I hurried after the gnome and was thoroughly surprised by how quickly the he was moving. My legs a very good portion longer than his, and I was having trouble keeping up.
Even though the skeleton wasn’t moving in a straight line, it had continued to shuffle itself away from my hill. Gronnex had stopped a little over 15 feet from the skeleton, leaving us a good 30 feet from the base of the hill.
Each of us stared at the skeleton as it moved back and forth, a good few minutes passed until I broke the silence, “How do we do this?”. I was hoping he wasn’t waiting for me to come up with the plan.
Gronnex grunted, then after a few more moments spoke, “Okay, so here’s the deal. I’m going to run up and pummel it, while you use your magic on it till it’s dead. Well, deader.” He was nodding as he detailed his intricate plan.
I turned to glare down at him, “That’s not a plan, and I don’t know how to cast spells.”
“Sure you do! You just focus on the spell, thinking about it really hard, and it happens. Just like everything else. And it is too a plan, or at least the only thing we’re going to be able to do until we get a bit of essence. These aberrations should have about as many hit points as us right now, and there are two of us. If you focus on it, again, really hard, you can see its name and level. You just take your time and tell me when you got your spell figured out. Tell me when you’re ready and I’ll start pummeling.” I had to admit, he did sound pretty sure of himself, maybe this would be as easy as pummeling it and thinking really hard to cast a spell.
I looked back at the skeleton, focusing like Gronnex had told me. Above its head formed red lettering [Skeleton, Level 1]. It really didn’t take as much focus as I thought, just staring with intent. It being my same level also made me feel a bit better, if casting a spell was as easy as getting that name to appear we should be in business. I started to focus my mind, getting ready to cast, and realized I couldn’t remember what the spell was called. Reminding myself that people named Charles had no pride, I asked my new gnome friend, “I don’t remember what my spell is called, how can I figure it out, so I can focus on it?”
Gronnex gave a long, drawn out sigh, “Just think spells… to answer any further questions, if you want to know something just think about it, if it doesn’t appear in front of you, then ask.” Yeah, I probably should have been able to figure that out by this point, and yeah, Gronnex probably thought I was simple. On a more positive note, I felt I was acting like a Charles.
I focused on spells and a little screen appeared a couple feet in front of me, there was only one entry.
Imbue Obelisk: Lightning
Every 5 seconds Obelisk will shock closest enemy within range of Area of Influence.
10 base damage + 1 damage per point of Int.
I focused on the spell. Nothing happened. I squinted, and really concentrated on it. Still, nothing happened. I then realized what the spell was actually trying to do, imbue something that wasn’t even there, and felt a wave of relief that I didn’t ask Gronnex for help. I focused on my skills information and a screen popped up next to my spells screen, containing just one entry.
Summon Obelisk
Summons an Obelisk – Area of Influence 5 feet from Obelisk + 1 foot per point of Int.
50 mana to summon.
15 mana drained every 5 seconds per imbuement.
It only took the briefest of seconds to think about the skill, and my vision changed slightly. About 15 feet ahead of me a small purple outline of a four-sided obelisk appeared on the ground. There was also a circular area around the small obelisk that gave off the same purple glow, I realized this must have been the Area of Influence mentioned in the skills description. I discovered it only took thinking about where I wanted the obelisk to be, and the purple outline would shift. As I glanced around, the small purple obelisk moved to wherever I was focusing. I found myself glancing back and forth, moving the obelisk and its circle, it was kind of fun.
“Are you ready yet? You realize the longer we wait the harder everything is going to be.” I wondered if Gronnex could see that I had been moving the outline of the obelisk back and forth for fun, or if he thought I was just confused on how to get my new abilities to work. I settled on that both options painted me poorly and tried to make the obelisk actually appear. Nothing happened. I shuffled the obelisks position a couple more times, thinking about how much I wanted it to materialize. Only the purple outline of it appeared.
By this point, Gronnex was tapping his foot. I considered asking for help, and then immediately rejected the idea. I could figure this out on my own, I really didn’t want to live up to my name. My mind wandered back to the spell, and that was all it took. The purple glow that I had been moving all over the place vanished, in its place an obsidian version of the obelisk grew out of the ground. One of the sides that was facing us held symbols glowing in a bright blue. I felt like casting my first spell should have filled me with some sort of sense of accomplishment, it didn’t. All I could think while staring at the obelisk was that it should have been bigger. I had summoned it a bit far away from me, so it was hard to tell exactly how high it reached, though I was fairly certain that the obelisks tip was less than a foot off the ground.
“It’s kind of small.”, my companions statement caused me to frown, I was a bit surprised someone standing 3 feet off the ground would be un-impressed if something was small. As I debated on how to respond to the sizest, an arc of bright light connected the tip of the obelisk to the back of the skeleton.
