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New Reality: 21 March 2025, The Balkans
Returning to the village an hour before noon, Ardent ate a bowl of leftover stew, kissed Myrtle goodbye, and rode two miles south toward a secluded rock with a belvedere. He let Dragon graze freely, arranged a blanket near a fallen tree, and sat down, resting his back on it, to be able to concentrate on his abilities and stats.
About what kind of ability was on top of his priority list, he was pretty sure. His rifle and pistols were doing great at range, but for melee, Ardent needed more mobility, something to close the distance or escape fast enough. That was translated into all sorts of skills like Dash, Bash, Shadow Step, Airstep, Lightstep, Jump, Dodge, Backflip, Blink, and the list continued.
To start, he summoned his stats and available points and tokens, and to make sure he was going to do right, he also opened the calculator app on his smartphone.
Name: Ardent the Morlako Age: 21
Class: Jack of All Trades (Rank Supreme) Lvl. 21
1 Free AP available, 1 AT available, 12 FP available
STR: 25 / DEX: 28 / CON: 27
INT: 25 / WIL: 22 / CHA: 22
Displaying the available Bespoke Choices as per your actual stats.
"Cancel that… Per my actual stats? So I'll have more choices if my stats would be higher?"
There was no answer, but it seemed logical because the first thing the notification had said was to increase his stats. So, he transformed five Fate Points into APs, and adding the one available, he raised his Will and Charisma to twenty-five.
WILL First Threshold has been reached. Passive Acquired: Perception (Supreme Grade, Supreme Tier). Your focus, in or out of battle, is +25% better. +50% resistance against Mind Magic, Tricks, and Illusions. Shapeshifters will be revealed by Insight. You can detect Stealth if it occurs less than 3 yards from you. Your Inspect and Insight are now tier A.
"Hm… so Stealth is an illusion?" Ardent asked. This time, to his surprise, he did receive an answer.
Tutorial Help: Stealth can be an illusion, but the most used form reflects light away and uses Shadow Magic.
"OK… so, what's next?"
CHARISMA First Threshold has been reached. You have unlocked the passive ability: Leadership (Supreme Grade, Supreme Tier). Your social skills are +25% enhanced. You have an increased chance of Intimidating, Convincing, Persuading, Charming, Teaching, and Inspiring. You have a keener sense of Battle Tactics and overall Logistics. Your chances to pass the System on through significant interaction are now doubled (26%).
"Yeah… still not great…" For now, significant had meant only Myrtle and Martin, which was a high threshold. "Why the fuck is Convincing different than Persuading?" Ardent noticed something. "This makes no sense."
Tutorial Help: Convincing is based on presenting arguments and Persuading depends on personal influence and relationships. Keep in mind that the System offers simplified tooltips and descriptions for the sake of faster communication. Using common sense is greatly advised.
"Thanks for nothing. Now let's see the bespoke choices," Ardent waved his hand in the air magnanimously.
Your stats increase has opened new options. Please select an evolution for your Monster Master ability first. This will not consume Ability Points.
Ardent nodded, satisfied with himself. "I was right to increase my stats…" His monsters were second on his list of priorities but still important. Mimic was smart… for a trunk, and could act as a spy or tank, the first because of Stealth, and the latter because of its toughness. "OK… Let's see the options."
You have three paths ahead of you. Choose wisely.
Mini Boss. Become a one-man army, doubling your STR and CON stats, and growing in size accordingly. Your skin will become a natural armor, your nails and teeth weapons. Maximum number of minions: 16. The maximum Rank your minions can have is Epic. Opens a path of evolution for becoming a Dungeon Boss or Dungeon Master.
"Wait a minute! How exactly will I change?"
Estimated growth: seven feet in height by five in width and three in thickness. Fangs and Claws options: Bear type. Available skin armor options: Scales, Bark, Stone—
"No, no, no, no! Next."
Patron. Your minions are your best assets. Opens a path to Evolve your monsters to suit your needs by spending Attribute Tokens of Fate Points. Maximum number of monsters: 4, of any Rank.
