Ihra stood in a forest, beside a still pond. A dapple fawn was curled up beside the waters, nestled beneath the lush ferns, and she strolled over to it. She gently stroked its fur as the system's screens popped up before her. Please be there.
Ihra skipped past her info, ignoring any levels she had gained, as she looked for the notification box. Her breath caught in her throat as she opened it, half-afraid to look. Then she saw her options. Three choices.
Please select a class.
Hex Archer
Although Lady Kaksû was famed for her skill with the bow, it was her runic magic that made her a truly fearsome opponent. Raining down a hail of enchanted arrows, many of her foes died without ever even seeing her face, driven mad by her cursed runes.
The Hex Archer class provides a 30% bonus to damage by bows and daggers and unlocks new runes that can be used to enchant arrows.
Evolution possible.
Windstrider
Lady Kaksû’s secondary class, the Windstrider relies on speed, dexterity and wits, to outstrip its opponents. With enhanced movement, the class can always control the field of battle.
The Windstrider class provides a 30% bonus to dagger and unarmed damage and a 20% bonus to bow damage.
Evolution possible.
Fawn of Ayyālu
Lady Kaksû honored Ayyālu and in turn, Ayyālu honors her proteges. A powerful class, the Fawn of Ayyālu is most at home in the wilderness, able to slip with ease between their human and animal form.
The Fawn of Ayyālu specializes in speed, dexterity and close combat and provides a 50% bonus to dagger and unarmed damage.
Evolution possible.
She wanted them all.
Ihra read through the descriptions over and over, torn between her options. Hex Archer leaned into her current skill set; she really did love her bow and, depending on how thoroughly runes were incorporated into the class, it might allow her to almost approximate a mage. It was unfortunate that she couldn’t see the class’ starting skills, but she could already imagine the possibilities - fire, ice, shock. Although, she admitted, the class seems to hint at something perhaps darker - “driven mad by her cursed runes.” Maybe it’s more illusion-based?
Windstrider, on the other hand, seemed closer to some sort of rogue-class. It still provided a bonus to bow damage - despite being a lesser bonus, it was equal to what her current Archer class provided - but she suspected that most of the skill would push her in the direction of daggers. But maybe, if I get a choice of skills at level up, I could still tailor the class towards the bow.
And then there was the final class.
Fawn of Ayyālu.
Ihra was baffled by its presence. She wasn’t even sure if it came from the trial - at least, the notifications she’d received hadn’t mentioned it as one of the rewards.
Her mind flashed back to the statue of the Stag Lord in the strange temple, to the way that its eyes bored into her soul as she bowed before the coffin. Ihra wasn’t a devotee of Ayyālu; like most Corsythians with elvish heritage, she had never really made a choice of her personal deity, defaulting to Selene, the supposed mother of her ancestors.
So she wasn’t quite sure what to think about this class connected to Ayyālu. If she chose it, would her personal deity change? Ihra had to admit, she was a little jealous of the way Jasper got to interact personally with Kas̆dael. She herself had never seen the goddess, instead always interacting with the little fawn from her mantra that spawned beside the pool. Maybe, if she picked Ayyālu’s class, that would change.
But she also wasn’t clear what type of class it actually was. A number of the details seemed like upgraded versions of the Windstrider class, perhaps a deity-specific variation, but two factors made her hesitate.
The first was the lack of bows; she had largely stumbled into the archer class by accident, as it was the only weapon she had any minor proficiency in. But Ihra did love the bow; frankly, she preferred to keep as far away from enemies as possible. No one enjoyed being wounded, after all - or, at least, she didnt.
The second was the larger concern, however. What exactly did it mean by her “animal form?” A class that allowed one to transform into an animal could be a powerful boon, but it could also be a poison pill, depending on how much control one had over the transformation.
Ihra stroked the fawn’s back absentmindedly as she pondered her choice. Hex Archer called to her, but could she really turn down a class offered by a god?
She glanced over the screen again, her brow wrinkling in confusion as she saw something had changed. Fawn of Ayyālu was gone. A new class stood in its place.
Hexing Hind
A hybrid class, the Hexing Hind carves runes into their body to provide a myriad of buffs.
The class provides a 30% boost to bow and dagger damage in base form, and a 50% boost to unarmed damage when transformed.
Ihra stared at the class. It appeared to be a direct answer to her desires. She still felt wary about the concept of transformation, not to mention the sudden inclusion of carving runes into her body - the mere thought made her skin crawl. But, when the system offered you a personalized class, it seemed like a good idea to take it.
With a shaking hand, she selected Hexing Hind.
Recalculating Stats
Allocating Unassigned Levels.
Ihra frowned as she suddenly realized she had forgotten to assign whatever points she had gained in the fight against Arutû’s champions. Well, crap. There was nothing to be done about it now, though; she could only hope that the System assigned them well.
