Okay, this may seem like me being lazy or a cop-out, but Skye's Intelligence isn't going to increase her Intelligence, nor her Wisdom make her wiser.
The reason is because I can't increase my own Wisdom or Intelligence, so I can't make her super-smart or wise because she will still miss things that a smarter or wiser person wouldn't. So rather than have people say "Oy, she should have done these thousand things to make her life super-easy" she is going to stay at my intelligence level simply because I can't actually write a character who is that smart or wise.
If that annoys you, well, sorry =P
Chapter 3
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Pushing aside a few vines with the end of her spear, Skye grinned as she saw another moss-covered temple, heading over after having Bee sweep the area quickly.
Her assistant was really useful for finding things, even if sometimes those things were absolutely miles away. She had desired a spellbook with all the basic kinds of spells that she could cast just by using the nature of things readily available. Said book was over twenty-thousand paces away, so when her average pace size was taken into account it would be something like ten miles away, maybe a bit more or less. That meant at a minimum of four hours of walking considering there were no paths or roads to follow to get there. However, even if it meant an eight-hour round trip, Skye felt it was worth it to get her hands on a basic spellbook that could actually teach her proper magic.
So, using Bee a little like a wrecking ball and a scout combined, she got the sentinel to smash its way through the stone doors that barred entry, peering inside as she waited in case Bee set off any kind of trap. After 10 seconds she decided it was likely mostly safe and approached, stepping over the rubble as she eyed the little temple curiously. There were shelves lining the walls and books lining those shelves, but interestingly enough, none of them appeared to be suffering from mildew or even having their pages turn yellow, meaning there was likely some kind of magic influencing them to stop the march of time from degrading them.
Focusing on one and wondering about the danger of the book, she took it when the assistant advised her that the book was safe aside from the chance to get a papercut, then flicked it open. After a few seconds of skimming, she closed it and put it into her inventory, having not understood very much of what was being said. After repeating the process on every book there, including on the book she had come to find, Skye turned to leave, only to stop and consider the temple again. It was old, literally crumbling even if the books inside were untouched by time. Maybe there would be a type of mana energy unique to such an ancient and degrading temple.
And so Skye, upon deciding there was no harm in trying, drew out a strand of her mana, then ran it through the stone beneath her feet and the wall around her, blocking out the stone energy and the life energy, trying to find something else. She felt a weird type of energy that she didn't instinctively recognise seep into her strand of mana, but as far as she was aware it didn't really seem to be doing much.
A little upset, she took that strand of mana and 'stored' it by wrapping it around her core and effectively tying it there. Not merging it, that would just draw the energy in, and to produce energy took a lot of practice and repetition absorbing lots of the energy, she just wanted to keep it until she got back home and could study the books she'd gotten to see if the energy she'd gathered was useful or not.
Skye then slapped her forehead as she remembered that she had something which could tell her that or not, focusing on the strand of energized mana for a good ten seconds before getting a response. "Hint: Gathered energy is Time Energy, can be used to cause targets to age or de-age, including non-living targets. So long as time influences the target, Time Energy can have an effect." Checking to make sure the newly dubbed Time Energy mana was secure, Skye oriented herself for home, internally gleeful and amused in equal measure.
That was actually the longest response she'd ever gotten from the assistant, a full two sentences! That meant the Time Energy was probably really strong...well, stronger than it was already implied to be. After all, time affected everything! Stone and metal would erode, wards would run out of mana and fall, flesh would rot, there was nothing that was not influenced by time in some fashion. If she could harness something like that, even just a little, she would be absolutely golden.
"Alert: Potion of Time Affinity discovered, would you like to track it?" Caught by surprise, Skye quickly accepted, frowning as the direction led her on a parallel line to her base, and would also, if her mental orienteering was correct, leave her in the forest during the nighttime, something she was quite frankly a little bit scared of doing. But then again, she had the assistant, so she could probably just think about a safe place to sleep for the night and thus find somewhere that was least likely to get her mauled in her sleep.
Failing that, Bee didn't need sleep, so that was at least a modicum of comfort to her.
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As it turned out, the terrain decided it wanted to be bitchy, as the forest was intersected by a massive gorge that forced her to take a major detour around it.
