He looked at me seriously, and then at my Darts... which had attracted a lot of interested attention from those around before I flicked them off. “”

“5d6+7 each, or 6d6+10 combined right now.” And maybe more in a few minutes, depending on what he decided.

“” he exclaimed, definitely impressed. He looked like he was figuring something in his head, and slowly shook it. “”

“Really? Why not?” I inquired calmly.

“”

I eyed him, mentally cursing myself for overestimating his ability. I figured he’d be doing at least 20 on the Siege, using a Baned Staff, a Token, and the like... but he didn’t have any of that. He was probably just tossing out one or two Sieged Shards, getting a paltry +2 damage bonus tops, and each Shard would be doing exactly 2 damage.

“The shadows?” I asked archly.

“” His expression was both knowing and peculiar. “”

“Nope,” I agreed, keeping his eyes. “Only saw them passing by, didn’t have to fight them.”

He nodded after a moment, seeing how serious I was, and remembering how I got here. “”

Sylune, I’d need to spend a Valence to kill one of the bastards. I closed my eyes and pinched my nose, cursing to myself. I’d need two shots to kill them, maybe three. Shadows were slow and I could probably do that solo, but wraiths were not.

Well, I could spend Valences, pop some wraiths or spectres, and call it a night. Wow, wouldn’t that be quick. Four, five shots, and done?

That said, I was a One. That would be enough for another Level... even if I wasn’t guaranteed a Level already. It would feed Einz, too.

The people around were smirking that I’d made a newbie judgement, overestimating my own power, when I’d actually overestimated his. I knew precisely how strong I was not.

“Okay, I know what I have to do now.” Dammit, getting bumped again! I’d have to take Spellwarp Mastery/1, so I could turn my Darts into a spell with decent range. That way I could reach out and touch something outside the Barrier, and at least be able to provide some overwatch.

I couldn’t just start trying to kill the stuff solo. I didn’t have the range. What if I popped something, and it just flew off? It would be able to break the Barrier as it pleased, but that didn’t mean others would know it... so it could gang up with another one or two undead, come through in a cluster, and really send stuff pear-shaped somewhere else.

That kind of solo play would just get people killed, and they’d throw me over the side of the Wall if I did it.

A puller hopefully pulled their target in through the Barrier. Doing so instantly deprived the incorps of their Desecrated buff, and their bonus from the local Dark Minister, so instant -10 to -15 Health, and so easier to kill.

If the target didn’t come in, it still had to be killed, it was just harder to do so. You had extra shots ready for overkill just in case that happened.

Yeah, with two shots I could still kill one, but who says it would be in range for the second shot?

So annoying...

“” he offered uncertainly.

“They’re probably killing with mass Sieged Shards in Ritual, right?” He nodded after a moment. “I’ve had my magic for two days now. I don’t have reps in to Siege anything.”

Which meant... no sharing the Caster Level bonus for the Sieging and so short range. I could probably still match the damage, but they’d be using auto-hit Shards, and I’d be using a Ray, which could miss.

I’d just be on overwatch in case something was impolite enough not to die instantly.

“” he offered. “”

Sure, with any kind of Foe Slayer bonus, he...

He was a Five. Next level?

“You’ve a Reserve?” I had to ask, guessing.

He was delighted I’d realized it. “” he boasted proudly, and fired off a short, sharp discharge out over the area inside the Wall, making a few of the jumpier people look over sharply.

As if reacting to a provocation, Casters and shooters suddenly started shooting off multicolored lights and spheres, accented by windfire shafts. The gunmen simply watched the show with flat eyes, as the Casters and Archers warmed up and practiced their teamwork.

I glanced at his Reserve, and my eyes narrowed. “Helix, and I ask this with only the best of intentions, what is your other Valence III Spell Known?”

Something in my tone made his smile falter. “” he replied hesitantly.

I stared at him for a long moment, making him fidget. “You’re not an Elemental bloodline, you’re a Djinn-blood,” I told him. “And you picked a Fly spell at Five, right?”

“” He trailed off uncertainly. “” he had to ask.

“Because the Bloodline spell of a pure Air Elemental Bloodline at Valence III is Protection from Elemental Energy, like all Elemental Bloodlines. And you should know that you get your Bloodline spell as soon as you reach a new Valence... and you don’t even have Lightning Bolt, which I’m sure was going to be your next choice.” His mouth opened, closed, and he decided to look confused that I could read that his Reserve was only shooting at II, not the III it would if he had Lightning Bolt as a Spell Known.

“Helix, I’d like your permission to Deep Assay you.” He scrunched up his face in confusion. “It’s a spell designed to help with visualizing yourself and your abilities, plan where to go, see where you are weak. Most people cast it on themselves... but you don’t have it as a Cantrip, do you?”