After a moment, her screen popped up.
Ihra Kaksûlat
Exp: 19,782/60,000
Health: 5240
Runes: 0/2
Piercing: 20/100
Heritage
Corsythian
(Elven)
Class
Hexing Hind
Level 81
Level up available: x0
Titles
Voidbound
Survivor
Blessing of Hurbās̆u
Stats
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Racial Traits
Class Abilities
Weapon Skills
Strength 85
Adaptable
Fawn
Archery XX
Endurance 84 (+20)
Moonborn
Runic Arrows
Dagger VI
Vision 42
Locked
Moonlit Shards
Unarmed I
Dexterity 53
Locked
Executioner’s Arrow
Willpower 10
The Still Pond
Charisma 10 (+10)
Aegis of Ayyālu
A gasp escaped her lips when she saw her health. 5240? How had she leaped up so high? The mystery was resolved when she saw the +20 beside her endurance. Almost afraid to look, she checked the Moonborn trait.
Everyone knew that Corsythians with elven heritage would eventually unlock the Moonborn trait. If you were a mage, Moonborn was a true blessing, a trait that granted +10 to Willpower and Inspiration. For everyone else, it was pretty much worthless.
For years Ihra had a useless +10 to Willpower, a stat that affected nothing in her class, and she didn’t have even access to Inspiration. But now a +20 sat beside her endurance.
The description popped up as she selected Moonborn.
Moonborn
Born beneath the light of the moon, the fawns of Ayyālu are blessed with heightened endurance and an increased lifespan.
With a little shriek of joy, Ihra bounced around the small clearing, celebrating. Ihra had always felt a smidge of irritation when saw the Moonborn trait, a subtle little reminder that she was an unworthy heir of glorious ancestors, unable to wield the magic she should have inherited. Now, though? She read the description again, barely able to believe her eyes. Twenty points was just shy of seven levels worth of stats. If anything, the trait had gone from basically worthless to downright OP.
Settling herself down, Ihra forced herself to examine the rest of the list. Piercing was already familiar to her. Unlocked by her previous Archer class, piercing was a stacking modifier that increased damage after consecutive vital hits; thanks to her vision, she now started at 20. Exactly the same as before. Uninterested, she moved on.
The runes, on the other hand, were definitely new. Curious, she clicked on the entry, hoping for some sort of explanation. But nothing popped up except a notification that she would unlock a new rune slot per 50 points in endurance and dexterity. Shouldn’t I have three slots, then? In the end, Ihra could only conclude that her bonus 20 points in endurance must not count towards the rune slots.
When she was done examining her new stats, Ihra finally turned to the notifications she had been ignoring. With a slightly shaky breath, she opened the box to see her new class skills. Please be good.
Fawn
Automatically activated once per day if the user drops below 20% health.
In fawn form, all wounds are healed, while strength and health are doubled. While in fawn form, the user cannot cast offensive skills or equip weapons, but unarmed attacks receive a 50% boost to damage. The time of transformation is 5 seconds per level.
Fawn was not at all what she expected. As she had feared, she couldn’t control when she transformed. On the other hand, it didn’t sound like it would send her into a berserk rage, either. If anything it seemed like an odd healing spell, but she couldn’t deny that it would probably be useful. She couldn’t quell the lingering worry, though, that it might morph into something more difficult to control when she reached level 100. I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. With a shrug, she moved on
Runic Arrows
Can summon an unlimited number of basic arrows. As a Hexing Hind, the nature of these arrows can be influenced by the runes you have slotted.
The first was a twist on a familiar skill. For the most part, classes had pools of skills that they randomly drew from; thus, two level 1 archers might start with a slightly different set of abilities. But there were also skills that everyone in the class received. For Archers, the first of those was Arrows. There was certainly nothing exciting about the skill, which simply insured that an Archer would never run out of ammo, and most high-leveled Archers preferred to purchase powerful enchanted arrows. But Ihra had always thought the skill was a bit underrated. After all, without arrows, an Archer was basically just a gal with a curvy stick.
But the new skill looked intriguing. She remembered coming across a rune in Aphora’s grimoire that summoned a poisonous mist. Could I combine something like that with my arrows? The possibilities seemed exciting. Might just be able to mimic enchanted arrows on my own.
Moonlit Shards
Upon a successful strike, the arrow’s head will shatter, covering the ground with razor-sharp shards.
Can only activate when Piercing is at 80 and costs 10 Piercing
With no mention of how much damage the shards would inflict, it was hard for Ihra to judge how powerful the ability was. Although, I guess it could be useful for crowd control, she decided.