She briefly considered using Bee to fly, but after a few attempts, decided that for one, trying to stay on top of a perfectly smooth sphere was not something she wanted to attempt over a massive gorge, and for two, Bee couldn't actually lift her up annoyingly enough. The sphere was durable but not heavy which was why it could get up to speed and smash into stone walls, but wasn't able to take her entire body weight and still fly. It was a shame, because using Bee to travel would mean she could rest the entire way there and wouldn't have to worry about terrain or monsters obstructing them since Bee could just fly over the treetops, avoiding it all.
While she walked, Skye looked through the rest of the shop, curious to see exactly what there was available. Some of the more ludicrously expensive stuff was things like nanomachine infusions, mimetic skinsuits and handheld railguns, at least for the sci-fi side of things. As for magic, there were spellbooks that were named suitably impressive titles like "Creation of All Things" and "Omnipresent Eye" which were so far out of her price range it wasn't even worth contemplating them. There were also various potions of utility and ability, including potions that would directly increase her stats depending on the grade she purchased, then potions that would give her affinities. However, what was very curious to Skye was the fact that despite searching carefully, she couldn't find a Time Affinity potion in the shop to buy, so that was a little bit interesting to note.
The potions themselves were fairly expensive, a potion that would give +1 to a chosen stat cost a full 50 gold, whilst a +10 potion was 450 gold coins, making it so that buying the higher potions would be more cost-effective than buying the cheap ones, therefore inciting a desire to save up for a better potion. She had 4,205 gold coins still available to her despite her purchases, so while she'd need to be somewhat cautious in spending, she could definitely afford a few purchases.
As for what she intended to upgrade, Skye honestly wasn't sure. Luck was possibly a good choice but she already had the assistant, so being lucky wasn't as important really. Willpower was definitely an option, it would mean that even if she got smashed in the face she wouldn't freak the fuck out and panic as she had the night before. Perception could be useful, but once again, she had the assistant for finding things, so not essential. Wisdom was again, not that important. Intelligence could be very useful, especially for helping her think of things to search for with the assistant. Dexterity would also help her move through the forest faster and thus spend less time travelling, as well as in combat being able to fight better if it came down to that. Fortitude was definitely getting at least one upgrade, as was Vitality, whilst Strength wasn't as necessary.
Going back over her thoughts, Skye mentally tried to tally what points she would desire. With 4,205 gold, she could buy four +10 potions, or one +100 potion at 4,000 gold, then four +1 potions. Obviously putting all her eggs in one basket was an incredibly dangerous idea, so it would be best to buy the +10 potions. She also wouldn't want to spend all her money, so maybe buying five potions and leaving herself with 1,955 gold would be best, that way she would be able to buy anything else she might need from the shop.
If she would buy five potions, which 5 would she get though? Maybe one Intelligence, two Dexterity, one Fortitude and one Vitality? Or maybe buying a fifth and getting two Vitality potions would also be a good idea, still leaving her with 1,505 gold coins? Skye came to a stop, leaning against a tree as she seriously contemplated whether or not to spend a full 2,700 gold coins all in one go.
After a few minutes of serious thought, she purchased one Dexterity+10 potion, taking it out of her inventory. The bottle was certainly very pretty, and when she flicked the lid open it smelled pleasant enough. After just one more moment of hesitation, Skye lifted the potion bottle to her lips and took a sip, quickly finding her arm moving of its own accord and throat working to gulp down the entire potion nearly instantly, a very disconcerting experience as she had lost control over her own body.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
As soon as the last drop left the bottle Skye was able to move again, shivering in discomfort as she felt her entire body changing subtly, though that didn't stop her from glaring at the bottle. Resisting the urge to hurl the empty object away, Skye raised and lowered her arm, marvelling a little at the fact that she was most definitely far faster than she had been before. Her Dexterity was only at a 4 beforehand, and it was her highest stat, followed by Intelligence and Luck at 3 then most of the rest at two, her Strength being humiliatingly low at 1 alongside her Wisdom. Maybe that was why she hadn't made the wisest choices regarding her decisions?
Whatever the case was, she now felt vastly speedier than before. Grinning, she put the empty bottle away into her inventory, seeing no reason to waste the rather beautiful glasswork, then purchased a second Dexterity+10 potion, raising it to her lips and drinking the entire thing down, shivering slightly when she again regained control of her body from whatever compelled her to drink the entire potion in one go.