“” he admitted warily. “”

“If you are wondering if it’s going to find where your stash of nude women photos is, no.” His mouth dropped in astonishment, closing a bit too slowly. I had to shake my head slightly. “It compares you to every other human being out there, and sees where you fit on the scale, then assigns you ratings so you can tell exactly where you are in comparison to everyone else.”

He frowned a little. “”

Oh, Sylune... “Do you dislike them enough to not gain another level for fifteen years?” I asked.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“” he yelped. “” he boasted.

“Should. You’re not sure. I just told you that you should have two spells at Valence III, and you don’t, but you think you’re a Five. I have a feeling you’ve made a mistake it’s going to take fifteen years to recover from.”

He stared at me, slowly working that through, and grimacing slowly at the implications. Fifteen years was a lot of time! “” he grumbled. “”

I didn’t want to blow a Valence I on Assay, but I was just too responsible an idiot. Assay auto-Raised when Cast out of a higher Valence, part of its design. I Cast it for a Deep Assay, and he didn’t resist as it swept through him, although he yipped and looked around as if someone had goosed him.

“” he complained, but I was looking at the data, not at him.

I frowned deeply. “Helix,” I said softly, “you know that Charisma is required for Sorcerers to get stronger, right?”

“” he replied proudly. “” He grinned at me confidently.

I gestured for him to turn, and flicked up the first page of the Deep Assay.

====

Helix, CG Human/2

Classes: Sorcerer/4, Djinn Bloodline

Strength: 12 +1

Dexterity: 15 +2

Constitution: 16 +3

Intellect: 9 -1

Wisdom: 10 +0

Charisma: 14 +2

Health: 22

Soak: 30

Talent: Born to Fly

Racial Benefits: +1 Skill Rank per Level, Bonus Feat (Skill Focus: Flight)

Traits: Wind-Rider, Scrounger

Karma: Six (74%)

Base Abilities...

Feats/Class Abilities...

====

I pointed to the top two lines, and watched his face sink...

========================

========================

Addendum: This is a reply to Unmaker's question in Ch. 15 about the universality of QL and what it means.

QL is so integral to how things work in a magical world that it has entered the common lexicon.

Why can this item be enchanted, and this one can't? Why is this item masterwork, and performs better, and this one does not? People went looking, measuring, and found a common thread.

It was Quality Level.

Furthermore, a Cantrip, Assay, could determine the QL of any item. It doesn't matter what the item looks like, how pretty or slick it is. If the QL is low, it's a crappy object. If the QL is high, it could be an aesthetic nightmare, but it's still masterwork and enchantable (to the horrors of the fashionable everywhere).

Thus, Quality Level is to normal folks what Caster Level is to Powered. EVERYONE wants high QL stuff. If you have money, you have high QL AND your stuff is aesthetically pleasing.

QL is central to how powerful you can make an item, and the ability to make stuff at QL 20+ is the mark of a Master Crafter... it is literally the test you must take to be accredited as one! People will pay for that stuff! Stuff at QL 30+ is basically reserved for hefty magic items, and is higher quality than we've probably ever seen on Earth.

Very importantly, Assay is a Cantrip, a level 0 spell. ANY Powered with a 10 in Intellect, Wisdom, or Charisma can potentially learn the spell (in other words, a totally average person), and make an easy living as an Assessor. They are next to useless in combat, but they can make a comfortable living just appraising stuff for others, working in quality control, and similar things.

So, to use your example, thinking a soldier would not be obsessed with magical weapons is, I think, a misnomer. Every soldier would want magical stuff, and would be fascinated with what goes into them. There will definitely be secrets, but if Powered represent 3% of the population, that's still tens of millions of them, and the information is going to get out... not the least because non-magical people work heavily in making high QL stuff.

I'm also assuming an Internet society, complete with search engines (Libraim) and central databases (Lexipedia), happily disseminating non-proprietary magical knowledge. The Good Churches would thoroughly be behind this, as such knowledge helps the common person and erodes the power of Neutral and Evil folk who want to keep such helpful floor-raising information to themselves.

So, people know what QL means, that high QL stuff makes more magical stuff, and what the general threshold is, if they have even a basic education or access to the internet and spend five minutes browsing for it. It's no more difficult to find out than it is for you to find a build guide for FF7 characters, or a quest walk-through for WoW.

I actually gave a nod to the modern world in subdividing it so thoroughly, as that is EXACTLY what engineers and smiths would do, looking for every little difference in QL, comparing it to what can be made, and eventually the knowledge gets leaked or widely publicized so as to encourage more making of magic items. Now, HOW to make a high QL item tends to be heavily dependent on individual skill, and isn't part of the process... but knowing what you have to acheive is now common knowledge.

