Chapter Ten
Skills and Abilities
----------------------------------------
Simon gathered up the remaining cores and crystals and selected four for each and handed them out, “These are the best pairings I can think of with what you have chosen and to best help you with your main goal. You can pay me back by not dying. Sound good?” Everyone nodded in agreement. “Should we absorb the Crux Cores now?" Adam asked. “No need. Go into your… WHIP,” Simon said begrudgingly while receiving an approving thumbs up from Damien, “and you can assign them to your Zeniths after you put them in your inventory.” Simon instructed what Crux Cores they should place with which Zeniths. Adam placed his in his inventory and he navigated through his WHIP and found his character page. There was a lot of information about himself and his new found powers. He ignored the basic information and moved to the tab for [Skills and Abilities]. He carefully read through and started putting the cores where Simon recommended.
You have assigned four new Crux Cores.
Crux Core of Bolster has been assigned to the Hammer Core.
Crux Core of Rebound has been assigned to the Shield Core.
Crux Core of Aura has been assigned to the Holy Core.
Crux Core of Magic has been assigned to the Paladin Core.
Review your Character Page for further information.
“Wait, it looks like we have a total of eight skills and abilities. Did we get four skills and abilities when we did the Zeniths and received our Paragon Class?” Michael asked. Simon tapped his staff against the side of the now closed chest and it descended into the floor. He crossed his arms and looked at Michael approvingly, “Very observant. Yes. You have four skills that are permanent that usually embody the Zenith or Paragon Class. You unlock four natural abilities that are reflective of your personality or character traits.” Adam started reading through his in more detail.
Skills
-Hammer Core-
Creator’s Hammer - Zenith - Conjuration
Cost : Low mana
Duration : Indefinite
Cooldown : 1 Minute
Cast time : 5 Seconds
Target : Self
Effect : Conjure a Heavenly Hammer of the summoners design
Iron : Hammer does increased damage to Undead and Unholy enemies by 15%
Enchanted Hammer - Crux Core of Bolster - Buff
Cost : Low mana
Duration : 15 Seconds
Cooldown : 15 Seconds after
Cast time : None
Target : Hammer
Effect : Imbue your hammer with might.
Iron : Increases the power of your next hammer attack by 25%.
-Shield Core-
Heaven’s Shield - Zenith - Conjuration
Cost : Low mana
Duration : Indefinite
Cooldown : 1 Minute
Cast time : 5 Seconds
Target : Self
Effect : Summons a Heavenly Shield of the summoners design.
Iron : Shield protection against Undead and Unholy increased by 15%
Shield Throw - Crux Core of Rebound - Attack
Cost : Low mana
Duration : None
Cooldown : 12 seconds
Cast time : None
Target : Any
Effect : Throw your shield. If an enemy is struck the shield returns
Iron : Shield can Ricochet up to one time before striking an enemy and still return.
-Holy Core-
Lay on Hands - Zenith - Heal
Cost : High mana
Cooldown : 5 Minutes
Cast time : Instant
Target : Any
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
Effect : A Holy spell with a potent heal. Must make contact with the target.
Iron : Heals a target for a moderate amount of health. Has adverse effects on undead and unholy targets.
Holy Aura - Crux Core of Aura - Aura Buff
Cost : None
Cooldown : None
Cast time : None
Duration : Ongoing
Target : Friendlies in a 25 Yard radius
Effect : Health restoration to all allies in the vicinity
Iron : Gives a small amount of healing over time.
-Paladin Core-
Divine Protection - Paragon - Shield
Cost : High mana
Duration : 10 Seconds
Cooldown : 1 Hour
Cast time : Instant
Target : Self
Effect : Envelopes the caster in an impenetrable light.
Iron : Immunity to all damage
Smite - Crux Core of Magic - Spell
Cost : Low mana
Duration : Instant
Cooldown : 20 seconds
Cast time : 1 second
Target : Enemy
Effect : Damage an enemy with Holy Light.
Iron : Inflicts a small amount of damage to an enemy. Moderate damage is inflicted if the target is an Undead or Unholy enemy.
Passive Abilities
Scavenger : One man's trash is another man's treasure.
Iron : Receive 15% bonus loot.
Hunger for Knowledge : Your mind has an appetite.
Iron : Receive 5% bonus to all experience gain
Unwavering Resolve : Your faith is built upon a foundation of rock.
Iron : Receive 30% bonus to Unholy resistance
MacGyver : Recipes are more of a guideline.
Iron : Resources needed for crafting decreased by 10%. (-1 resource minimum. Cannot reduce any Iron or higher resources to zero)
“Yeah, I got like a hundred different questions here,” Adam said. “Go ahead. We have a little bit before you should really rest for the night,” Simon said. “So how do we loot?” Adam asked. Damien supplied the answer, “I got you. I have a Ritual of Looting. It feels pretty straight forward, really.” Damien pulled a pen and notebook from his inventory and started scrawling a design on it. “Look. This loop right here goes back around causing the ambient mana to condense and appear in the spot when I draw this out on the ground,” Damien said. His eyebrows scrunched in confusion, “What the heck just happened?”
Simon took a seat in a high back chair he produced out of his inventory and sat down across from the three younger men, “You will notice an uptick in your understanding of certain things pertaining to your new skills and abilities, along with things previously not known to your world. There is going to be a larger magical understanding with Damien’s particular skill set. There will need to be a whole lot of studying to advance you current knowledge and understanding you all now have.”
