 racial)
Those new additions felt appropriate for how he’d want his aura mage evolution to flow. How’s that?
Congrats. You’ve done well in reaching those levels.
New AP Totals:
Str 18, Dex 15, Con 19 (-1 racial), Wis 20 (+2 seconds to c-mana), Int 13 (+2 racial), Char 6
Somehow, he’d managed to turn his weakest AP into his second best. He felt good about that, and how his body had benefited considering two days on the run. Prior to this world, his life was mostly getting from one source of physical relief to the next, and lots of time spent in chronic pain. The more he built up Constitution, the more he liked the idea of a life free from that chronic condition. This realm’s description of cultivation mana seeping into wounds could mean that the best way to refine his c-mana was through top-flight body maintenance. A clean pipe carries the best water pressure… or something. He wasn’t a plumber. His dad’s need for tiny balloons to make space for the veins and arteries pumping blood through his heart also reinforced the idea of taking care of his body so his c-mana channels could work unimpeded. The aura regeneration was working weird magic inside him.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
That’s the Aura Mage class. You have a boost to your adrenaline and synopsis tied to that class. And you’re right. Constitution could be a different method for scaling up your cultivation strength.
Because since my Cultivation evolution, all of my abilities flow from that new way of strength. In my evolution blessing, c-mana is the superability behind it all.
That’s a good perspective. I think your growth in Aura Mage is influencing your desire for strength and fuel.
The constitution, strength, and dexterity cocktail eased some of the stiffness from his c-mana expansion. With Ranger up to level 12, he had twelve seconds worth of potential c-mana spend in every ability, plus the bonus of 2 extra seconds from his Wisdom growth. If wisdom was intelligence in action, then it made sense to keep wisdom at top, and intelligence and constitution close by. Charisma became the dump stat by necessity, at least for now, because he didn’t care how the world perceived him. He had to survive.
The Whisper has determined, with your 2nd Tier advancement, AP spend and skill range, to grant you the Oil and Water Evolution Path. The blending of aura and physical is one of the most difficult paths for a cultivator due to the strain pulling in opposite directions. Be warned, this path will require careful attunement to your body’s reaction to each growth. Maintain a safe balance or risk debilitating fatigue. This will be akin to vine dressing with swaths of poison and knowing how to implement the physical with the spiritual or vice versa without killing the root. Manage this well and you will turn this strain into new power—if you survive the transformation. Be careful during the initial phase as it will be most inconsistent until you reach the third tier.
Your aura powers have the potential to be just as strong in the physical realm, against flesh and stone as it is against aura protected objects.
This path will likely not lead to an overpowering against one kind over the other. Not everyone has to destroy planets or defeat a supernova mage. Many who owned this potential have been killed by those empowered in the area of their weakness. You will possess the potential for a well-rounded strength with as much defense as offense, though the percentages will be up to you and your body’s ability to evolve. I would advise focusing on your highest skills with this path. Learn to balance using them in both realms, physical and aura so they’ll be strong and ready no matter the enemy.
Bonuses to new tier:
With the refinement in your spirit, your cultivation storage will stand apart from XP. This means more potency and that you will not lose XP to access your c-mana. Your c-mana storage grows through exercising skills and now has a healthy-safe regen rate of 1% per minute.
Wow, that’s a strong bonus.
Agreed. Stay healthy and safe to keep that regen going.
Will do. Now he didn’t have to worry about losing XP to levels when using c-mana. Alright then. Lesson learned. You can call me your Odub homeboy.
Can I finish?
There’s more? Please!
Additional bonuses:
You have been granted Eiyero tracker to gauge when rogue leveling will run out. Eiyero quotient or Eq is currently 10%.
Protection skill evolved into new skill: Aura Armor. You can create armor at a tier quality equal to your specified class. As an “ODub” mage you can mix aura and physical material to design as you see fit.
Tim loved this class. He pictured hardcore cool leather—no not that kind, Dryfu, ya freak. Like on the covers Luciano Fleitas makes. His work is Fire. All caps.
F…?
Tim wasn’t sure if the stykiller was having a stroke or muffling a curse. With this Aura Armor, if I use Draw on something with a higher tier, like the spellcasters and their Dragon Heads aura enabling me to create the aura spear, could I make a tier two item?
We’re back to speaking like adults now?
Dryfu smiled playfully. He could have some fun after all.
It depends on how much you Draw and what you make. If you picture a sliding scale between physical and aura, you’ll choose which side you want to focus your item to become. It will fluctuate more in your lower level of the skill and class, so most start with something nearer the middle.
By middle, you mean about equal in defense against physical or aura attacks?
Yep.
Tim picked up corked glassware with what appeared like clean water inside. The only filth he saw was outside the glass.
I’ll test it.
What? No. It’s–
Dryfu raised a wing to slap him, flapping within a foot of his face.
Okay. He uncorked the bottle and tipped it to let his guide taste it.
I just said that so I didn’t get your earth germs. I’m thirsty too.
Tim chuckled and let his guide enjoy the first drink. His thoughts drifted to his brother, and how quickly their camp been separated. He played the ambush over in a flash, once again prying for any unseen clues that could whisper to his doubts that they’d all survived. He shook the thought away in denial.
You said how much I Draw. And I guess still related to what I make. How much aura can I Draw? What’s the cost? I haven’t seen an indicator for that. It’s just sort of felt more strongly in my body the deeper puddles or the stronger the level of the spell I interact with. The drawing process has been so fluid because I usually spend it right away in a boost to my next move.
Yes. You have. And there isn’t an aura indicator for you yet. It costs MP based on the difficulty and what’s available to Draw. The greater cost is that fluid nature and interacting with a foreign aura. Anything could happen if you’re overwhelmed, so be careful.