Lifting her back away from the tree, Skye looked around, then lowered herself into a 4 point start, focusing on a boulder a short distance away. Taking a few quick breaths to prepare, she kicked off, sprinting directly towards the boulder, only to yelp and dig her feet into the dirt to stop herself as she moved far, far faster than even she expected to, almost smashing face-first into the rock with her sudden burst of speed.
She still hit the rock, but only fast enough to bruise her palms as she reached out to catch herself, swearing as she flicked her hands and glared at the boulder, even if it wasn't actually to blame. But that didn't mean she didn't also start grinning once she realized just how significant potions were going to be. She had gone from being a competent track sprinter to being able to outrun any human, since she had definitely just sprinted far faster than even Usain Bolt could claim. If that was the case, then the other potions would likely be just as incredible.
Purchasing the first Vitality+10 potion, Skye threw it back, shivering in extreme discomfort as she felt something indescribable inside of her twisting and changing. It was like a hand had closed around her insides and started to shift and mould them. After about a minute the feeling went away, and Skye picked herself up from where she'd hastily sat down, only to sit back down again as she realized that she wanted to drink two Vitality+10 potions. Sure, it felt really uncomfortable, but that was totally worth it. Skye immediately chugged down the second one, again shivering at the rather invasive sensation, now worried about what exactly the Fortitude and Intelligence potions were going to do.
Picking randomly, she chose to drink the Fortitude+10 potion first, and was surprised when all she really felt was a tingling across her skin that honestly was kind of pleasant, a bit like mild pins and needles. Slightly emboldened, she took up the Intelligence potion and chugged it, wincing in preparation for what she assumed would be a killer migraine.
Instead what she got was almost like someone had put a stone into her stomach, not exactly something she expected. Focusing there, Skye realized that the potion wasn't messing with her head, it was directly making her magical core larger and denser, changing from a jelly-like ball the size of a tennis ball to a rock the size of her head. After a minute the feeling receded, leaving Skye sat on the floor leaning against a tree as she contemplated the changes she had undergone.
Inwardly, she wondered what exactly wisdom would be then if Intelligence made her magical core larger and denser. Maybe it would help her with learning or making spells cheaper perhaps? Whatever the case was, she felt that she had spent that 2,700 gold coin sum moderately well, as she now felt faster, tougher and more powerful. Hopping to her feet, Skye checked what direction the Time Affinity potion was located in, then started off slowly before picking up speed, making her way through the forest at a vastly increased pace.
However, she quickly discovered that with her increased speed came two major drawbacks. The first was that after only about a half-hour of running she was already feeling peckish, and the second was that she had tripped over quite a few tree roots, rocks and other obstructions, which led to her inwardly debating the pros and cons of buying a Perception+10 potion, as with that she would likely be able to see and avoid all of those little obstacles, whilst at the same time would mean incidents like not noticing a spell being cast at her until it hit her would be an event that would remain firmly in her past.
Gnawing at her lip, Skye eventually cursed and opened the shop, popping out the potion for another 450 gold coins and dropping her wallet down to only 1,055 gold coins. She drank the potion, wincing as her right eye started to become uncomfortable, her vision blurring and refocusing a few times whilst physically it felt almost like someone was prodding at the back of her eye with a finger. Her left eye remained wholly unaffected for obvious reasons, so she had that to look forwards to in the future.
After her eye had stopped having a visual heart attack, Skye was able to marvel at the visual clarity now displayed before her. She could see the little details that had eluded her before, all the little hidden spots her feet could get trapped in or tripped on. Skye spent a minute or two looking at her own hands, looking at the bark and moss on the trees, at the roots snaking the ground and at the canopy above, before she settled down again, reminding herself that she did in fact have a time-limit and that with her increased speed, she should be able to make it to the potion and then back home before nightfall.
Sure, she wasn't as afraid anymore, but there was absolutely no reason to go around chasing danger.
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After increasing her speed to such a degree, it only took Skye an hour to reach the Time Affinity potion, then another two to make it back to base.
Once there, she focused on the potion to trigger the assistant, who informed her that the potion was safe to drink, then drank it, focusing on her core as it changed, something different and weird merging with the orb, drawing in the strand of Time Energy she had left wrapped around it. It wasn't uncomfortable, more just odd to focus on, as she knew instinctively how she could now draw upon that energy.
