I had to stop once the last spell-learned message came through. I couldn’t believe just how beneficial working with the witch matriarch had been. I had just gained six more spells. Some of them were even utility. Being able to create or destroy water would be beyond clutch. The acid spell was the first one that truly took advantage of the extra time component of reaching mastery in the magic. Longer summons were incredible, but they typically left due to damage, not due to time. The acid would either mean my target would suffer longer or they would have to find a way to get rid of it. Either way, doing it during a fight would be very, very difficult. When we added the bonuses to my land, I had set up a sturdy base. I read over the spells one more time, making sure I hadn’t missed anything, before turning my attention back to the other notifications.
Congratulations! Your skill Pyro Magic has leveled up. Pyro Magic has reached levels 10 and 11. You can learn new spells
Congratulations! Your skill Spira Magic has leveled up. Spira Magic has reached level 10. You can learn new spells
Congratulations! Your skill Dual Casting has leveled up. Dual Casting has reached level 13. The spell power increases by 255% and the modified cost is 264% Each level grants an extra 5% to spell power and decreases extra magic cost by 3%.
Due to your hard work and dedication, you have advanced a skill rank. Your Pyro Magic skill has advanced from Amateur to Student. -5% to Spell Cost. and +5 to Spell Duration. You have been awarded 1,000 experience points for this achievement.
Your familiar Sanaa has leveled up. Sanaa has reached level 15
Your familiar Tenebris has leveled up. Tenebris has reached level 15
And the experience kept on coming. The boost to these skills was amazing. I reviewed the battle logs, but there wasn’t much interest in it. It told me that the battle was hard and that the banshee’s wail attacks were problematic. I pulled up my status screen next and began spending my points. I dropped the skill progression into Lumos magic for obvious reasons. I placed six of my points into Agility, bringing it up to twenty points. I wasn’t sure what to do with the last point, though. Part of me wanted to put it into Charisma, bringing it to 34, and then the next level would boost it to 40. I wasn’t sure why I wanted that, though. As far as I knew, Charisma didn’t help any of my skill sets. Now, being a ruler was great, and I needed people to like me. The more pragmatic part of me wanted to dump it into Wisdom. The bonus wouldn’t make much of a difference, but the future levels would help me with that and I could get my regen rate higher.
I thought about it for a long minute before placing the point into Charisma. I wasn’t sure if the choice was due to my vanity or if it was because of the need to be a ruler. Either way, it didn’t matter since I couldn’t take the choice back. The cloak of charisma was making its presence known, which made me want to find more attribute-boosting items. A crown of charisma would be amazing. Alright, with my points spent, it was time to turn to Sanaa and Tenebris. With their recent level up, they both had one point to spend. Sanaa still hadn’t gained a fourth ability, which was making me a bit nervous. I wasn’t sure if that meant I had missed something or if she just had a different progression from Tenebris.
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“It looks like we can boost either your shining breath or your shining frills,” I asked out loud. Instead of giving me an answer, she gave a low hiss and blew hot air into my face. She then laid her head against my shoulder and closed her eyes.
I guess that means it’s my choice. I placed the two points into shining frills. Her breath weapon wasn’t weak at the moment and frills only worked based on the level of the creature. I assumed I wasn’t going to have to fight a bunch of level 25, but if I could have her powers affect stronger things, then it would help me a lot. I made the purchase and read the update.
You have chosen to increase your familiar's ability
Brilliant Frills from level 2 to level 3
The light from the frills will blind enemies level 15 and below.
Enemies level 10 and below will gain exhausted conditions while staring at the light.
Repeated attempts before recovering will deepen the condition. Cool down: 4 minutes.
Well, that was certainly worth it. However it did reveal a potential problem. If I upgrade the ability again, it will blind me. Assuming I didn’t hit level 21 first, it also assumed that it increased by five levels. If it did it by ten, then I would be screwed. Either way, I spent the points, and I felt Sanaa relax on my shoulders. I was about to pull up Tenebris’ sheet when I realized I had a problem. If I purchased Tenebris now, he would pass out while hunting, which could get him killed.
“Tenebris. Can you return to me? I want to spend your points, but I don’t want you to go down once the process finishes.”
There was a pause before his reply. “On my way Master.” I could feel an underlying frustration in his tone, but I didn’t think it was directed toward me.
“Was there something wrong with the hunt?”
“Only bad prey, Master. The bugs fly too slow and the beasts are too simple.”
I nodded and then realized he couldn’t see me, so the gesture meant little. “So we will have to look for something better. I don’t think there will be a lack of powerful enemies for us to fight.”
“Of course Master.” The frustration hadn’t abated, but I could tell that there wasn’t any more progress to be made here and now. While I waited for his arrival, I went over his options. I wasn’t sure which one would be best. Obviously, his breath weapon would be powerful, but so would spell channeling. If that was upgraded, he could better use my spells. Lastly, there was Sphere of Darkness whose ability could easily take a single target out of the fight. I also needed to take into account what Tenebris wanted. He was an ambush hunter, so letting him target his opponents, disable them and then rip them apart, would be best. I still hadn’t made a choice when Tenebris flew through the tent. He landed on my shoulder and then tucked his wings close to his body.
“I am thinking about where your points should go. What do you think? We could boost any ability except for Soul Bond.”
“I think we should improve Sphere of Darkness, Master.”
I raised an eyebrow at how quickly he offered his answer. I reviewed the current ability but there was nothing I missed. I was going to ask him why but decided against it. I clearly said that he could determine his points, and he chose, so what more was there to think about? I placed the points into a Sphere of Darkness.
You have chosen to increase your familiar's ability
Sphere of Darkness from level 2 to level 3
The sphere has increased to a radius of ten feet.
Enemies trapped within the sphere may be afflicted with the fear condition.