“Well this wasn’t the deal at all!”, My companion shouted up at me. “I was going to go first, then you were going to do the casting!” As he yelled, the skeleton turned and started shuffling towards us. I wouldn’t call what the skeleton did a full run, though it did pick up a little speed as it held its arms out in front of it and started to smash its teeth together. As the skeleton came closer, I discovered that it was even taller than I was, and it was much taller than Gronnex. I was standing at the perfect height of 5 feet 10 inches, while the skeleton was probably a good half a food taller than me. I was wondering how Gronnex was had been planning on pummeling this creature that was at least double his height.
As I was assessing the size differences, my short friend had taken a few steps forward, placing himself roughly two feet in front of me, blocking the skeletons path. “Leave it to me!”, he called over his shoulder.
Gronnex held both of his arms up in front of him, like a boxer would, his tiny little hands balled into fists. I found it admirable and endearing that the 3-foot-tall gnome was going to defend me from the over 6-foot-tall skeleton. The skeleton that was picking up even more speed as it grew closer, its teeth chattering faster and faster. My obelisk struck out for a second time as the skeleton was 5 feet from my companion. As the skeleton took its next few steps I found myself eagerly awaiting to see what Gronnex had planned to stop the skeletons charge.
When Gronnex made his move, my earlier feelings of admiration and endearment quickly turned into panic and horror. The gnome gave out a high-pitched squeal, diving to the side as the skeleton rushed past him. I stood in place, mouth agape and eyes wide as the skeleton closed the last few feet to rake both hands down my chest. Taking after my companion, I gave out a high-pitched scream as the skeletons fingers drew back from their assault. I then tightly shut my eyes and inflicted the most pain I could on my attacker, flailing my arms as quickly as I could while screaming at the top of my lungs. As I continued my assault I felt the skeletons fingers pierce into my left shoulder. The pain caused my eyes to bulge open and my scream choked off. The pain also made me realize I was acting like a Charles, standing toe to toe with this skeleton was not smart, and not something I should be doing.
There was another flash of light as lightning arced out of by obelisk and connected with the skeleton. The skeleton was reaching its right hand towards my face when I got my act together and shoved it with every ounce of strength I had. The skeleton stumbled backwards a step, missing my face with its sharp fingers. Instead they settled into my outstretched arm, leaving deep furrows. Looking to my new wound, I realized pushing was probably not going to work either. It was time to use my ace in the hole.
I started running.
I told myself this was a strategic running, not a screaming with my hands in the air sort of running; though I was screaming, my hands were not in the air, at least not both of my hands. I couldn’t lift my left arm, so how could that be in the air? I told myself it was strategic because I was going to stay within my obelisks reach. My legs moved as fast as I could make them, I had only taken 8 or 9 steps when my obelisk arced out again, the lightning connecting right behind me. I didn’t need to turn and see if the skeleton was still there, I could hear its chattering teeth as I fled. Each time my feet would connect with the ground I felt bolts of pain in my left arm and chest, my eyes were streaming tears as I moved forward.
Through my blurry vision I could make out a soft purple line on the ground to my left. I had almost made it halfway around the outer area of my obelisk when the lightning arced out for the fifth time. I continued running a few paces when I realized I could no longer hear the chattering teeth behind me, glancing back over my right shoulder to verify if I still had a pursuer caused me to promptly trip and slide across the ground with my already injured left arm breaking my fall. My mind was screaming at me to jump back to my feet and continue running, I couldn’t. With my face planted firmly on the ground, my labored breathing had caused my lungs to fill with the red dirt. For the next few minutes, all I did was cough and cradle my left arm against my wounded chest.
I lay on the ground struggling to breath. After a few moments I figured that that fifth lightning strike must have finished the skeleton off, or maybe the skeleton felt bad for me and decided to just leave me alone. Either way, I was ecstatic that I was not being mauled by its surprisingly sharp finger bones. It took a few minutes for my fit of coughing to cease, I then pulled myself to my feet, still cradling my left arm against my chest.
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Gronnex stood a good 10 feet away, staring at me with his hands on his hips. “Well, I think we did a pretty good job. We will need to work on your coordination, but overall I’d call that a successful engagement.”
I glared at him, “A successful engagement?”.
The gnome nodded, “It wasn’t perfect by any means, that bit of slapping you did at the start really wasn’t what I’d call grade A material.” He sighed and shook his head back and forth, “Maybe with practice, though I don’t see why you’d ever want to be standing that close to an enemy as a caster, that’s usually more of what fighters do, but don’t let that stop you! If you want to slap your enemies I’ll fully support your decision.”.