And if you make crappy stuff you're claiming is better than it is, you're going to be caught VERY quickly.

Most notably, while finely-tuned machinery can make high QL stuff from a template, it is all magically inert, and can never be enchanted, and will so display on an Assay. It still qualifies as Masterwork, etc, and it still functions better than a normal item, but you can't make it magical. As a result, it is MUCH cheaper, and is what the vast majority of people look to buy.

---

I think you are also referring to Goldweight, and the reason that is used for valuation is because a) it's a big number made small and b) it's stable and based on a given weight and volume of gold. The value of that gold in 'paper currency' is always going up, but the goldweight remains the same. Five pounds of pure gold is the amount a normal Powered can burn in one day to help make an item magical.

Dollars you use to buy mundane stuff. Goldweight buys magical stuff. Just like how in video games the PC's eventually accumulate so much gold they can't spend it all, people dealing in magic casually work with levels of money that's just crazy by normal standards.

Note that I specifically listed a goldweight as five lbs of gold, currently valued in the novel at $2000 an ounce, and so a goldweight is about $150,000.

This is actually very low, as that is the value of gold in our modern world today. Given how fast it is getting used up in the Shrouded Earth, logically it should be 10k an ounce or more! I just assumed that magic condensing precious metals and gemstones more readily has vastly increased the mining of said gemstones, and Crafters are tripling the value of raw materials with Craft Coins and the like.

Widely spread alternatives to precious metals and gemstones are not in place (i.e. a magical gold-equivalent harvesting economy), mostly because most of those alternatives are not known, and would also backstop the goldweight economy.

===

UNMAKER

You partially answered my objection - with Assay being a common cantrip, that takes care of why Powered know about QL levels at a whim and why it isn't a judgment call. But I still think normals would have little reason to know all the technical terms, even if they hang around Powered.

I see this every week in my industry: I am a consultant, so I work with a lot of different people and companies, and it is embarrassing sometimes how even other people who work in the same industry don't understand or misuse fundamental principles and/or misuse and conflate technical terms. So my specific beef was with the term 'QL', but it does apply in general to a lot of the rest of the jargon. The common man is not that competent at technical fields outside of their specific career focus (and sometimes not within it).

Replying:

That's because it's not a technical term. It's just basic knowledge now.

"Can this item be magical?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"It's Quality Level isn't 20. Minimum you need to be magical, man. The good stuff, that needs to be even higher... 23, 26, even 30 or more."

"Oh."

And that's literally ALL it takes for people to know QL is important, and Quality Level literally defines itself... an object has to have a certain level of quality to be made magical.

If they have any interest in the matter, they can go online and find a basic table of QL descriptions and the kind of stuff that can be made with them at hundreds of websites of artificers. Manufactured items are being sold, touting their QL, especially if it's 20 or higher. You can see illustrations of QL 10 through 35 Weapons and other items online, lined up to display what QL is, because that's the kind of thing people do.

Thinking people would not be very curious about magic, with all the things that it can do, is something I don't agree with, and is reflected in the story. The basic knowledge of spellcraft (1 Rank) is no harder than picking up a Rank in Carpentry, and the terminology is learned even easier.

So, QL is as ubiquitous as kilogram and meter, or pound and yard, or degrees Celsius.

NOW... if you're talking making magical items, and what goes into THAT process... that's Spellcrafting, and if you don't have the Ranks, you're getting involved into some heavy esoteric crap that the layman has absolutely no clue about.

But QL? QL is as mundane as height and weight, albeit it takes at least minor magic to measure it accurately.

HOW to make an item high QL is something different. But now that it is decisively possible to accurately judge the QL of something... of course people seize on that with both hands. It's literally no different from going by measuring via hands to the metric system. High quality is very important to real life, it can be measured, it is, and becomes just another metric people use.

How you MAKE something high QL... most people won't have the slightest clue, and that's where your 'industry jargon' would come in. QL 26, okay, people understand that's high QL, above 20, so it could be magical. If they've the slightest amount of interest, they'd know it could contain something with a Caster Level of Six, if it's a Weapon or Armor it could have 3 Slots, and just like I can count to nine in Spanish and that's it, they might know the names of the Slots, and that the maximum Enhancement bonus it could have is +II... they aren't going to have the slightest idea of how to make that.

Really no different than ripping off the Stats to your favorite gun or car, despite not knowing how to make either item. QL is just topical knowledge, knowing more about what QL is is hobbyist knowledge, and how to make something of a QL specialist knowledge.