Swarmer. Open world Monster Master. You overwhelm through numbers. You can tame, create, or control, up to 100 minions of Rare Rank. You can breed your minions inside your Spatial Minion Storage to keep their numbers up. Opens a path to—
"Ew!" Ardent blurted, dismissing the third choice. "Monsters fucking in my storage? No, thanks! I chose Patron."
Patron Monster Master choice acknowledged. Your minions have now unlimited autonomy. Minions will regenerate HP and MP at a fourfold increased rate while in Storage. Your MP regeneration is enhanced by +25% for every minion you have in storage.
Important: Your Trade-off for the Monster Master School of Magic has been set. You cannot create Dungeons or Mini-Dungeons, nor attune or bound with one as a Boss or Mini-Boss. You can use Dungeon Cores only for trade, crafting, or consuming them in exchange for XP or Fate Points.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Bespoke Equinox Bonus: You can choose one of your or your minions' abilities and bestow it on yourself and the rest of your monsters. This choice will not cost Ability Tokens. You can reset this Bonus once a week.
"That's easy, Stealth," he decided on the spot. It was a natural ability that Meanwood had from the start, due to its species, but for an ordinary person, it required at least fifty in Dexterity or Intelligence.
You and Ana the Dryad have gained Stealth, Epic Grade ability, starting at tier E. Shadow Magic School. Meantongue already has the Stealth ability, as it originates from Meanwood.
Stealth: Repels light and enhances shadows to hide you from sight. A must-have ability for Rogue-type classes, yet useful to everyone. Hindered by bright daylight, proximity, or open terrain. Higher tiers will help you hide better and send notifications when someone is about to discover you. Maintaining Stealth requires a considerable amount of Mana (ATM: 2%/sec.).
Ardent contracted his stomach, expecting the usual uneasiness that hit when he gained new magical abilities, yet none came. Everything was normal.
"That's nice for a change," he said to himself. "OK, err… what about showing me those… exceptional rewards now?" His voice choked on the last three words. He was torn in half. One part of him hoped that the exceptional skills would be truly outstanding, like the light sabers he had seen in the movies of the future, and the other feared he'd get lame shitty philosophical stuff like meditation.
Dragonling Evolution Charge – (Supreme Grade, Supreme Tier). One use only. This spell can be used to mutate one of your minions. While smaller in size than Dragons or Wyverns, Dragonlings are swifter and more aggressive. Main abilities trees: Fire Elemental Magic, Space Magic, Shapeshifting. Cost: 2 Ability Tokens.
Macro – Supreme grade, starts at tier E. As a Jack of all Trades, you can pair items, abilities, skills, or spells, without using more complicated methods like Enchanting or Spellcrafting. Examples: Healing + Cleanse. Add Elemental Damage to Physical Attacks. Add Elemental Protection to your body or Armor. Cost: 1 Ability Token.
Package of Advanced Elemental Knowledge (Lightning) – (Supreme Grade, Starting at F tier). Magic is about making its wielders' lives easier, thus, the System simplifies the information it provides to a bare minimum. Nevertheless, behind a simple 'Lightning' affinity lies the more complex reality of electromagnetism. This package contains information about how to acquire, craft, or create complex spells and techs like Plasma Shields, Magical Lasers, Magical EMP Fields, etc. It also unlocks all basic spells related to your Lightning affinity. Cost: 5 Ability Tokens. Warning: Most of the abilities included in the package will require higher thresholds in INT or other stats, as well as acquiring a good amount of theoretical knowledge. Thus, the package includes a bespoke interactive Tutorial.
"Don't go anywhere," Ardent said to the notification, turning his attention toward his smartphone.
It was out of the question to spend all Fate Points and leave no backup for a Rezz, so there were seven possible Attribute Tokens available. To buy everything, he needed eight. That sucked. Macro was the first choice, he could feel how good was his Stats Synergy passive. Doing that with spells meant an exponential advantage. The Elemental Knowledge was yummy, but riding on a dragon? That was top-notch. And with a Dragonling in tow—assuming it had some form of fire breath—who needed lasers?