Not as big as an upgrade but it was still effective. I wasn't sure how strong the fear condition was but if it helped take a target out I had no reason to complain. I felt Tenebris fall asleep and close down his status menu. With those points spent, I turned my attention to broken staff in my ring. I pulled summoned it but it didn't even give an item prompt anymore. I sighed. I wasn't the biggest fan of carrying a staff around but it had been a gift and it was pretty cool. I wasn't sure if Askander would be upset with me for breaking it but I would deal with that in the future. I wondered if anyone in town could craft me something to replace it.
The real problem, though, was what to do with the matrix in my ring. Now that I had two of them, I had more options, which was a bit of an issue. I was still leaning toward the studio to help get buildings up as fast as possible. After that, though, I wasn’t sure. A smithy would make sense in creating weapons and armor, but I didn’t need that, and we didn’t have that many metals. A library could be amazing. Although I wasn’t even sure we could build a library, nor did I know what it would do. My desire to have my own “Great Library of Alexandria” aside from building a castle could also be cool. The real problem I had was that I had no idea what the buildings would do before I built them. It was like working blind. I also had to consider how it would all work together. Being able to build more things would be amazing but did I want radiance to be the "building things" capital of the world? No, what I wanted was magic. I wanted to raise spell casters. I had made my decision when Amara stepped into the tent. She gave me a bow.
“Hello My Lord. I am glad you have returned safely. I hope your trip was as fruitful as you expected.” She made her way over and stood at my side. I looked her up and down once before gesturing for her to sit.
“I don’t think we have the facilities for you to stand on ceremony. As for the quest, it went well. The battle was tough, but we managed to get some serious gains. I am level 17 now. I have awakened three more magic types. We should have a 30% increase in our resources soon.”
Amara’s eyes had turned into saucers as I went on. Her expression shifted into a grimace when I revealed the last bit, though. Thankfully, she didn’t make me ask about it. “Ah yes, My Lord. The lake surged earlier. No one was hurt, but it slowed down our progress for a couple of hours.”
“Was anything damaged?” I took a second to get over the momentary flash of fear that I had somehow drowned my citizens.
“No, a few of the crops had been submerged, but the farmers say the few things we have welcomed the extra water as long as it doesn’t happen too often. After the initial flood, we could construct simple barriers. Some geomancers helped make sand banks. When you say a 30% increase, do you mean to every single thing? Including stones and metals?” I nodded.
“So the already sizeable amount of gold in your mines is going to increase?” She added while flicking through her tablet. “We have no way to monitor just how much gold is in the mine outside of what the miners bring out.”
Based on her tone, I could tell she was leading me somewhere. I was just about to ask her to come out with it when it hit me. I slapped my forehead in frustration. “We have no way of knowing if the gold that comes out is equivalent to what they mined. In other words, they could steal from me. That wouldn’t even account for other materials like gemstones.”
“Yes, now I have spoken with some of the matriarchs and she is willing to help us with this slight problem, but she has requested you help her people with things. I believe she requested a boon, my lord.”
“What do you mean by a ‘Boon’? If she wants help, I have no issue giving it, but I don’t want to agree to something without understanding what it is.”
“Right, I forgot your issue. A boon is similar to an oath, though not quite as restricting. Depending on the strength of the boon, it means you will agree to pay back her favor later at a time of her choosing.”
“So it’s a favor? I can do that.”
Amara looked at me for a moment before slowly shaking her head. “I don’t believe she is after your favor, though I don’t think she would be opposed. This seems to be more of a direct exchange of service for a service.”
“I know, I just mean that. It isn’t important. Please let her know that I am interested in discussing the issue with her. During the quest, I lost my staff. If any of the crafters can make a new one, please let them know I would be interested.”
“I will send the message as soon as I can. Is there anything I can help you with?”
I considered it for a moment before nodding my head. “There is. I am not sure where to focus our efforts. I want to develop as quickly as possible. That makes me want to focus on the studio, which is where I intend to place the arcane matrix, but I might be able to construct a second building. I don’t know what to choose.”
She slowly nodded and managed to keep her face pensive, but based on the grip she had on her tablet, the new information was bothering her a bit. “I see, and I assume you would like to see if I have gathered any information on what we could build?” I nodded. She pressed on the tablet briefly before looking up at me. “I will say that knowledge on this topic is very difficult to come by. Many classes have heard rumors of this creation or that, but I can’t say for sure that any of it is real.”
I nodded. “I won’t hold you accountable or anything like that. I just need to know what I am doing. I want knowledge. I hate feeling like I am wandering through the dark.”
“I see. In that case, I would suggest you focus on the avenues that you care the most about. The engineer’s studio will be a boon to our people, but the tree and the boost, thanks to your ability, have provided more than we can use. You appear to be going down the path of a mage. I would recommend you construct a building to improve your arcane studies.”
I considered the idea and, in truth, it was a pretty good one. I wasn’t sure anyone knew how to build a building like that. Would it be a wizard’s tower? A sorcerer’s chamber? “Do any of the engineers know how to build that kind of building?”
“I believe so. One of the older women mentioned having seen the blueprint in her youth. If it would interest you, it could be wise to use it in the Seat of Government. We already know how to build it, and having a building like that could endear you with other lords.”
I nodded my agreement. “Tomorrow, gather everyone for a meeting. Please offer the Matriarch and Zakia a place as well. I intend to build the studio as soon as possible. After that, we can consider if we upgrade the next one.”
“Of course. If there is nothing more, I would like to get some rest.” I nodded, and she gave me another bow before taking her leave. Once I was sure she wouldn’t be coming back, I grabbed my makeshift sleeping bag and did my best to get comfortable. I wasn’t sure if I was going to sleep in the same buildings as everyone else or if I would get something special made, but this would do for now.