Part III: Getting The Band Back Together
We booked rooms for the night in the tavern across the street—the one that served only craft ales, which Val claimed not to like, but the size of her bar tab begged to differ. Meanwhile, I’d nursed only a single stout, dwelling on the revelation that I now had a target on my head. And not just any old target—the target of a maniacal Player and his equally maniacal bodyguards.
‘So,’ I asked a drowsy-looking Val. ‘These “Player Slayers”. Tell me about them.’
She pulled her head up, furrowing her brow almost exaggeratedly. ‘I thought… You would’ve heard of us, no?’
‘...No.’
‘Are you sure?’ she asked. ‘The Player Slayers. We’re literally famous.’
‘Oh, so you’re famous, now, are you?’
Val ignored the dig. ‘The Player Slayers,’ she said again. ‘The legendary team, slayers of so-called “heroes”—’
‘Yes, I did get that bit.’
‘—able to stand up to any enemy that crosses their path? The powerful sorcerer, Val Vignor. Arzak Blorg, the mighty orcish warrior. The fearsome barbarian, Lore…’ She trailed off. ‘I don’t know his last name.’
‘How long were you on a team together for?’
‘Shh.’ She continued, ‘The cunning ranger, Corminar—’
This name I knew. ‘Corminar? Not Corminar Cladenor. Hmm. Not really a good name, is it?’
Val’s eyes popped. ‘What? You know him? Out of all of us… him? Great. I really need a PR consultant.’
I shrugged. ‘We run in the same circles. He’s not a slayer, though, or whatever you’re calling yourselves.’
‘Not just calling ourselves…’
‘He’s a glorified middle-man, really,’ I said. ‘Acts like a thief, but really he just uses his connections to sub-contract to real—’
Val waved me down. ‘We can skip the boring business talk, Styk; nobody wants to hear that. Sounds like… you might have some idea where to find him?’
‘What, did you not keep in touch, after all your Player-slaying?’
‘Styk…’
I sighed, but failed to suppress a mocking smile. ‘Fine. Last I heard, he was operating out of Fenlock. We get there, and I’m sure I can use my old Thieves Guild contacts to track him down.’
Val slammed down the last of her pint, and rose to get another.
‘You sure that’s a good idea?’ I asked.
‘Starting with him? It’s as good as anyone.’
‘Drinking more,’ I clarified.
Val laughed. ‘I’m about to put my old team back together. Trust me, I deserve a drink or two.’
‘Ten.’
‘Don’t drink-shame me.’ With that, Val staggered back over to the bar, and I turned my attention to the notifications I’d ignored earlier this evening.
From our battle with Lev, I’d racked up a decent amount of experience, even if Val had done most of the work. As a result, I’d gained another two levels in Knifework, put some more experience points into Stealth, and—best of all—levelled my Worldbending up to level 1. I quickly put my Knifework free points into Vitality—who wouldn’t want more health?—then turned my attention to matters of magic.
With level 1 being the first “real” level of a skill, I’d unlocked my first Worldbending ability, and quite the ability it was.
Local Portal (Worldbending) — Create a portal to another location within current range of sight. Uses mana/second.
My mind raced with possibilities. I could use it combined with Stealth to get the element of surprise on an enemy, or to bring myself closer to them with my knives. I could get us across town in a flash, or maybe even use it to steal some stuff. Just why didn’t I look into Worldbending in my last life? I asked myself.
There was one major catch, however: that “Uses mana per second” part. My current mana was minimal, at 19 points. I largely had myself to blame, for this one; only Identification, of all the skills I’d been levelling up, granted me any Intelligence, and this stat was the one directly linked to my mana reserves. What’s more… I hadn’t exactly been speccing into it with my free points. I made a mental note to prioritise this stat in the near future, if I was going to get the most out of my new Worldbending skill. Speaking of…
Worldbending increased to level 1!
Base Points gained — +2 INT, +2 Free Points (INT/WIS/CHA)
…I still had some free points to spend. Not second-guessing myself, I pushed those two points straight into Intelligence, bringing my Mana bar up to 21 points. It was progress.
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Level 5 Novice Bladespinner
Race: Human
Power Bars:
Health — 20 / 20
Mana — 21 / 21
Stamina — 22 / 22
Base Stats:
Vitality — 10
Intelligence — 11
Dexterity — 14
Strength — 27
Wisdom — 9
Charisma — 0
Looking at my stat screen, I could see I’d made huge progress in the week and a bit since I’d… well, died. Sure, I was still only level 5, and my Charisma was dreadful, but I had a “proper” class now, and I was growing fast. With the addition of Worldbending, the world was my oyster. And who needed Charisma anyway, without any social-class skills to play with?
Skills Menu:
Knifework — Level 12:
Slice
Stab
Closed Reach
Identification — Level 5:
Basic Identification
Stealth — Level 1:
Basic Stealth Attack
Worldbending — Level 1:
Local Portal
Yes, I thought to myself, this was good. This was progress. If I could do all that in a handful of days, then in months? In years? I could be one of the strongest men in Alterra.