“I did not slap the skeleton!”, I protested loudly. After shouting I felt a bit silly, I knew that I had absolutely slapped the skeleton, multiple times. I also knew that out of all the things to be angry at right now, my combat prowess shouldn’t have been top of the list.
“It stunned me too!”, Gronnex was nodding, as if he was in agreement with me, “When you started running I pulled up the combat log and see what kind of move it was. While those slaps of yours didn’t do too much damage, you sure laid them on quickly. You were able to hit 7 times before that pile of bones attacked you a second time.”.
I continued to glare at the gnome while thinking about what he said. Combat log? I focused, and a screen appeared a few feet in front of me.
Combat Log
Your Obelisk shocks a Skeleton for 21 points of damage.
Your Obelisk shocks a Skeleton for 21 points of damage.
A Skeleton scratches you for 30 points of damage.
You slap a skeleton for 1 point of damage.
You slap a skeleton for 1 point of damage.
You slap a skeleton for 1 point of damage.
You slap a skeleton for 1 point of damage.
You slap a skeleton for 1 point of damage.
You slap a skeleton for 1 point of damage.
You slap a skeleton for 1 point of damage.
A Skeleton scratches you for 15 points of damage.
Your Obelisk shocks a Skeleton for 21 points of damage.
You push a skeleton for no damage.
A skeleton scratches you for 15 points of damage.
Your Obelisk shocks a Skeleton for 21 points of damage.
Your Obelisk shocks a Skeleton for 21 points of damage.
You have slain a level 1 Skeleton, gaining 10 essence.
“You reading it? I was a bit nervous when I saw your health dip below 50%, then you smarted up and started to run. That’s real mage work there, running, smart.”, I could still see Gronnex to the side of the combat log that floated in front of me, he was nodding to himself again.
“You can read my combat log?” I asked, “and how could you see how much health I had? And more importantly why didn’t you help me?! My arm is ruined!”, my voice grew louder at each word that came out, by the end I was screaming at the gnome.
“You really don’t need to yell, I can hear just fine, and it’s not your combat log. We are partners, it’s our combat log, and I can see your health for the same reason. We are partners. You can see mine if you cared to, and you should, since we’re partners. It’s actually rather inconsiderate that you didn’t have my health information pulled up when you started combat, and I figured you had things well in control since you were the one that threw out my plan and went ahead with your own, starting combat without even telling me.”, Gronnex huffed, “It’s not like I could have done anything anyway, I don’t have a shield.”.
I willed the combat log to vanish as I stared at the small gnome, his hands still firmly planted on his hips. Did he just call me inconsiderate, and then blame me for this mess? My right eye twitched. Could I fight the gnome? I was pretty sure he’d be easier to take on than the skeleton had been. How many hit points did he have? As the thought crossed my mind, a small box appeared in front of me. It displayed Gronnex’s name at the top, then showed his health as 110, stamina as 100, and mana as 130.
I left the small screen that represented Gronnex up in front of me, I then focused on generating one that would show my own. A similar screen appeared above the gnomes. I read the name at the top of that screen and cringed, Charles; Health 100, stamina, 100, mana 110.
Glancing between the two screens I asked, “Why do you have more mana than I do? Aren’t you a knight?”.
“I have more mana than you do because I have more Intelligence than you do.”, the way he said it made my eye twitch again. “You really should have placed your unallocated stat points before you started combat.”
I turned and started stomping my way back to my hill. Maybe the ant was back, I bet I could beg him for a new companion.
Gronnex was shouting behind me, “Where are you going?! We need to collect 40 more essence before you can buy me a shield!”.
I rounded on him, “We?!”, I was yelling again. “We didn’t do anything, I did everything after you dove out of the way and left me to fend for myself. We are not going to be doing any more skeleton fighting because my arm is…” my words trailed off. I had been swinging my left arm in his direction, as if to show him how my arm was ruined. It wasn’t until then that I realized my arm didn’t hurt any more, neither did my chest. I stared down at my left forearm where the skeletons fingers had left long gouges. The blood was still there, caked with the reddish-brown dirt that covered every inch of me, but the wound was gone. I rubbed away the blood and dirt with my right hand, the wound was just… gone.
I looked up from my arm, “How?”.
Gronnex looked at me strangely, “How what?”
“How is my arm fine? And my chest? Did you do something?”, I wasn’t yelling any longer. I think I was more in shock.
“I’m not a healer, and those wounds weren’t anything special. Your health regen isn’t anything to write home about, as long as there’s no poison, disease, or bleeding effects, or anything like that, you’ll recover in time. With your 10 constitution you’ll regen 5 health every tick, every 5 seconds. Nothing special. How do you not know this Charles, did they take away more than just your sense of self?” Gronnex seemed genuinely concerned when he asked his question.