Adam continued his line of questioning, “So how come I have no idea what resources I can save on with my ability to decrease materials used by ten percent?” “That one is easy,” Simon said, “You do not have a profession. Once you do it will make much more sense.” “Well how do I get a profession?” Adam asked, ignoring Damien giving him a slap on the shoulder. “Either with a skill book or thoroughly attempting to craft with that profession. There is a wide range to choose from. The gathering types you can learn simply by doing just that. Logging from felling and processing lumber. Herbalism from picking and processing herbs. If you thought skinning was as simple of a task as skinning animals and processing their parts you would be correct. There is also mining and fishing. The production type professions are a bit harder to learn naturally. If you live past the first week we can go further in depth and even look into what professions y’all want to pursue. In the meantime, you can leave your passive scan on to find harvestable items.”
Michael raised his hand and Simon pointed to him, waiting on his question, “Are we going to see you throughout our stay here?” “Yes,” Simon said, “I’ll let you know each time I should be by. For this first week's stretch I will be prompt. Sunrise on the eighth day I’ll meet you here at the tree house.” “I’m assuming it would be rude to use any of our skills in your house here except beneficial spells and what now? Also, I told you. I'm going to be a magic chef.” Damien asked Simon the former. The ladder was whispered to Adam. “Very. Unless it is one that is helpful or necessary. Thank you for the consideration,” Simon responded. The three groaned in disappointment at this news, each of them wanting to try out their new powers. “All in good time. Now, the sooner y’all get to bed the sooner we can get this kicked into action. If you climb the ladder over yonder there is a loft where we can retire for the night. Any more questions?”
With no one finding any further reason to delay their evening no one spoke up. “The shower is over there near the fireplace,” Simon said, “I suggest a good cleaning since there isn’t another shower in this realm outside of here. Sometimes it’s the small comforts that really make life worth living. Come on fellas. Let’s tuck in for the evening. Michael, care to pray before we get to bed?” Michael obliged and prayed for them.
Adam was the first to shower and the first to make his way to the loft. He found a dozen single beds in several rows. He chose one at random away from the ladder and plopped down. He placed all unnecessary clothing into his inventory and got under the covers. The bed was softer than he was expecting. Before he knew it, he had dozed off without any resistance and fell straight to sleep into another dream.
----------------------------------------
A large Angel was pacing in a small room. He was dirty and had many damaging marks on his body and armor but lacked any injuries that would accompany them. His armor was tattered in many places and his scabbard was empty. After what seemed like hours, the only door to the room opened up to a much cleaner Angel and gestured for the first to follow him. Wordlessly, he complied and they moved through the large corridor and up the stairs at the end of the hall.
The room at the top of the stairs had several Angels standing around a large table with a map on it. They approached the quiet group and the war torn Angel waited to be addressed. Finally, a bald Angel with no facial hair and a thin build spoke, “We have finished our assessment of your report Orion, along with several other reports from the failed deployment. Do you care to postulate on the cause of this catastrophic loss in our numbers?” Orion had only provided the details of what he had experienced, leaving out any personal biases or opinions that could skew the report. This was expected for all official reports. If any clarification was needed, an addendum would be submitted and indexed. Orion needing to give testimony in person was not a surprise, given the casualties involved.
Orion took a deep breath, gathering his thoughts, “We were drawn into a two fold trap. The first was the placement of our camp. There were only stragglers in the surrounding area that were found and eliminated. Our camp was clear of all known and potential threats. The only known threat was the stronghold located a few kilometers to the south of us. We were close enough to the portal that if any sizable force was seen by our scouts we could have made a retreat.” “And the second?” Asked the bald Angel. “The second,” Orion continued, successfully hiding his irritation at the interruption, “Was the drawing out of my squad. We discovered several scouts cloaked and moving unnaturally quick for biped creatures. Myself, along with Donovan, Angus, Ramore and Ivan followed from the air and were outpaced. We tracked them approximately two kilometers eastward where we found a large cave entrance sitting in the dunes.”
The Angel who escorted Orion to the meeting held up a hand, stalling the retelling, “We know what happened. What we need help understanding is how we missed the ambush on the camp. The Red Dragon lying in wait was a surprise, but it is not the first time they have hid away their forces like this. Eugene here has postulated a reason for the camp's failure that we all have tentatively agreed upon, but we would like you to give us your unadulterated idea.” Orion looked between the bald Eugene and his escort before giving an answer. “Samson, before we took to the skies to fight the Red Dragon I believe there was one who knew the answer to this.”
“Please, speak freely,” Samson urged Orion. “I believe,” Orion hesitated. He steeled his nerves and stood just a bit taller before continuing, “I believe we were betrayed. In my history of serving our Lord, we have never made camp right on top of an enemy with such a large contingent of troops. I have not heard of such a thing happening to any of Heaven’s forces.” Eugene simply shook his head to confirm this for him and Orion continued, “I briefly spoke with Jordan while defending the camp. He started to mention something about my brother.”
Several of the Angels around the table shared a glance amongst themselves, but no one talked. Angels, by nature, were all created by God. They were all technically brothers, or rather androgynous siblings. They had taken a liking to the Earth’s idiom of Brothers in Arms. During the crucible of their training, they are paired together and the two are beholden one to another. The obligation is to hold one another up to a higher standard, thus promoting excellence throughout the ranks. This friendly rivalry usually ended with the two pushing one another and they are branded as brothers.
“Ivan…” Orion bowed his head and trailed off. The group was quiet as he gathered himself. “Ivan had cleared the last scout before we set camp. He recommended the area. He was the one who spotted the cloaked scouts and launched after them before protocol was followed.” Orion's shoulders slumped and his tucked wings drooped in shame, “Was Ivan’s body ever found?” “No,” Eugene said, “Our two hypotheses we were working from was he was either consumed by the Red Dragon or he was a turn-coat. After we processed the dragon's remains we did not discover any of our troops. We need you to go with Samson and report to the Jacinth General. The council of Heaven's Wall needs to know what happened.”