Sighing, he left the Package of Knowledge aside and bought the rest.
"Now, let's see… so, I got a Dragonling evolution, and my mount is called Dragon… Must be fate. Dragon, come here!"
The steed raised his head, and neighed, displeased to be interrupted from his grazing, but obeyed.
Ardent patted his neck, offering an apple as a treat—he had a few in his phone's storage. "What do you say, would you like to become a sort of a dragon? Neigh once for yes and twice for no…"
The horse snorted, looking at him with befuddlement.
"You're smarter than I thought… How about this? I'll start the transformation, and if you feel discomfort, neigh, and I'll stop. Ready?" He paused for a second then called aloud, as it always felt easier this way. "Macro: Combine Create Monster and Dragonling Evolution Charge, channeled." The latter part, he added just to be sure he could interrupt the spell if something went wrong. His ability was channeled by default, but he didn't know how the Evolution charge would behave.
The spell started slowly, enveloping both in a bluish aura. The usual. It grew in intensity, more and more, and kept until almost all of Ardent's Mana was gone. Then, somehow, the Bespoke spell took over. Two minutes later, it ceased and he fell to his knees, panting.
There was no visible change to the horse. Then all of a sudden, wings sprouted up from Dragon's back, and then the horse's size doubled, tripled, and kept getting bigger until he reached thirty feet long. Ardent took a few steps back to better assess the change, but the new minion flapped its wings and flew away, circling above the hill.
In the young man's mind, there was a brief image of a faraway meadow with tastier flowers, the Dragonling telling his master he was heading to it. And the overall sensation Ardent got was one of giddiness.
He likes his new form… That's good…
You have created a new minion: Dragon the Dragonling, tier S, starting level 10.
Relationship Status: Strong (90).
Stats: STR: 48 DEX: 50 CON: 31 INT: 9 WIL: 32 CHA: 20
Dragonlings occur as a cross-breed (occurring naturally, magically, or through cloning) between a Dragon and other species. As such, they can Shapeshift at will between two forms. Empathic communication is possible with your new minion, albeit chat is not. Range of possible direct control: 10 miles. Range of issuing orders: 50 miles. Maximum altitude ATM: 1 mile. Maximum speed ATM: 80 Mph.
Attacks: Firebreath (Ranged, max. 100 feet ATM). Biting, Crushing, Tearing, Tailswipe (Melee).
"Eh eh eh," Ardent grinned.
A realization clouded his happiness: the dragonling was a big minion, and if he wanted to spy on the enemies from above, the chances of being detected were high. Then he felt giddy again, his minions had Stealth. Yet Stealth consumed a lot of Mana, and Ardent's mood soured again. Then he rejoiced anew: just seeing the beast would make most foes run.
Shrugging and leaving his concerns for later, Ardent concentrated on the task at hand. It was time to pick a movement skill, and since he had four available points to spend, why not purchase some other nice things?
"What abilities could I purchase at my current stats?" he asked.
Only one Bespoke option remains. Package of Elemental Knowledge. Cost: 5 AT.
"I mean the regular ones."
Available abilities:
Life Magic School: Medical Sleep (Total Anaesthesia), Numbness (Partial Anaesthesia applied to a specific part of the body), Sedation (Partial Anaesthesia applied to all the target's body), Cleanse (Prerequisite for Purify), Enhanced Regeneration (active, channeled).
Movement Skills (various Schools): Dash, Jump, Shadow Step, Silent Step, Light Step, Glide.
Illusion School: Blur, Disguise, Hide Stats, Display Fake Class.
Lightning Elemental Magic School: Imbue Lightning, Major Electric Shock, Electric Aura.
Monster Master School: Monster Geolocation app for your Mini Map.
A lot of choices. Ardent dismissed the notification, trying to figure out what he needed more. A Cleanse would have made the fight with Ana easy. More movement skills could come in handy in a battle. Monster geolocation didn't look so interesting, while the Lightning stuff… If he had just one more Ability Token, he could buy those and dozens more instead of spending to buy independent spells. The next second, he facepalmed.
"I'm an idiot!"