The next ability was a welcome surprise - her old friend, Executioner’s Arrow. Really, the only powerful ability she had previously had, she read through the description quickly to just make sure nothing meaningful had changed.
Executioner’s Arrow
Shoots an arrow that deals double damage. If the arrow hits the heart or head, the arrowhead will expand into a red-hot blade dealing massive damage.
Charge Time: 3 seconds
Can only activate when Piercing is at 100 and costs 20 Piercing.
It had changed; the charge time had dropped significantly, but that tradeoff was that it now required a 100 piercing. It would be much easier to use in battle now, but she couldn’t use it from stealth. Unless I got my vision all the way up to 200.
The Still Pond
Even in the fiercest battle, the Fawn of Ayyālu can still find peace. Sacrifice health to provide a 30% bonus to strength or dexterity.
Cost: 200 health per second.
The massive increase in her health now made sense. While it was always a risk to sacrifice your health in the midst of battle, a 30% increase to her strength or dexterity would massively increase her damage or speed, allowing her to - temporarily - hit well above her level. More than satisfied with the skill, she turned to the last one.
Aegis of Ayyālu
If you have a rune equipped, you can sacrifice the rune and all its benefits in exchange for a 5 minute shield. User is able to move freely while the shield is active and is impervious to all damage, but cannot attack. Can only sacrifice one rune per day.
She stared at the last ability, almost unable to believe her eyes. A shield like this was far beyond anything she had heard of Archers getting. Hell, a lot of mages would be jealous of this. With no essence of her own, she wasn’t entirely sure how the ability was even powered - was Ayyālu himself protecting her? - but its strength was undeniable. If the description was accurate, it was a better shield than the one Nabul had used.
There was a limiter though - a rune. With a frown, she searched in vain for some sort of an explication of how she was supposed to equip the runes. Was there a set list she had to choose from? Some object she had to find?
After a few minutes of fruitless searching, she was forced to admit defeat. The screen told her nothing about the runes. Maybe it will become clear when I return to my body?
With a sigh, she stretched out beside the still pond of water, nestling close to the little fawn that always waited for her. The exhaustion of their delve into the accursed city overcame her as her eyes closed in sleep.
----------------------------------------
Jasper shifted uncomfortably on the bench, glancing over at Ihra with the faint hope that she had stirred, but her eyes were still closed in meditation. Or sleep? She had been meditating for several hours already and he was starting to suspect that the tranquility she had sought had simply put her to sleep.
With a sigh, he stood up, twisting his arms back and forth as he struggled to stay awake. Ihra had been in the trial for almost two days, and although the door to the sepulcher seemed secure enough, he had struggled to catch more than a few moments of fitful sleep - images of pale faces looming over him haunting his fitful dreams. Far worse, however, had been the lack of food.
The bag of holding they had seized from Nabul was definitely the single best thing they owned, and really simplified packing necessary essentials for trips unlike these. Unfortunately, Ihra had been wearing the bag when she walked through the door to the trial. To be fair, it had never entered his mind that it would take so long, but that didn’t change the fact that, between the lack of sleep and the lack of food, he was nearing his breaking point. At least I was finally able to eat something while she meditated.
He plopped back down on the bench, slumping against the wall. He let himself rest his eyes, just for a few minutes, while he waited. Slowly, he drifted off, his mind wandering into the vast, nearly thoughtless void of near-sleep. It was only the knowledge that he was supposed to be keeping watch over Ihra that prevented him from surrendering that final tendril of consciousness.
THUMP
His eye twitched, his mind registering but not really responding to the sound. Silence prevailed for a time.
THUMP
THUMP
He stirred again, reluctantly prying an eye open. Ihra still sat facing him, her eyes closed in “meditation.”
THUMP
He turned his head lazily toward the source of the sound.
In an instant, all drowsiness fled his body as he bolted upright.
Although the top and the bottom still stubbornly clung to the frame, the thick copper door that barred the entrance to the sepulcher was almost bent in half. The heavily verdigrised door bulged in the middle revealing the dark, dead city beyond. And there, illuminated in the pale light of the strange green stones was a hand.
The hand was pitch-black, so black that at first it seemed like nothing but a void to Jasper, who struggled to make sense of what his eyes were seeing. A wave of heat flooded through the room, the sweat rolling off him in waves as he stared at the damnable hand.
A wail keened in the streets beyond the sepulcher, and the hand withdrew. Another cry, further off, echoed in response. More and more voices joined the chorus as the silence of the city was broken.
He sat, frozen in horror, his eyes glued to the door where the hand had been. What the hell?
As the strange, keening wails died out, he finally snapped out of it. Leaping to his feet, he rushed over to Ihra. Her eyes were still closed - in meditation or sleep, he could not tell - but it no longer mattered.
She needed to wake up.
Now.