What was more awesome though was that she could repurpose the Soul Shot spell to instead use Time Affinity instead of Death Affinity. Focusing on her magic, Skye thought hard about how exactly to control the outcome. "Hint: Time Shot will raise or lower age of target by user definition, quantity of mana used will increase effect." So, it was just defined by what she wanted?
Drawing out a strand of mana from her new and larger core, Skye ran that strand back through her core, keeping the two separated whilst still absorbing some of the Time Affinity, changing the strand from a neutral mana to Time Mana. She then followed the steps in the spellbook which allowed her to create her own version of Soul Shot, which the assistant had already renamed to an appropriate Time Shot. Reaching a hand out, Skye then swirled the new spell around before flinging it down her arm and out of her hand, flying towards the treeline ahead of her.
Throughout the process she had focused on wanting to increase the age of her target, and so when the bolt struck the tree, Skye expected to see the tree grow a little. It did grow, but it was a bit...disappointingly slow honestly. Watching the tree for a minute, Skye facepalmed as she realized she was trying to grow a tree that was already probably at full size. Any bigger and it wouldn't be able to actually get water from the roots to the canopy, so that was probably the tallest it could become.
Taking one of the wooden spears out of her inventory, Skye repeated the process of moulding her mana, changing it to a Time Affinity and forming it into a bolt, then flinging it at the spear. This time the wooden spear turned to dust right before her eyes, the unconnected object that was untreated and wasn't being sustained by anything dying quickly and being blown away.
Smiling, Skye started to practice with her magic, trying to make herself faster and more adept at forming the spell. As it stood, she had to take about a minute to swirl the mana strand around in her core, then form it into the bolt of magic she wanted to cast before then expelling it out of her hand. She could take a shortcut and have fully formed spells simply held in place throughout her body, but the assistant was quick to warn her that if she lost focus on them due to a shock, she could potentially release those spells inside of her own body, which would be exceptionally bad news.
That was so long as she wasn't actively controlling them, she could still store spells in her body so long as they were kept in a way that she didn't have to focus on, much like how she had locked that strand of Time Affinity around her core. After a few minutes of failing to figure out what the assistant was implying, they piped up again. "Hint: Mana can be formed into shapes inside the human body."
Blinking, Skye focused on her own core, then sat down and planted her head in her hands. Of course, she'd been shaping her magic inside of her own body, so why could she not make a magical rack inside of herself to store her magic. Then all she had to do would be to store her magic on that rack and would only have to keep that stable. If she could compress her spells further and thus make more spots on that rack, she would increase her spell capacity.
With her intellectual side fully procked, Skye got to work trying to develop a good holding shape for a rack, realizing quickly that she didn't even have to think about it. Mana wouldn't leave her body unless she allowed it to, and as such she could shape the rack to fill out her entire body from head to toe, making full use of the space to store magic. Very soon she found herself scribbling down schematics for what she intended, as there were certain elements that couldn't be ignored.
For example, she had to be able to actually recover and fire those spells, which meant needing pathways for the spells to follow. A central channel would be good, with a hole in the centre for her core to reside, allowing her to form spells then funnel them along the channel into their racks. Then there would be another channel leading to her arms, allowing her to cast from either hand. Her torso was obviously the main storage place, but she was also going to attempt to run single-stack racks down her legs that would be open at the front so spells could be funnelled down to the bottom and stored there as well.
Of course, it wasn't quite as simple as that. To actually store a spell meant she was cocooning the crafted spell in a layer of neutral mana which would sheath it, keeping the form together much like a mould would, as well as cushioning it to avoid the spell just spontaneously collapsing somehow. The more she stored, the higher the risk, and according to the assistant storing too many spells internally could have side-effects such as reduced mana regeneration and capacity.
Though, for the return of being able to sling spells instantly, that was probably worth it.
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Okay, I need to ask, do people want longer chapters or more frequent chapters?
Like, would you prefer to have a 6,000 word chapter every week and a half or so, or a 4k chapter once a week? Not that I will be holding myself rigidly to ensuring I upload, I only post when I have a finished chapter of a story, but if the cap for a chapter is set lower, it means it's more likely that I'll have a finished chapter ready for uploading.
I don't mind either way, just figured I'd ask and see what responses I get ^.^