I took a seat, right there in the dirt. I felt tired. Not sleepy, just mentally drained. I also really didn’t like him calling me Charles. I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding, “I don’t know what they took away, I don’t even know who they are, other than what the ant said, and I couldn’t follow anything it was talking about. What I do know is, where I came from, there were no giant ants with top hats, or skeletons that attacked you. There was also most definitely not any healing based on how much constitution you had, or any constitution, at least that you could quantify in numbers. There weren’t any of these screens either. This is all new to me. There was never anyone casting spells where I was from, at least I don’t think there were, and there weren’t any gnomes either. Everyone was just like me…” Even though I was now seated, I hadn’t stopped looking at my arm while I spoke. I was still amazed that it didn’t hurt any more.
“No Wasmannians? And your undead don’t attack you? That sounds like paradise. I’m sure they just erased screens and statistics when they erased your sense of self, you can’t have life without statistics, and the world would be no fun without screens.” Gronnex sounded just as confident as he did when he laid out his original plan of attack for the skeleton.
I glared at him while responding, “There definitely were not any gnomes either. I have a feeling I wouldn’t forget dealing with gnomes if they are anything like you.”
“Aye, you never forget gnomes. I wouldn’t expect there to be any of us where you’re from. There haven’t been any gnomes outside of a Prism is a very, very long time.”, The way he said it made me feel sad.
I wanted to ask him for more information but couldn’t come up with a way to do so that felt appropriate. Asking why gnomes were only in Prisms didn’t seem like such an invasive question, but I couldn’t form the words. We each sat there in silence for a long while.
While the silence stretched I started to pull up different screens, I really wanted to learn about the different statistics. If constitution determined health regeneration, what did the others do? I pulled up my character sheet with a thought, and then it took me more time than it really should have to pull up information regarding each individual statistic. All I had to do was focus on the attribute name in my character sheet, and a description would appear.
Constitution
One Constitution provides 10 health.
One Constitution provides .5 health regeneration per 5 seconds.
Strength
Strength determines lifting capacity as well as damage with certain weapons.
Agility
One Agility provides 10 stamina.
One Agility provides .5 stamina regeneration per 5 seconds.
Agility determines damage with certain weapons.
Dexterity
Dexterity impacts physical accuracy.
Intelligence
One Intelligence provides 10 mana.
Intelligence impacts spell potency.
Wisdom
One Wisdom provides .5 mana regeneration per 5 seconds.
Wisdom impacts spell duration.
As I learned the impact of both intelligence and wisdom on my mana I started to crunch the numbers. I currently had 110 mana from my 11 intelligence, and 6 mana regen every 5 seconds from my 12 wisdom. This allowed it so my obelisk could pulse a total of 6 times before I ran out of mana, each pulse would shock my target for 21 damage, doing a total of 126 damage. I also had 2 attribute points I could place wherever I wanted. I was tempted to put them both into constitution for more health and faster health regeneration. It wasn’t like doing a little extra damage or regenerating 1 more mana every 5 seconds was going to be that helpful. Instead I could raise my hit points by 20%.
“Gronnex, where do you think I should put my 2 attributes?” I probably was not going to take his advice, I just didn’t have anyone else to brainstorm with.
He visibly shook himself, as if breaking himself away from an unpleasant thought, “Attributes? Hmmmm, you’ll want to be able to keep that little electric nub of yours up without it running out of juice. How much mana regen would you need to keep it up indefinitely? That’s how much you want.”
“I’d need 30 wisdom for it… if I put my free points into wisdom each level I could get that by level 5. Don’t you think it’d be better if I had more hit points, and could heal faster?” I really liked the idea of healing faster.
Gronnex sounded annoyed when he answered, “No, you’re a mage. You really shouldn’t be getting hit at all. Like I said initially, this first little bit until I get a shield is going to be a bit rough. We only need to collect 40 more essence. Once that’s done we need to get you enough essence to hire a mercenary from the within the Prism, after that we’ll grind out some levels. It would be preferable to reach level 10 before the last 12 hours of the prism constructing its first aspect, for a lot of reasons that we can go over when we get to that point.” He sighed, “For now, I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it yet, I’d like for you to purchase me a shield, and to do that we need more essence, so let’s get moving.”
His short legs carried him away from me, directly towards a skeleton off in the distance. The creature was a good distance away, 60 plus feet. I scanned our surroundings, the base of my hill was off to the left of us, a good 40 feet away. I scanned the horizon away from my hill and noticed there was a lot of movement out there. There were at least 10 more skeletons that I could count, and I was thankful that they were all further away than the one we were marching towards.