It has to be a feel you gain as your body and soul adapt to the evolution. Crafting aura items, which you can do through your Aura Blades and Aura Armor skills, requires a delicate and attentive process.
For example, you can’t set your work down and pick it up later. The aura is alive and susceptible to fading until the bond forms with the finished product. That’s what differentiates it from the physical realm. All life has aura. Thus aura is life, and in your crafting you are transferring the life in you, with its many facets now that you’ve inherited the memories of others–in your transferring of this life into an inanimate object, you are kind of making a home for the life to remain safe. I see you fantasizing of crafting an item while drawing from a higher tier aura.
Guilty as charged.
Someday I hope you can. You’d have to somehow balance fighting that higher tier enemy with the artful care and attention your crafted item would need to warrant the expenditure and risk. Ambitious thought, but unless you want to make a tier higher tier paperweight, please don’t risk something so stupid.
Tim laughed off the spunky stykiller. Just making plans, Dry. If I don’t see how it works how will I plan on how to do it well? I’ll work on Drawing in battle and Aura Armor making when it’s safe. I knew that. Come on.
If I mix Aura Armor with a kind of poison I could craft through my Alchemy skill, could I make armor that kills its wearer through absorbing the poison stored within?
You could, potentially. It’s a bit gangsta, but you do you, Iced T.
It’s…
Dryfu’s wink informed him that was an intentional mistake. Keep at it with Killa D and you get Iced T, Swarm.
Tim squawked a laugh at Dryfu’s mocking “swarm” nickname. What about interlacing armor, like patching on a poison cloth and aura sewing it into the victim’s clothes or whatever?
Tim slapped his hand to an aura deposit on some brick. Like planting a bomb. It absorbed like another drink of this tiny castle’s suffering. More than a castle, he felt their community. They died having thought they stood a chance against the rise of the cartel.
And if Chris is nearby and we activate our Shared Vine skill, I could have chemically enhanced aura armor pieces that his vine could deliver. Tim thought back to what they’d done to Warryn. The vines produced a constant burn as they slowly cut through muscle and nerves. You almost didn’t need anything else, but if he could deliver packages, healing or whatever for sabotage… Would it work as a healing, if I—he pictured sewing aura armor to close a wound, and having dosed the leather or whatever with HP or even magical spells like Regen. Maybe advances like Speed or some other power. The sky was the limit if he kept scoring levels.
Quite the imagination. Feed into that. The life moving inside you is inspiring you toward where your power wants to go next.
Eq: 8% remaining.
He’d felt the rogue leveling drug’s fade to draw as much XP as it had when he first infested the dose from Lias’s nixstone. He’d have to spend the last wisely through job number one of surviving the night.
So far, his plan was working. Walk the castle collecting aura remnants while he chatted System with Dryfu and Papa Ptol got swol on loose vermin. An idea formed on how he might trap the Murphy, using the information from the Spirit Memories and that his protection trail had the nearest panther sniffing through a bog a few hundred yards away. He didn’t want to take too long before enacting that part of his plan, but if it worked….
The first step was getting more information about how the Murphy attacked. While walking through the fort, Tim let the stored memories play out silently as he and Dryfu talked System.
The Murphy had spread through the fort with amazing speed, branching from the root to catch its prey in whiplike speed and accuracy.
After snatching some at a run, portals opened in the boughs and aura creatures sprang forth. Panthers, parakeets, and striped monkeys with bone crowns rimming their boulder domes. They shot out like melted wax hardening into stride to bound toward their prey. Every one pursued with greater speed and killing power than any he’d seen in the woods. So far, a heavy dose of aura powers would be the primary directive against it.
The stairs leading down into the tunnel at the center of the castle had several puddles of aura remnant. The first puddle’s memory revealed a soldier chasing civilians up the tunnel stairs. His long, curved sword spread ruin across their innocence. The blood spattered on his face turned up the volume on his wicked grin.
Tim’s soul churned with anger to see vengeance and the reversal of this hate.
Down a few steps, new puddles revealed the memory of two more soldiers emerging to join the raid. XP elevated his Magic Hunt past ninety percent to level ten–the first prize on his horizon. Hoping he could avoid the Murphy until he reached that skill level, not to mention keeping his Eq long enough to earn it, he stayed within a few steps from the top. Beneath the deep stairwell waited a tunnel with a wide cloak in shadow. Tim’s Danger Sense reverberated with constant alarm, further warning him to stay close to the top. He didn’t have enough information yet, and the cost was clear so far.
Two more steps down, Spirit Memory of a crossbow bolt to a businessman’s back deposited a more XP. Tim sidestepped into another puddle halfway down and stopped. An axe wielder with clothes ripped to expose muscles streaked with stretch marks charged the stairs. The speed and ferocity startled Tim into a defensive posture, hand curling aura. He stopped it before a spirit blade formed. It’s a memory, he reminded himself.
The duo carved a fort path into the heart of the fort. Many were civilians and children. Tim couldn’t watch. Well after Tim felt the blood crying for mercy, the two assassins absorbed into the Murphy’s winding trunk. It used that replenishment of power to speed its growth as it finished off the stragglers. It wound its way to a tower in the northern corner. Vines broke bricks. In the memory, the tower buckled and leaned precariously. Pieces fell a hundred feet and disappeared in the river. The memory faded. At present, the tower was still there, if a few inches closer to tipping over. “I need to get up there,” Tim said and took off.
Oh, come on. Do you want to die?
I have to see why the Murphy went up the tower. It’ll be the last thing before we go down the stairs. I promise.
Before we get there—since we have a little break from remnant deposits—there’s something I have to confess.