I’d just need to survive that long.
* * *
There were only so many hours of travel I could manage without giving in to the urge to test my new ability.
As Val and I strolled down a particularly secluded part of the long, winding road from Carn to the Tundra capital of Fenlock, I found myself raising my hand, willing a portal to form ahead of me, and forcing every ounce of concentration into it.
Nothing happened.
‘...What ya doing?’ Val asked.
‘Nothing,’ I replied.
‘You’re trying to do magic, aren’t you? Trying to use that new ability of yours?’
‘No. I was stretching.’
Val ignored me. ‘You’re doing it wrong.’
‘Yes, I got that. But unless you want to tell me how—’
The sorcerer shrugged. ‘Sure.’
I stopped mid-step. ‘Sure?’ I asked.
‘Sure. If you ask nicely.’
‘Val…’
The woman kept on moving. ‘Nicely,’ she called back over her shoulder.
I sighed. ‘Will you teach me how to use magic?’
‘Nicely, I said!’
I screwed my mouth up, then stuck my tongue out at the woman’s back. ‘Will you please teach me how to use magic, please, miss Sorcerer woman ma’am. Please, please, please, pretty please with a nemberry on top.’
When Val turned back to face me, her eyebrow raised, she saw that I was clasping my hands together in mock plea. ‘That’ll do.’ She walked back over to where I’d stopped, and grabbed me gently by the wrist. ‘Alright. Technically, the hand movements aren’t necessary; you can do magic without them. But most magic users find that they help focus the spells, so do whatever feels instinctive with them. The bit you’re missing is… you need to envision the spells happening. Picture it in your mind, like.’
I couldn’t resist raising an eyebrow. ‘What, it’s that easy? I just picture a portal somewhere and point at it, and—’ I flicked my hands towards a random point in a neighbouring field, and a great purple light accompanied a portal glowing into life, just for a fraction of a second. In the distance, down the path, a matching portal opened—just where I’d imagined. A small chunk of my mana bar depleted with the use of the ability.
Worldbending — +10xp
‘There you go,’ Val said, clapping me on the back. ‘So easy, an idiot could do it. Case in point, I suppose.’
The purple glow of alteration magic faded in the seconds after the portal did. ‘You know, I been meaning to ask: how comes all your magicks don’t have a glow? Every other time I’ve seen someone using magic, there’s light coming off of them. Worldbending purple, illusion red, and sorcery blue. So why aren’t you lighting up with—’
‘Do you want to interrogate me about the science of magic, or do you want to jump through a portal?’ Val interrupted me.
‘Good point.’
I turned my attention back to the path ahead, and focused this time on a point much closer to me. If, as the ability details explained, it cost me mana for every second I held the portal open, then I wanted to make sure I got through in time. I held this point in my mind, and then matched it with spot on the path a good couple of dozen yards ahead. I drew in a deep breath, began charging forwards, and then opened the portal.
Worldbending — +40xp
I leapt through it, flying through the air, and a ripple of eerie, spine-chilling coolness washed over me.
And then, I was further down the path—just like that.
I allowed the portal to close behind me, and noticed that this couple of seconds alone had used up a good half of my mana reserves; holding portals open was damned expensive.
Turning back the way I’d come, I waved to Val. ‘I did it!’ I cried out, forgetting myself in my excitement.
‘Yes, now you’re over there!’ the sorcerer called back, matching my level of excitement, but hers meant sarcastically.
I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out again, then concentrated on portal-ing myself back to her side. This time, the local portals came more naturally to me, and I got them open within a couple of seconds. I took another deep breath, preparing myself for the spine-tingling coldness again, then, finally stepped through.
…Just as my mana reserves depleted.
Worldbending — +40xp
The portal closed behind me, very nearly catching me, and I wondered just what would have happened to me if I’d been crossing through. This question was swiftly answered when I looked down to my hand.
‘Val…’ I said, holding up my knife hand, and in it, a blade cut clean in two. ‘I think I’m gonna need a new weapon.’
"Styk"
Level 5 Novice Bladespinner
Base Stats:
Vitality — 10
Intelligence — 11
Dexterity — 14
Strength — 27
Wisdom — 9
Charisma — 0
Skills:
Knifework — Level 12
Identification — Level 5
Worldbending — Level 1
Stealth — Level 1
Abilities:
Slice — Slice the enemy for physical damage worth weapon’s base damage and additional damage scaling on [STR].
Stab — Put your weight behind your wielded blade and force the tip through tougher hides and armour. Damage scales on [STR].
Closed Reach — Bend reality to narrow the gap between blade and target by up to 8 inches. Uses mana.
Local Portal — Create a portal to another location within current range of sight. Uses mana/second.
Basic Stealth Attack — Passive. 10% boost to damage when unnoticed by enemy.
Basic Identification — Discover basic attributes for a particular object or person. Ability scales with [WIS] + [INT].
Active Effects:
Legacy of Sisyphus:
XP gain increased by +400%